Transhumanism. Yes or No? Would you do it?

[Davino]

Quote

Transhumanism is the position that human beings should be permitted to use technology to modify and enhance human cognition and bodily function, expanding abilities and capacities beyond current biological constraints.

Enhanced Physical Capabilities: One outcome of Transhumanism could be the augmentation of human physical abilities through the integration of advanced prosthetics or exoskeletons. This could lead to increased strength, endurance, and agility, potentially enabling individuals to perform tasks that were previously impossible for humans. (Ironman style)

Enhanced Mind Capabilities: By merging with machine intelligence, humans would gain access to vast amounts of information and computational power, leading to significant enhancements in cognitive abilities such as intelligence, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Being a bit visionary, I think transhumanism is where we are heading as Humanity. It is the biggest leap in Human evolution that will happen this century and as so, I would like to really understand what are we getting ourselves into.

Would you enhance your Mind through technology? Would you enhance your body through technology? If yes, to what extent?

How might transhumanism challenge traditional human frameworks, and what new paradigms might emerge in response? How being a Human will be redefined?

In the pursuit of enhancing human capabilities through technology, how do we ensure fairness between biological humans and transhumans?

Would you personally do it?

Will we even have a choice, due to the incresing gap that will be generated between biological humans and technologically enhanced humans? Having instant mind access to the whole internet through Artificial Intelligence will directly make you get a job, if the rest of participants can't do so.

 

Edited April 1 by Davino

[Bobby_2021]

5 hours ago, Davino said:

Would you enhance your Mind through technology?

I highly doubt this. Injecting AI into the decision making will not be beneficial. It mostly won't. 

[Davino]

4 hours ago, Bobby_2021 said:

I highly doubt this. Injecting AI into the decision making will not be beneficial. It mostly won't. 

It doesn't need to be AI. Enhanced memory for example, photographical memory, remembering everything you have ever done, managing your own brain memory storage. Just to say a little angle of what Mind enhancing could look like in the memory cognitive functions.

 

[Bobby_2021]

1 hour ago, Davino said:

It doesn't need to be AI. Enhanced memory for example, photographical memory, remembering everything you have ever done, managing your own brain memory storage. Just to say a little angle of what Mind enhancing could look like in the memory cognitive functions.

 

That would mean that others can see what we think too. Scary. 

[Davino]

1 hour ago, Bobby_2021 said:

That would mean that others can see what we think too. Scary. 

Why so?

That's something we would like to protect I guess. The right for intimacy is in the constitution of almost all countries arround the world.

[MediumKahuna]

Seems inevitable. I could see myself taking advantage of transhumanist technologies, especially later in life to improve physical health and cognition.

Initially it will probably face significant backlash, mainly from conservatives and the religious, but there's no denying the potential benefit for humanity. We could see genetic diseases or predispositions to certain conditions eliminated through gene-editing technologies. Advanced biotic prosthetics for those with physical disabilities or who have lost limbs. Brain-computer interfaces for those with neurological diseases and mobility issues.

One of my concerns is accessibility. Would only the wealthy have access to these technologies? If so, that's going to exacerbate existing divides in society.

[Davino]

@MediumKahuna Thanks for the input

7 hours ago, MediumKahuna said:

One of my concerns is accessibility. Would only the wealthy have access to these technologies? If so, that's going to exacerbate existing divides in society.

It's my concern also. It will not be a mild polarization of society but literally the creation of another race or species. This can create many tribal conflicts and gross inequalities

[PolyPeter]

Hi! I find this topic fascinating.
 

On 01/04/2024 at 4:28 PM, Davino said:

Would you enhance your Mind through technology? Would you enhance your body through technology? If yes, to what extent?

Yes I would definitely enhance both my Mind and Body through technology, and to some extent I am already doing it, by wearing glasses or using the Internet, Psychedelics, Music, and Mathematics.

I don't see a limit to what I would not enhance if necessary and possible.

Two examples:

If in an accident I loose my leg, and there is a cyber-leg in the market, I would try my best to buy it and have it installed.

If Neuralink became publicly available I would ditch my smartphone immediately and have it put in my skull.

I could think my way to the internet, and not have to use my hands to code anymore!

Here is a video of what has become recently possible. Imagine this technology evolving in a few years from now. 

 

On 01/04/2024 at 4:28 PM, Davino said:

In the pursuit of enhancing human capabilities through technology, how do we ensure fairness between biological humans and transhumans?

What do you mean by fairness here? 
I don't really think there is anything objectively "fear" in reality.

When new valuable technology becomes available, people starts to use it, it has always been the case. No matter the price.

[Cosmin Visan]

We already do this. Do you fly to another country with your body alone ?

[Davino]

3 hours ago, Cosmin Visan said:

We already do this.

No we don't. We haven't actually fused our identity, body and mind with machines yet.

3 hours ago, Cosmin Visan said:

Do you fly to another country with your body alone ?

Well we use planes and smartphones and so on but there's too much of a gap still. A bit of vision and right brain creative thinking could help you to understand better this multifaceted topic.

[eos_nyxia]

Are people still coming to this type of conclusion based on reading "The Singularly is Near"? (Or something adjacent and well-known that's more recent)

IDK, I feel like it takes a special type of human to truly, completely, and unironically commit to the transhuman philosophy and techno-utopianism, to believe that problems of inner self-image and management plus the cure to all our existential woes will be wholly resolved and released from yet another form of externalization. This most often seems to be what's at the heart of the spirit of techno-utopianism... though arguably, -true believers- believe in the spirit of the machine in their own way. It's actually not so far from religious/ spiritual fervour.

There is an extreme, childlike naivety to this tendency though.

As for everyone else, I get the sense that they grew up watching too much sci-fi and cyberpunk media: whether it's books, movies, tv shows, etc. It's good to think about WHY certain cultural narratives are either chronically dystopian or utopian, and what that says about yourself and your culture, and not to look for the truth of the future in these narratives, when it is near-impossible to focus with eyes-wide-open because you can only see what is projected from the emotional root of said narratives.

Though if there was a use, this would be more on par, prob:

Quote

Enhanced Physical Capabilities: One outcome of Transhumanism could be the augmentation of human physical abilities through the integration of advanced prosthetics or exoskeletons. This could lead to increased strength, endurance, and agility, potentially enabling individuals to perform tasks that were previously impossible for humans. (Ironman style)

We've barely explored the capacities of the human mind unaided though, for what it's worth.  At times, technology has been a huge, unavoidable distraction.

We'll never get the best of our selves through directly via externalization technologies and processes, and therefore are limiting what is possible with technology because of said limitations in our beingness.

Quote

Enhanced Mind Capabilities: By merging with machine intelligence, humans would gain access to vast amounts of information and computational power, leading to significant enhancements in cognitive abilities such as intelligence, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.

 

[Cosmin Visan]

3 hours ago, Davino said:

No we don't. We haven't actually fused our identity, body and mind with machines yet.

Of course we did. We did this since the first day an ape used a tool to crack a nut.