Poll: Transhumanism: How Far Would You Take It?

[Zak757]

If you unaware of what transhumanism is, and don't have the money to purchase Deus Ex or the time to watch Ghost in the Shell, go read up on it. If you we're given the ability to become a transhuman, as of right now, how far would you take it? I'll explain the poll options in a little more detail.

1. Pure: Your body remains entirely unchanged, you stay as you are right now.
2. Minor Augmentation: You recieve fairly minor enhancements that won't vastly change the way you live. Physically and mentally, you are still human. This could be just a touch of genetic engineering to increase your strength, hearing ability, immunity to disease, etc. Or some small cybernetic implants, such as an augmented reality display within your eyes. An example would be Commander Shepard from Mass Effect or Captain America from Marvel.
3. Major Augmentation: Some of your body will remain, but large parts of it will be heavily augmented or replaced. Things such as your limbs, eyes, major internal organs, etc are up for grabs. An example would be Master Chief from Halo or Adam Jensen from Deus Ex Human Revolution. Did you ask for this?
4. Full Body Conversion: Only the majority of your central nervous system will remain untouched, if you believed that replacing parts of the brain will result in "cybernetics eating your soul" or somesuch. The rest of your body will be replaced with a new one. An example would be Raiden, or the cyborgs from Metal Gear Solid in general.
5. +Partial Mind Conversion: Parts of your brain will be augmented or replaced too. The only thing that will remain of what you once were would maybe be a fist-sized clump of brain cells that you may or may not believe contain your soul/personality/ghost/etc. Besides that, you're a robot. An example would be Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell.
6. Posthuman: Want to become an Lovecraftian eldritch abomination whose very physical form cannot be perceived by lesser beings, with a mind that cannot be understood? You'll be entirely posthuman, nothing of what you once were will remain. You cannot become "god", for the sake of conversation however.
7. Including an "other" option, I suppose if you wanted to have a human body but an electronic mind, or something different like that. No brain uploading into a digital realm however. You must have a physical form.

How far would you go? I'd say my "limit" is pictured right here.

Spoiler: image

The only thing left is the brain, which is concealed inside a casing designed to protect the user from massive trauma. The only mental augmentation is done through non-invasive ways such as nanomachines or drugs and such. I'd ditch the heels and go for a much less evil look in general though, so I can interact with human society just the same.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'll go with 2, Minor Augmentation. I'm very conservative about my body, I don't want my eyeballs to be "up for grabs", let alone my brainstem.

 

[Heronblade]

I might consider augmenting the memory functions of my brain if I could be absolutely convinced that it has no significant effect elsewhere. Aside from being able to replay memories at will, the Matrix style data/skillset downloads would alone be worth it.

As for my physical body, I'd start off with the minor augmentations. You can get massive improvements to one's senses, durability, and physical capabilities without replacing a thing. Particularly if nanites designed to work within the human body are available. Thin strips of titanium reinforcing the bones in critical locations, circuitry guiding and assisting muscle groups, visual overlays projected onto the retina, massively boosted regeneration rates as millions of tiny bots rush to replace damaged tissue from stored reserves, that kind of thing.

Most likely, I would not balk too much at abandoning my body entirely. The human form, even at its peak, is frankly quite limiting. However, I also will not make that particular leap without compelling reason to do so. Its kind of difficult to go back if something isn't quite right.

P.S. Becoming something more than human is one thing, but I have to wonder if anyone would actually want to be an eldritch abomination.

 

[Arakasi]

The only way I'd want to alter my brain would be additions, no replacements (otherwise this thing wouldn't technically be me and I'd just be killing my self) so I picked option 4. I have no particular attachment to my body when I could get a better one, but I am rather attached to my mind.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Only body mods I'll accept are things that are needed to keep me alive after horrible accidents. I was born this way, I die this way.

I know, I'm boring. <.<

 

[BQE]

Only body mods I'll accept are things that are needed to keep me alive after horrible accidents. I was born this way, I die this way.

I know, I'm boring. <.<

Oh Mr. Redlin, you're not boring, you're just a Lady Gaga fan.

As for my tastes in augmentation, I think I would most likely choose option two. I don't have any desire to become a cyborg/android/Kusanagi or however one would describe it. I do however, fancy the idea of some quality of life enhancements.

Even though it'd be pushing it. I don't fancy the idea of any sort of immortality on Earth.

 

[Voulan]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

 

[Heronblade]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

 

[Voulan]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

We've evolved as much as we'll ever need to, what's the need to have even more? The human body has been more than capable ever since our existence.

 

[Heronblade]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

We've evolved as much as we'll ever need to, what's the need to have even more? The human body has been more than capable ever since our existence.

Correction, the human body has been sort of capable, with a boatload of help from technology, of surviving the challenges we have faced so far. A lot of our own have unnecessarily died in the process, and are continuing to die in dealing with the challenges we have yet to overcome.

I suppose you could be content with the bodycount, and just hope life doesn't throw us a bigger curveball than usual. I prefer to take the long view however. For instance, the odds of us ever getting off of this rock go up by several factors of ten if the right bodily modifications are available to those who need them.

Much the same holds true when dealing with problems such as AIDS, cancer, and Alzheimer's. Perhaps you should explain to some of the cancer patients out there about how their body is working just fine in spite of the fact that their own cellular structure is going rogue and painfully killing them.

 

[Voulan]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

We've evolved as much as we'll ever need to, what's the need to have even more? The human body has been more than capable ever since our existence.

Correction, the human body has been sort of capable, with a boatload of help from technology, of surviving the challenges we have faced so far. A lot of our own have unnecessarily died in the process, and are continuing to die in dealing with the challenges we have yet to overcome.

I suppose you could be content with the bodycount, and just hope life doesn't throw us a bigger curveball than usual. I prefer to take the long view however. For instance, the odds of us ever getting off of this rock go up by several factors of ten if the right bodily modifications are available to those who need them.

Much the same holds true when dealing with problems such as AIDS, cancer, and Alzheimer's. Perhaps you should explain to some of the cancer patients out there about how their body is working just fine in spite of the fact that their own cellular structure is going rogue and painfully killing them.

I'm talking limb modifications, as I clearly said in the first post, not cancer research. In which case, what you mean there is medicinal progress, not technoligical modifications. And what on earth more "challenges yet to overcome" are you seeing? Unless you're meaning man-made disasters like war, which could involve technology itself, then I don't really see the necessity to have a camera in your eyes. We're becoming far too reliant on technology.

But seriously, giving myself mechanical hands just because my hands are somehow not good enough anymore (which they completely are) is a waste of time and money. But this is all hypothetical anyway.

 

[Zak757]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

We've evolved as much as we'll ever need to, what's the need to have even more? The human body has been more than capable ever since our existence.

Natural evolution only helps you survive, it doesn't help you thrive. If we ignored "the need to have even more", we would still be hunter gatherers who worked every hour of every day to help their starving children live to the age of 40, providing they didn't die to disease first. Technology helped us move beyond that, so why not apply that technology directly to ourselves? We can do better than nature, much much better.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'd leap straight into #3 at the very least. BOdy cells replace themselves every so often so... how did it go, you're essentially an entirely different person every x years? If those cells could be replaced so gradually with technology, there'd be no reason to even have an organic brain either, right?

That said, I've always liked the idea of biological upgrades instead of technical ones. Have some tentacles grafted or just straight-up grown out from your shoulders like a real-life Doc Ock, amongst other things. My mind just immediately leapt to naughty tentacles.
Four feet long tongue? Sure!

 

[Candlejack000]

I am going to vote number 6. If I were to go with normal augments I would end up creating a whole new body for myself which would be more like putting my mind in a machine a la number 4. Since the only thing left of myself would be my thoughts I figure why not go all the way and become nightmare fuel for generations of people to come. Plus if we are going all out mental being I could still theoretically enjoy all my favorite past times such as reading or video games by simply creating a psychic body or taking over someones body whenever I feel like it.

 

[Gennadios]

It's kind of cool that the majority of the votes are option 5.

Option 5 is our best hope for actual space exploration. I don't care how many physicists are wasting their time hunting for some sort of FTL drive. We gotta do it slow and that involves getting bodies that can survive multiple thousands of years in space, or at least hybernate through them.

 

[Seydaman]

Does option four mean immortality?

Because I want to retain my mind as is, without having to worry about my body breaking down. Whatever lowest number option lets me do that. So, looks like number four.

 

[boyvirgo666]

Id go full master computer from tron. all the world will be my oyster as i override your augments and rule your minds and i go all skynet on your asses

 

[Voulan]

I wouldn't get any modifications unless I lose a limb or my hearing or something in a terrible accident. Basically my motto is if it works, there's no need to change it. If it doesn't, you might as well fix it.

If the rest of humanity agreed with you on that last statement, we'd still be hunting down our dinner with sticks. Living as a hunter/gatherer society "worked" just fine for our ancestors. There's always room to grow, to improve, to surpass. And frankly, there is a LOT that is wrong with the way our bodies function.

You could say that the motto of engineers like myself is "if it doesn't seem to be broken, you just haven't identified the problems that need to be fixed yet"

We've evolved as much as we'll ever need to, what's the need to have even more? The human body has been more than capable ever since our existence.

Natural evolution only helps you survive, it doesn't help you thrive. If we ignored "the need to have even more", we would still be hunter gatherers who worked every hour of every day to help their starving children live to the age of 40, providing they didn't die to disease first. Technology helped us move beyond that, so why not apply that technology directly to ourselves? We can do better than nature, much much better.

You have a pretty extreme modernist viewpoint going there. Being satisfied with the human body does not make you against technology or somehow backwards. Hunter-gatherer societies actually work extremely well, but it's thanks to Western ideals of progression that it's seen as being primitive and undesirable. Also, you clearly haven't studied actual hunter-gatherer societies - how they work is that they only ever collect food when necessary, and never preserve or save anything. While that may sound like hard work, think of all the hours of labour put into planting harvest, growing it, then collecting it, and later preserving or storing it. Quite a lot more work than simply collecting some berries when you're feeling peckish. Not only this, but these societies constantly travel so they don't ever have food shortages, and they have an all-sharing policy, so any animal hunted is distributed evenly amongst everyone. As such, these groups are small, but very efficient. Unfortunately these societies have been mostly wiped out because Western society decided it was backwards to be satisfied with a current way of life, and wanting always more somehow makes more sense (and this, rather awkwardly, is what lead to racism in the first place). Colonialism and ethnocentrism, ho!

Wanting to dominate nature is an anthropocentric view at its finest. And in this postmodern age, it's not looked upon kindly. We have no need to dominate nature, and what about other animals not getting a fair go?

Anyway, that's pretty off-topic. I stand by the only-when-necessary method.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

4 is my pick. No mental stuff as that gets somewhat creepily into brainwashing. Everything else is fair game for improvement.

Although digital uploading would be my top choice, but you explicitly ruled it out so...

Edit: Accidentally voted for 5. Fuck I'm bad at reading, maybe that partial-mind conversion would come in handy.