Poll: Transhumanism: How Far Would You Take It?

[Alleged_Alec]

5 or 6. I don't like my body. It's held together by pritt stick and pieces of rope. I'd start out going to five, and probably end up going to six a bit later. I don't know, maybe being a sentient cloud of nanorobots is fun.

 

[Beretta]

Option 5, take me to the edge of human.

 

[Alcamonic]

What ever I can get away with without needing to find a mechanic, so probably option 2.

The idea of "relying on others to make your body work" first struck me as disturbing, but then I realised that I am destine to take pills for the rest of my life due to chronicle illness.

 

[dementis]

I'd take it as far as possible. We're talking about artificial advancement of mankind to an entirely new level that couldn't be reached naturally, I'd want humanity to convert and augment itself to the point that any undeveloped civilisation would see us as gods.
No illness or disease, strength beyond measure, mental and physical performance that makes natural geniuses and athletes look like weak simple children.

 

[Madman123456]

Option three. I don't think it matters how the molecules that make up my arms or legs or any other part look like or if my bones are made from calcium, carbon or anything else. The tendons that move my fingers as i'm typing are mine and they'd still be part of me if they where made from other materials.
One could argue that you are what you eat, literally to some extend and that replacing bones with metal rods is just one step above from caring about your calcium intake to ensure the stability of your bones.

The only thing that would bother me is the possible loss of my regenerative abilities. If you break a bone, just set it straight again and it'll repair itself, i doubt my body can manage to weld a broken steel rod together.
What happens if some spambot floods the twitter feed in my eye? D:

I wouldn't tamper with my Brain since i don't know everything it does. I could be augmenting this or that mental ability while unwittingly stunting another. We know very little of our brains.
You'd have to be very careful to limit any augmentations to your body; if you make some super awesome legs you could find yourself enjoying sports to a degree where you develop intense self loathing towards your former lazy ass which might lead to depression.

Depression is something found rather often and all the augmentations we have now are hearing aids and glasses...

 

[OneCatch]

How far would you go?

Depends how good the augmentations are. If we're talking cosmonik levels of tech[footnote]From Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy - Humans adjusted for life in freefall/vacuum - hardened skin/exoskeleton, often fed through tubes, radiation resistance, improved visual spectrum, augmented and replaced skeleton and musculature[/footnote] then probably only to level 2 or grudgingly 3, because in that universe the technology isn't good enough to 'replace what's lost'. They still look rather monstrous and can't do things like taste, speak normally etc. You lose something for everything you gain.

If we have better technology then that resistance falls away. If it's Ceph[footnote]

Spoiler: Crysis 3 ending spoiler

where Prophet has managed to control the suit to such a degree that he's rebuilt his body and is basically posthuman

[/footnote] or Peter F Hamilton's Commonwealth[footnote]Where sufficient enhancement allows people to have inbuilt pulse weapons and hugely resistant to damage, real time hacking for computers and other people's nervous systems, massively improved sensory perception, neural systems, and, for want of a better way of putting it, cloud backup for memories and personality[/footnote] level tech then there's no meaningful opposition because all you do is improve, with no appreciable difference to your appearance (unless you want to), and no detrimental effects.

I also don't see the distinction between body and mind as so absolute. I'd probably be more inclined to get basic neural enhancements (eidetic memory, communications, improved sensory discrimination) than physical ones. It's also notable that a significant amount of body enhancement would probably require some neural enhancement to control - how are you going to efficiently control your wideband visual spectrum or third limb without having some kind of auxiliary thought process?

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Option 5. Really I would be option 5 with basically no doubt. Our minds are what makes us what we are. Of course you still need something to sustain your mind. And I still want to have some form of body. And you know, have a human looking body is something I like.

In order to go option 6 I would need way more information. I would have to know I remain as me. And according to what you said I don't. If nothing if me remains, not my mind or anything, then it isn't me. And I wouldn't want that.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I'd definitely go option 5, but I would be very interested in option 6, simply to experience another reality of being. Something unimaginable and untouchable. Very interested indeed, but I'd want to know more first.

 

[Smiley Face]

I'm not particularly attached to my body, but nor do I see a particular use for physical augmentation. Mental modification would lead to changes in character and perception, thus my self, and as such if done at all, would have to be done electively and gradually. The most appealing point of transhumanism would obviously be in the extension of life, and appealing it is. Posthumanism sounds... risky, metaphysically speaking, but something I'd be willing to consider. Previous stages seem less risky, more likely to be acceptable.

 

[Sarge034]

snip

I went option #7 (other) because I'm very precise with my transhumanism. In terms of body I'm somewhere between #3 and #4. More is better, but some things need to stay human if you know what I mean... Unless those things could be "fully functional" as in I could still have kids if I wanted, and be able to turn off the ability to have kids. Cus condoms are so 21st century. As for the brain and nervous system. There can be no changes only aids such as a module to improve reaction time, memory, ect ect. In short if it could mess with my personality or be used to brain jack me it's not gonna happen.

 

[Abomination]

How big could I make my penis before it consumes my entire body?

Yeah, that's about as far as I'd go.

But on a serious note as long as I have a functioning brain and retain my independence and sentience I'm happy.

 

[TheUsername0131]

Choice 6.

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.

A semi-classical solution to Laplace's thought experiment.

You'll be entirely posthuman, nothing of what you once were will remain.

Will I retain my semantic, declarative, procedural, episodic and autobiographical memories; hopes, dreams, drives, ambitions, aspirations and aesthetic sensibilities?

Death and old age have their price as well. And it's too expensive for me. In desperation, one's own humanity seems like such a small price to pay.

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?

Yes!

Unfathamable enigmatic God-like inteligence all the way!

 

[Sarge034]

Is there anyone on here who would limit themselves in such a fashion and are willing to explain why?

See post 57 for my lvl of augmentation. I would limit myself because I want to retain the "self". I don't know if the machine bits in my brain would sustain me, simply copy me, or change me (not to mention control me). I guess the short answer is I'm not prepared to be a full on transhumanist. I am not prepared to lose myself for an assumed improved state of mind.

 

[not_you]

Option 2...

I don't know, mainly because it's the only one that seems remotely reasonable...

I mean, if everyone could run around in cybernetic armour, it'd be like living in GTA online...
Although then the cops would only have to run EMP's to stop people, that'd certainly save lives.... ha ha

 

[TWRule]

I chose 'pure' - I don't really understand why anyone would care to do any of this in the first place.

I mean, I once daydreamed about transferring my consciousness into a robotic body so that I could be immortal and go on to rule the galaxy...

then I turned 13.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

5/4 leaning more towards 5. Especially after reading the Eclipse Phase core rulebook.

 

[TheUsername0131]

I chose 'pure' - I don't really understand why anyone would care to do any of this in the first place.

I mean, I once daydreamed about transferring my consciousness into a robotic body so that I could be immortal and go on to rule the galaxy...

then I turned 13.

To surpass existing physiological limitations and inconveniences. As treatment for encumbering and/or degenerative conditions. Huntington?s disease, Alzheimer?s (other forms of dementia,) blindness, deafness, and other myriad conditions. To provide protection against environmental hazards, ionising-radiation, toxins, drowning, etc.

The utility these hypothetical treatments (of varying levels of invasiveness,) provide is staggering.




"... it is certainly a quick and easy way to learn how to speak new languages, operate machinery, etc. On the other hand, interferance with the mind tends to cause personality disorders, problems with memory recall and occasionally total mental breakdown... repeated re-use accelerates the degenerative process."
- Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader: Technology in the Imperium

 

[Idlemessiah]

Well I'd certainly take a new pair of eyes since anything a foot away from my face looks like a blurry shapeless blob. I wouldn't mind better hearing and also something for bones. Maybe bone strength and a few joint replacements since I've had a few breaks in the past and they're getting achy.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

A quote which sums up my position:

"I don?t want to be human. I want to see gamma rays, I want to hear X-rays, and I want to smell dark matter. Do you see the absurdity of what I am? I can?t even express these things properly, because I have to ? I have to conceptualize complex ideas in this stupid, limiting spoken language, but I know I want to reach out with something other than these prehensile paws, and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me. I?m a machine, and I can know much more, I could experience so much more, but I?m trapped in this absurd body. And why?

Spoiler: BSG SPOILER

Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way.

" -Battlestar Galactica

 

[Souther Thorn]

I'll take 5 and GITS for the win. My self is my own, it doesn't matter where my ghost is.