Transhumanism

[Chani07]

In the past few days, i've encountered a few topics about transhumanism. I'm talking about human enhancement, augmentations, cybernetic implants, mechanical limbs, and so on.

Here is an article about how the EU confronts this issue through a program called Technolife.
http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/28/eu-confronts-transhumanism-with-technolife-project-video/

But what i want to ask is: what do you think about it? How do you see the future from this point of view?

Ever heard of body-ascension? It's pretty much the same as Transhumanism, mostly concerned with scarring, branding, piercings, tattoos, but also thinks like the "lizard-skin" some people have adapted to them (through surgery) or fitting spikes underneath their skin as "hair" on the head.
If we had cybernetic technology, very close to how it looks in cyberpunk, or Splicing (altering your genes to grow new body-functions), I would do it.

Yeah, i've heard of it and seen pics and a documentary as well. I have the same opinion about it as i have about transhumanism: people can do whatever they like with their bodies. If they don't survive it (in any way), tough luck. And yes, up to a point, i believe in the survival of the fittest. But only up to a point.

Not about Darwinism, more about trying to become more than you are, in as many ways as possible. There are mental components to it as well. I study philosophy, for instance.
Most forms of body-ascension don't affect your way to function in any way (an exception might the people with lizard-tongues, which affects your sense of taste I would imagine).

That is why i said in any way. I know that this kind of stuff goes beyond the body changes.
But i do really believe that some people would not be able to adapt emotionally/mentally to these kind of changes. Hell, they don't do it in everyday situations.
I may be wrong but this is how i see it/feel about it.

On a more positive note: i am very excited about the medical point of view. People who have serious injuries, or have lost parts of their body, with these replacements and enhancements, they can live a normal life and be happy.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

I'll take a full prosthetic body thanks. Having less biological parts should mean a longer life span, especially if you go for the GitS-style full prosthetic body.

 

[Chani07]

lol I didn't read the article, but I saw the part:

"Europen Union nations hope to foster meaningful debate on ethics by showing people pop culture and SciFi inspired videos and getting them to comment on an open forum on the internet. Sure, why not, it worked for 4Chan, right? "

...
...
I don't think this author's ever been to 4chan...

Probably not. But they did have an awesome debate about this particular topic.

 

[Erana]

Transhumanism? Potentially wonderful.

Sony's EULA on my replacement knee?
Fuuuuuu.....

 

[Erana]

I for the most part am all for the upgrades, but in the short term I see issues with socioeconomic classes. This tech is pricey (right now at least) and the idea of the rich getting richer AND a third eye that shoots sharks and does calculus concerns me. You will see the poor become a different species and possibly left behind in the evolution of "us"

Hrm... It would be Galaxy Express 999, wouldn't it? Except the space trains would look cooler.

(for some reason, I thought someone had posted after me. Damn delayed posts.)

 

[Chani07]

I don't see why articifial enahncements should be a problem.
We already have artificial replacement for lots of stuff, glasses/lenses/corrective eye surgery ehances subpar eyes, artificial hips/knees etc. replace broken/inefficient ones.
Pace makers fix broken hearts (in the non-poetic sense)

Theres drugs that enhances muscle growth, reduces fattigue, reduces pain, increases concentration etc.

Theres plastic surgery and body-modding like tattoos, piercings, and some of the examples from the video that'll alter peoples looks.

Are these people less human?

We already have the stuff, it's just taking steps forward all the time.

Same actually goes for both biometrics.
DNA and fingerprints are beeing used, nkt just by the police, lots of computers have fingerprint readers, the kinect have facial recognition and mood recognition, the airports and borders already use passports, so it's just a matter of having an easier, more efficient way to do what is already beeing done.

And for global mapping.
Scientists are tracking everything from temperature, sea levels, animal populations, human populations, use of electricity, migration, birthrate, weather, income, money spend etc.
Your credit card usage is beeing tracked, your cell phone usage is beeing tracked, your internet usage is beeing tracked.

So i don't see how any of this stuff is new or ground-breakingly sci-fi-ish, it's just steps forward in a direction alrady taken.

I will agree with you. However, biometrics and global mapping freak the shit out of me. Then again, that doesn't stop me from using the internet to search all sorts of weird stuff or using my cell, in general. Or most people, for that matter.

 

[Erana]

I approve of the changing of the human body, if your parents had bad genes, why should you be stuck with them?

Unhappy people with pale skin, extremely short or tall people, ugly people, people with problems getting high grades, retards and disabled people can now all have a say in what their bodies should do and no longer need to be stuck with whatever it is that makes them unhappy.

But I like my pale skin. Its not an unhealthy palor, or anything, its that I inherited my mother's soft ivory complexion and am quite pleased with it.
Of course, we might wind up with a "Gattaca" thing, but that's about genetic alteration, and not implantation.

What I want to know is why all the fictional trans-organic races (Borg, Combine, Strog, etc) are always portrayed so negatively.
Of course, people always insist that hive minds are going to try to take everything over, and what-not.

 

[teisjm]

Spoiler

I don't see why articifial enahncements should be a problem.
We already have artificial replacement for lots of stuff, glasses/lenses/corrective eye surgery ehances subpar eyes, artificial hips/knees etc. replace broken/inefficient ones.
Pace makers fix broken hearts (in the non-poetic sense)

Theres drugs that enhances muscle growth, reduces fattigue, reduces pain, increases concentration etc.

Theres plastic surgery and body-modding like tattoos, piercings, and some of the examples from the video that'll alter peoples looks.

Are these people less human?

We already have the stuff, it's just taking steps forward all the time.

Same actually goes for both biometrics.
DNA and fingerprints are beeing used, nkt just by the police, lots of computers have fingerprint readers, the kinect have facial recognition and mood recognition, the airports and borders already use passports, so it's just a matter of having an easier, more efficient way to do what is already beeing done.

And for global mapping.
Scientists are tracking everything from temperature, sea levels, animal populations, human populations, use of electricity, migration, birthrate, weather, income, money spend etc.
Your credit card usage is beeing tracked, your cell phone usage is beeing tracked, your internet usage is beeing tracked.

So i don't see how any of this stuff is new or ground-breakingly sci-fi-ish, it's just steps forward in a direction alrady taken.

I will agree with you. However, biometrics and global mapping freak the shit out of me. Then again, that doesn't stop me from using the internet to search all sorts of weird stuff or using my cell, in general. Or most people, for that matter.

I don't really think it's something to be scared about, as i said, it already exists, and noone is using it to come afetr you now, so why would they just cause they got new tools?
With the current technology, "they" (whoever they are) could easily come after you, but if they haven't they prolly doesn't have a reason to do so.

 

[Chani07]

Spoiler

I don't see why articifial enahncements should be a problem.
We already have artificial replacement for lots of stuff, glasses/lenses/corrective eye surgery ehances subpar eyes, artificial hips/knees etc. replace broken/inefficient ones.
Pace makers fix broken hearts (in the non-poetic sense)

Theres drugs that enhances muscle growth, reduces fattigue, reduces pain, increases concentration etc.

Theres plastic surgery and body-modding like tattoos, piercings, and some of the examples from the video that'll alter peoples looks.

Are these people less human?

We already have the stuff, it's just taking steps forward all the time.

Same actually goes for both biometrics.
DNA and fingerprints are beeing used, nkt just by the police, lots of computers have fingerprint readers, the kinect have facial recognition and mood recognition, the airports and borders already use passports, so it's just a matter of having an easier, more efficient way to do what is already beeing done.

And for global mapping.
Scientists are tracking everything from temperature, sea levels, animal populations, human populations, use of electricity, migration, birthrate, weather, income, money spend etc.
Your credit card usage is beeing tracked, your cell phone usage is beeing tracked, your internet usage is beeing tracked.

So i don't see how any of this stuff is new or ground-breakingly sci-fi-ish, it's just steps forward in a direction alrady taken.

I will agree with you. However, biometrics and global mapping freak the shit out of me. Then again, that doesn't stop me from using the internet to search all sorts of weird stuff or using my cell, in general. Or most people, for that matter.

I don't really think it's something to be scared about, as i said, it already exists, and noone is using it to come afetr you now, so why would they just cause they got new tools?
With the current technology, "they" (whoever they are) could easily come after you, but if they haven't they prolly doesn't have a reason to do so.

Haha, yeah, i know you're right. But i'm just a little paranoid.

 

[Om Nom Nom]

As long as you feel and imagine; you are human. The moment you lose those... you're nothing more than a machine.

Spoiler: Now gimmie that wings upgrade!

Now gimmie that wings upgrade!

 

[Realitycrash]

In the past few days, i've encountered a few topics about transhumanism. I'm talking about human enhancement, augmentations, cybernetic implants, mechanical limbs, and so on.

Here is an article about how the EU confronts this issue through a program called Technolife.
http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/28/eu-confronts-transhumanism-with-technolife-project-video/

But what i want to ask is: what do you think about it? How do you see the future from this point of view?

Ever heard of body-ascension? It's pretty much the same as Transhumanism, mostly concerned with scarring, branding, piercings, tattoos, but also thinks like the "lizard-skin" some people have adapted to them (through surgery) or fitting spikes underneath their skin as "hair" on the head.
If we had cybernetic technology, very close to how it looks in cyberpunk, or Splicing (altering your genes to grow new body-functions), I would do it.

Yeah, i've heard of it and seen pics and a documentary as well. I have the same opinion about it as i have about transhumanism: people can do whatever they like with their bodies. If they don't survive it (in any way), tough luck. And yes, up to a point, i believe in the survival of the fittest. But only up to a point.

Not about Darwinism, more about trying to become more than you are, in as many ways as possible. There are mental components to it as well. I study philosophy, for instance.
Most forms of body-ascension don't affect your way to function in any way (an exception might the people with lizard-tongues, which affects your sense of taste I would imagine).

That is why i said in any way. I know that this kind of stuff goes beyond the body changes.
But i do really believe that some people would not be able to adapt emotionally/mentally to these kind of changes. Hell, they don't do it in everyday situations.
I may be wrong but this is how i see it/feel about it.

People who can't adapt to it won't strive to "ascend" ^^

 

[Akiada]

All for it, myself. I feel it's only the natural continuation of a trend humanity has been following for pretty much as long as it's existed. We're a tool using species and we regulate our environment, adapting it to our needs rather than us adapting to it like non-tool-using species. It's only natural that as time goes on we'd start to modify our most persistent and useful of tools - our own bodies - and regulate that internal environment.

Biology will always out compete mechanics and cybernetics in my view, the human brain is far more complex and powerful then any super computer ever made, biology is adaptive and far more mallable then cybernetics. Which is why if modding the human body comes around it will be by genetics rather then augmentation by bionic components. But to be honest why change what we are? Evolution has created us this way so why change what fundamentally makes us, us. Changing a defective gene is fine but make it that a human has a 3rd arm or something like that is stupid.

The body's an incredible machine, but it's still unoptimized. We can rebuild it - stronger, better, faster. There's so much junk in our genes and DNA from the ages we've been developing, we even have (to a small degree) bits that are entirely useless or that can become harmful (See: Wisdom Teeth).

Evolution is not some grand master designer. It's adaptation and nothing more.

 

[gostlyfantom]

if you got fucked by the gene pool or simply wish to change a little somthin somethin you should be allowed... also I want to zoom in with my eyes.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Transhumanism? Potentially wonderful.

Sony's EULA on my replacement knee?
Fuuuuuu.....

Now there's a nightmare example.

"You don't own that, knee, you're only renting it from Sony!"

 

[Chemical Alia]

I'm all for it. I've been holding off on wrist fusions/carpal bone removals for years in the hopes that some kind of wrist replacement may be an option. But the typical ethical arguments against physical/mental augmentation by technological means seem so silly.