Advantages And Disadvantages Of Being A Transhumanist

Max Moore (1990), a philosopher and transhumanist, defines transhumanism as “a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-prompting principles and values”. Other transhumanists view it as, “a way of thinking about the future that is based on the premise that we the human species in our current form do not represent the end of our development but a comparatively early phase” (Transhumanist FAQ 1998). They also believe that the evolution of technology is the only way we can move beyond what we think of as “human” (Transhumanist FAQ 1998). In this society that is increasingly dependent on advanced technology, one wonders if the idea of transhumanism portrayed by science fiction and technology make us inhuman. Aren’t we tempering with the natural order of things we know? What is human in the days of virtual realities? This study will discuss

Uniqueness amongst each other makes us Human. In Closer this uniqueness is described as, “… the alien, the unknowable, the mysterious, the opaque” (Greg Egan, 1990). Technology takes that away from us by destroying the idea of the mysterious nature of our souls. It unifies us and makes us all look the same, talk the same and worse, think the same. Moreover this constant need to be the same drives us to loneliness and incompetence. Furthermore, Michael emphasizes a point of how the constant need to evolve makes one feel lonely and less unique. He further says, “Without this, one might as well be talking to themselves.” In the text, a range of inventions were explored by Michael and Sian with the mission of being closer to one another. The closer they became, the lonelier each of them felt. The human idea still stands, “No one wants to spend eternity alone” (Michael, Egan