Transhumanism and Disability by Elizabeth Synclair - FurCon 2013
Weaving together both wit and wonder on this panel at the Further Confusion Conference,[1] Elizabeth Synclair,[2] intern at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network,[3] speaks eloquently about the relationship between transhumanist culture, disability culture, and the parallels that relationship has to myriad aspects of our society mdash;even in places one may not expect. "Transhumanists are transhuman, but so are a lot of other cultures, a lot of other people," Elizabeth says, citing examples that range from science fiction authors to trans* people. "I #39;m not necessarily talking about surgery or hormones," she explains. "I #39;m talking about pronoun changing. I #39;m talking about modifying the way that the world perceives and interacts with you based on a dream that you have for how you would like to be interacted with." Elizabeth argues that beyond merely hoping for a better tomorrow, transhumanist ideals are present and relevant to various facets of society today. She provides an overview of one particular example from the disability rights movement: The "normative [model] says, #39;You #39;re too different, be like the normal thing. #39; [The descriptive model] says, #39;You have these traits. Okay, what do you want to do with them? What other traits do you want to have? What are your goals? #39; I think that #39;s better." "I think our society is one that is deficient in dreams. And I #39;m so happy that I #39;ve fallen in among the dreamers," Elizabeth says. "Too few people feel like they are allowed to try ...
By: maymaym
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Transhumanism and Disability by Elizabeth Synclair - FurCon 2013 - Video