The Lifeboat Foundation has a special report detailing their view of the top ten transhumanist technologies that have some probability of 25 to 30-year availability. Transhumanism is a movement devoted to using technologies to transcend biology and enhance human capabilities.
I am going to list out each of the ten technologies described in the report, provide my own assessment of high, medium, or low probability or mass-market availability by a given time horizon, and link to prior articles written on The Futurist about the subject.
10. Cryonics : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate
I can see the value in someone who is severely maimed or crippled opting to freeze themselves until better technologies become available for full restoration. But outside of that, the problem with cryonics is that very few young people will opt to risk missing their present lives to go into freezing, and elderly people can only benefit after revival when or if age-reversal technologies become available. Since going into cryonic freezing requires someone else to decide when to revive you, and any cryonic 'will' may not anticipate numerous future variables that could complicate execution of your instructions, this is a bit too risky, even if it were possible.
9. Virtual Reality : 2012 - Moderate, 2020 - High
The Technological Progression of Video Games
The Next Big Thing in Entertainment, Part I, II, and III
The Mainstreaming of Virtual Reality
8. Gene Therapy : 2015 - Moderate, 2025 - High
The good news here is that gene sequencing techniques continue to become faster due to the computers used in the process themselves benefiting from Moore's Law. In the late 1980s, it was thought that the human genome would take decades to sequence. It ended up taking only years by the late 1990s, and today, would take only months. Soon, it will be cost-effective for every middle-class person to get their own personal genome sequenced, and get customized medicines made just for them.
Are you Prepared to Live to 100?
7. Space Colonization : 2025 - Low, 2050 - Moderate
While this is a staple premise of most science fiction, I do not think that space colonization may ever take the form that is popularly imagined. Technology #2 on this list, mind uploading, and technology #5, self-replicating robots, will probably appear sooner than any capability to build cities on Mars. Thus, a large spaceship and human crew becomes far less efficient than entire human minds loaded into tiny or even microscopic robots that can self-replicate. A human body may never visit another star system, but copies of human minds could very well do so.
Nonetheless, if other transhumanist technologies do not happen, advances in transportation speed may enable space exploration in upcoming centuries.
6. Cybernetics : 2015 - High
Artificial limbs, ears, and organs are already available, and continue to improve. Artificial and enhanced muscle, skin, and eyes are not far.
5. Autonomous Self-Replicating Robots : 2030 - Moderate
This is a technology that is frightening, due to the ease at which humans could be quickly driven to extinction through a malfunction that replicates rouge robots. Assuming a disaster does not occur, this is the most practical means of space exploration and colonization, particular if the robots contain uploads of human minds, as per #2.
4. Molecular Manufacturing : 2020 - Moderate, 2030 - High
This is entirely predictable through the Milli, Micro, Nano, Pico curves.
3. Megascale Engineering (in space) : 2040 - Moderate
From the Great Wall of China in ancient times to Dubai's Palm Islands today, man-made structures are already visible from space. But to achieve transhumanism, the same must be done in space. Eventually, elevators extending hundreds of miles into space, space stations much larger than the current ISS (240 feet), and vast orbital solar reflectors will be built. But, as stated in item #7, I don't think true megascale projects (over 1000 km in width) will happen before other transhumanist technologies render the need for them obsolete.
2. Mind Uploading : 2050 - Moderate
This is what I believe to be the most important technology on this list. Today, when a person's hardware dies, their software in the form of their thoughts, memories, and humor, necessarily must also die. This is impractical in a world where software files in the form of video, music, spreadsheets, documents, etc. can be copied to an indefinite number of hardware objects.
If human thoughts can reside on a substrate other than human brain matter, then the 'files' can be backed up. That is all there is to it.
1. Artificial General Intelligence : 2050 - Moderate
This is too vast of a subject to discuss here. Some evidence of progress appears in unexpected places, such as when, in 1997, IBM's Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov in a chess game. Ray Kurzweil believes that an artificial intelligence will pass the Turing Test (a bellwether test of AI) by 2029. We will have to wait and see, but expect the unexpected, when you least expect it.
Original post:
The Futurist: The Top Ten Transhumanist Technologies
- Human Genetic Enhancements - A Transhumanist Perspective - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
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- 10 Insights from The Transhumanist Wager, with Zoltan Istvan - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
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- TRANSHUMANIST AGENDA: Eliminate Suffering? - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Transhumanist Propaganda as Entertainment - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- TRANSHUMANIST AGENDA: Lab Rats - Rise of the Secret Soldiers - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
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- Africa, Shamanism and The Transhumanist Future with Kilindi Iyi - Video - March 5th, 2015 [March 5th, 2015]
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- Chappie Satanic Illuminati Transhumanist Agenda EXPOSED - Video - March 12th, 2015 [March 12th, 2015]
- Reply To Face Like The Sun Transhumanist video - Video - March 14th, 2015 [March 14th, 2015]
- Apple Watch Exposed! NWO Conspiracy to Popularize Useless Product for Promoting Transhumanist Agenda - Video - March 14th, 2015 [March 14th, 2015]
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- Tranhumanist CEO Wants to Help You Live Forever - March 16th, 2015 [March 16th, 2015]
- Hottest tech at South by Southwest: FireChat, 'mind cloning' - March 18th, 2015 [March 18th, 2015]
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- Satanic Illuminati Super Soldier Captain America & MK Ultra Transhumanist Winter Soldier EXPOSED 108 - Video - March 20th, 2015 [March 20th, 2015]
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- The Everyday Transhumanist | Solve all the Problems! - March 22nd, 2015 [March 22nd, 2015]
- Chappie Satanic Illuminati Transhumanist Agenda EXPOSED 1080p - Video - March 22nd, 2015 [March 22nd, 2015]
- Transhumanist Advert ~ Usain Bolt March 19 2015 - Video - March 22nd, 2015 [March 22nd, 2015]
- TRANSHUMANIST AGENDA The End of Religion and Review of Lab Rats 720p - Video - March 22nd, 2015 [March 22nd, 2015]
- TRANSHUMANIST AGENDA Lab Rats Rise of the Secret Soldiers 720p - Video - March 22nd, 2015 [March 22nd, 2015]
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- Anticipating tomorrows politics, and introducing the Transhumanist Party - Video - March 25th, 2015 [March 25th, 2015]
- EUCACH: Melanie Vritschan homage to Dr Rauni Kilde, whistleblower against Transhumanist Agenda - Video - March 27th, 2015 [March 27th, 2015]
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- Normal day in transhumanist life - Video - April 9th, 2015 [April 9th, 2015]
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- Transhumanist Party - Transcending human limitations - Video - April 11th, 2015 [April 11th, 2015]
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- Why Im Running for President As the Transhumanist Candidate - May 8th, 2015 [May 8th, 2015]
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- Transhumanism and the Technological Singularity - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
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- Nick Bostrom's Home Page - December 21st, 2016 [December 21st, 2016]
- U.S. Navy Held Meetings With Transhumanist to Discuss ... - December 22nd, 2016 [December 22nd, 2016]
- H+: True Transhumanism - Essentials | Metanexus - January 12th, 2017 [January 12th, 2017]
- About | Mormon Transhumanist Association - January 12th, 2017 [January 12th, 2017]
- The Transhumanist Wager - amazon.com - January 15th, 2017 [January 15th, 2017]
- An interview with Zoltan Istvan, leader of the Transhumanist ... - January 24th, 2017 [January 24th, 2017]
- Filthy Assistance: Revisiting 'Transmetropolitan: Lust for Life' - ComicsAlliance - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Meet the Body Hacker Trying to Become a Human Vibrator - Gizmodo - Gizmodo - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Editor's Picks #463 - Archinect - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Stunning Transhumanism Dominates New 'Ghost in the Shell' Trailer - Inverse - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Transhumanist politician wants to run for governor of California - Engadget - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Why Elon Musk's transhumanism claims may not be that far-fetched - Wired.co.uk - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Mark O'Connell's Journey Among the Immortalists - The Ringer (blog) - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Zoltan Istvan, Nick Bostrom, and the Anti-Aging Quest - The Atlantic - The Atlantic - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Are We Mature Enough to Deal with Climate Change? - Yahoo News - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Wow! Really? The Hungarian-American Transhumanist Who Wants to Become a CyborgAnd Live Forever - Hungary Today - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Transhumanists, biohackers, grinders: Who are they and can they really live forever? - ABC Online - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- 'They want to be literally machines' : Writer Mark O'Connell on the rise of transhumanists - The Verge - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- 'To Be A Machine' Digs Into The Meaning Of Humanity - NPR - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- The Transhumanist's Quest for Godhood: 'Remember, Thou Art Mortal' - CNSNews.com - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Top 5 Transhumanist Technologies With Major Implications ... - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Michael O'Connor : Does He See Himself being a Transhumanist? - Mobile Magazine - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
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