More Transhuman than Human | theVAULTmagazine

BY MARY WARREN

Humans have evolved into a state of self-ascribed superiority in comparison to the rest of the animal kingdom, so what is the next rung on the ladder of humanity? Transhumanists believe its to shed the human condition with the help of science and technology.

Transhumanism is a movement aimed at transforming or modifying the human body and mind into something far more advanced. As a species, weve all had transhumanist thoughts at least once, where we imagined the benefits to being smarter, more athletic, or more psychologically stable. With the ideals of personal enhancement in mind, transhumanism seems like a logical and beneficial progression for humanity, but some naysayers warn that transhumanism could be one of the worlds most dangerous ideas.

On the exterior, the motives behind transhumanism appear to be fundamentally for the good, and humanitys desire for transhumanist progression can even be traced as far back as the tale of the quest for the fountain of youth. However, when ethics enters the field all the potential good has to be immediately questioned. Unlike many other movements, transhumanists dont value the preservation of natural systems and instead see the natural as problematic. Another glaring issue with transhumanism would be the division of people. Much like the division of social classes, transhumanism could create an unfair divide between the technologically enhanced and those who remain au naturel.

With a disregard for the natural state of humanity, those who choose (or could afford) to enhance themselves would be at a great advantage over those who chose to maintain their natural traits or simply couldnt afford to rise above the human condition. To draw from the wise words of Spidermans Uncle Ben With great power, comes great responsibility. However, we cant rely on an entire population to be as moral as Spider-man, especially when humans have a tendency to disregard those with a differing ideology.

It would be incredibly likely for the transhumanist class to feel a sense of superiority over their natural counterparts as warned by G. Annas, L. Andrews and R. Isasi in their paper Protecting the Endangered Human: Toward an International Treaty Prohibiting Cloning and Inheritable Alteration:

The new species, or posthuman, will likely view the old normal humans as inferior, even savages, and fit for slavery or slaughter. The normals, on the other hand, may see the post-humans as a threat and if they can, may engage in a pre-emptive strike by killing the post-humans before they themselves are killed or enslaved by them. It is ultimately this predictable potential for genocide that makes species-altering experiments potential weapons of mass destruction, and makes the unaccountable genetic engineer a potential bioterrorist.

Its also been argued that a transhumanist society would be left vulnerable due to a lack of the need for dissent and dissatisfaction. Physician, scientist and intellectual Leon Kass warns what will become of us if we decide to dehumanize ourselves:

The final technical conquest of his own nature would almost certainly leave mankind utterly enfeebled. This form of mastery would be identical with utter dehumanization. Read Huxleys Brave New World, read C. S. Lewiss Abolition of Man, read Nietzsches account of the last man, and then read the newspapers.

Homogenization, mediocrity, pacification, drug-induced contentment, debasement of taste, souls without loves and longingsthese are the inevitable results of making the essence of human nature the last project of technical mastery. In his moment of triumph, Promethean man will become a contented cow.

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More Transhuman than Human | theVAULTmagazine