Why I am a Transhumanist
Wikipedia defines humanism as “a group of philosophies and ethical perspectives which emphasize the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers individual thought and evidence (rationalism,empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism)”.
I’m not going to provide Wikipedia’s definition of Transhumanism, but instead provide my own, as it helps define why I’ve chosen to adopt the philosophy for myself. Transhumanism is a subset of humanism which also emphasizes the value of human beings, individually and collectively and which recognizes that the best way to improve the human condition is via the application of and continuing acceleration of science and technology.
The “trans” part of Transhumanism is the recognition that humanity is, and has been since we began using tools, in a state of transition from our natural state (whatever that was, certainly pre-technology if there ever was such a period) to a state in which technology renders us no longer identifiably human. This after state is commonly referred to as Posthumanity. Science and its application via technology are the forces which are driving humanity along this transition.
Most Transhumanists feel this transition is inevitable for most of humanity as has our transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers to urban city dwellers to the “connected human” we are today as described by Scoble and Israel in “The Age of Context” — in the 21st century, we are connected to each other and the bulk of humanity’s knowledge in profound and unprecedented ways. Of course this transition isn’t evenly distributed amongst all of humanity and there is still a sizable percentage of people living in squalor, but the fact that all but the bottom billion of humans own a mobile phone shows that this interconnectedness is steadily spreading.
Most Transhumanists feel that technology has steadily improved the human condition, and that this steady transition is a good thing. For most of the history of civilization, slavery was a basic fact. Most large and successful civilizations relied heavily on slavery to improve the lives of their citizens. As Matt Ridley showed in his 2010 book “The Rational Optimist,” it was technology itself that finally rendered slavery obsolete for the vast majority of humanity, primarily by greatly increasing the amount of work that can be done without humans — first via tools, then animals, to steam, and then electricity. Technology has also allowed most of us to live with luxuries like air conditioning, refrigerated foods, electrical lighting, very low infant mortality rates, and other things that were only sometimes available to the most wealthy even just one hundred years ago.
I am a Transhumanist because I believe that this transition is inevitable and I think it represents the best chance of lifting the rest of humanity out of extreme poverty and has great potential to increase everyone’s general well being without needing to rely on revolutionary and oftentimes violent political changes. I’m also convinced that technology is the only useful tool we have to repair most of the damage we have done to our planet. Humanity is on the cusp of radical, almost unbelievable technological change which, if we keep our eyes open to risk and opportunities, can guarantee all of us the basic necessities of life and comfort at very little cost.
