Transhumanism

[Mr. Gorilla]

I've always found the implications of transhumanism to be a fascinating topic. What are your thoughts on it?

In my opinion, I feel as though it goes hand-in-hand with anarchism. What possible desire would a society of ageless, super-intelligent post-humans hold for such petty things such as the state, social hierarchy, or currency? I'm optimistic about the future technological/scientific progress holds; I highly doubt "transhumanist" technology will be reserved for the elite. Such things can't be hidden from the many by the few for so long, considering how fast technology evolves.

I believe--well, I hope--that it will quickly become available to the masses, and when it does, social change will occur at such an incredibly fast pace that pure socialism will finally arise, without the need for full-scale war, and capitalism will become a dead artifact of the past.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

In my opinion, I feel as though it goes hand-in-hand with anarchism. What possible desire would a society of ageless, super-intelligent post-humans hold for such petty things such as the state, social hierarchy, or currency? I'm optimistic about the future technological/scientific progress holds; I highly doubt "transhumanist" technology will be reserved for the elite. Such things can't be hidden from the many by the few for so long, considering how fast technology evolves.

That is the hope, but we must do more than hope - we must struggle for the widest access to technology for the greatest amount of people. Our approach to human enhancement should resemble our approach to education.


I believe--well, I hope--that it will quickly become available to the masses, and when it does, social change will occur at such an incredibly fast pace that pure socialism will finally arise, without the need for full-scale war, and capitalism will become a dead artifact of the past.

I suspect that even if the wildest dreams of technogenic post-scarcity advocates come true, capitalism will not go gentle into that good night. I consider the current palaver over digital media piracy and the current changes in the sphere of intellectual property to be a "dry run" for any new phase of industrial development along post-scarcity lines. Stuff like iTunes is symptomatic of the capitalist price system's desperate attempts to have its cake and eat it, so to speak. They want technological development because it opens up new markets even as it undermines others; as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, the easier it becomes to create situations of material abundance.

But if you look at the news, it isn't technological development that is shaking things up, but socioeconomic development; the current crisis of capitalism is a chronic condition that seems to have gotten worse over the past quarter-century.

In short, technology may help wipe out capitalism in the long run, but sociology will get there first.