“… an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes, and ameliorate what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as stupidity, suffering, disease, ageing and involuntary death.” (Bostrom 2005)
Video 1: Discovery Documentary HD Channel. “Bionics, Transhumanism, and the end of Evolution Full Documentary 360p” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 17 March. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
I believe that people have their own rights to enhance
their intellectual, physical and psychological capacities through the
technology. A famous biotech entrepreneur, Gregory Stock claims that our
future is not to try and hold back these advanced technologies but to try and
use it in a way that making our life better. If our next generations can be
more intelligent, healthier or even live longer lives through altering our
genetics, why would we refuse it? (Discovery
Documentary HD Channel 2014)
However, Max More demonstrates that, “Transhumanism is
a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of
the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human
limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting
principles and values.” (More 1990)
Human is much less specialised than most species in
the animal kingdom. Our hearing and eyesight are not amongst the best nor our
speed and strength. But humans are natural-born scientists. This results us to
make use of our imagination to invent things. Therefore, human beings have been
reshaping our external environment, to form a world that supports our kind. Transhumanists
hope that we shall manage to become posthuman by the responsible use of
knowledge of science and technology that can give us the ability to do things
better. (Bostrom, 2005)
 |
Life is unfair. Some are born intelligent, beautiful
and rich while some born deaf, sick or even without limbs. People with
disabilities are suffering from the activity limitations and participation
restrictions in their daily life. In this new era of technology, we can improve
the human condition especially the disabilities by inventing advanced
technologies that not only can fix them into a normal person but a technology
that can develop them into a being with greater capabilities than present human
beings have. As noted by Robert A. Freitas Jr., “The enhancement options
being discussed include radical extension of human health-span, eradication of
disease, elimination of unnecessary suffering, and augmentation of human
intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities.”
(Freitas 1999) A great example of transhuman is Bertolt Meyer, who is fitted
with a sophisticated I-limb bionic hand. He stated that technology will goes
beyond our biological nature in the future but humans will also be facing
technical challenges in getting to that stage. (Honigsbaum
2013)
 |
| Figure 2: The future of robotics: in a transhuman world, the disabled will be the ones without prosthetic limbs. Available from <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/16/future-robotics-bionic-limbs-disabled> |
However, I do not agree that transhumanism is life-extension
or immortalism that can make humans lives forever. I see the transhumanism
project as one that simply is a way of improving the human condition and capability,
which leads us to a better lifestyle and future. In my opinion, the concept of
‘transhumanism’ is like the concept of ‘humanism’, which involve in a
philosophy of life and human action. It is a next stage of evolution for
mankind with debating collection of ideas about society, aims, and the best way
to live.
REFERENCES:
Honigsbaum, Mark. (2013) The future of robotics: in a transhuman world, the disabled will be the ones without prosthetic limbs. [Online] June 16. Available from <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/16/future-robotics-bionic-limbs-disabled> (Oct 21)
Video:
Discovery Documentary HD Channel. “Bionics, Transhumanism, and the end of Evolution Full Documentary 360p” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 17 March. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Information:
Honigsbaum, Mark. (2013) The future of robotics: in a transhuman world, the disabled will be the ones without prosthetic limbs. [Online] June 16. Available from <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/16/future-robotics-bionic-limbs-disabled> (Oct 21)
Bostrom, Nick: ‘A history of transhumanist thought’ 2005 [Online] Available <http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf > (21 Oct, 2014)
Bostrom, Nick: ‘Transhumanist Values’ 2005 [Online] Available <http://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/transhumanist-values.pdf > (21 Oct, 2014)
More, Max: ‘Towards a Futurist Philosophy’ 1990 [Online] Available from: <http://www.futurology.it/Documentazione/Transhumanism%20-%20Toward%20a%20Futurist%20Philosophy.pdf > (Oct 21, 2014)
Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume 1: Basic Capabilities (Georgetown, Tex.: Landes Bioscience, 1999).
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