Tags for this video have been changed from 'Transhumanism, Singularity, Denis Alexander, Posthuman, Transhuman' to 'Transhumanism, Singularity, Denis Alexander, Posthuman, Transhuman, insight' - edited by kronosposeidon

I am now a Transhumanist. I am excited by this new label. It sounds attractive and it makes sense to me as a philosophy.

Yet again videosift has plus oned my powers.

I'm a Chaotic Good Half-Elven Warrior-Mage.

"Whine whine whine... Christianity is better 'cause our bodies will still be made of meat... whine"

I'll go for it! As a posthuman, I can finally marry siftbot! Damn you religious people, for trying to block my attempts to marry the one I love!

*talks

Adding video to channels (Talks) - requested by Ornthoron.

This fellow speaks as if the two philosophies are mutually exclusive, which they are not. There has been a dialogue developing between Christian and Transhumanist organizations since around 2003, focusing on their shared belief that we exist in a "transcendent reality directed by something greater than humanity". For Christians that reality is defined as God, and for transhumanism that reality is defined as the evolutionary force of the universe.

But writers such as Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest who began writing in support of a Christian-contextualized evolution, have been exploring the relationship of these two forces, suggesting that there can be a reconciliation in meaning derived on a spiritual level (that is, a level deeper than intellectual understanding) that the natural system of evolution is a guiding force that has the potential to redeem humanity as well as define its origins.

There's plenty of reading material available if anyone is interested in the subject.

^ That's an interesting philosophy - the idea that random chance has an ultimate destination. It's neither purpose nor lack of purpose. But I don't know that it makes sense to single out humanity, when considering the massive nature of such a system one would be talking about. Seems, instead, that a natural system of evolution would "redeem" existence itself, encompassing the entire system. Also, redeem likely isn't even remotely the correct word.

>> ^braindonut:
^ But I don't know that it makes sense to single out humanity, when considering the massive nature of such a system one would be talking about.


The reason why it makes sense to single out humanity, as Chardin focuses on in his book The Phenomenon of Man, is because humanity is the point where evolution becomes self-aware, where evolution extends beyond biology and into thought or consciousness, as evidenced by the accelerating cultural and technological developments in culture and civilization. Humanity is a critical stage of evolution that signifies the transition from a genetic-based system to a consciousness-based system: the posthuman.

Also, the reason I used the word redeem was to sort of tie some Christian verbiage into the explanation. Transhumanism recognizes that the human being is an evolutionary work-in-progress, that many of its shortcomings -- both physical and moral -- are due to outdated biological forms that dictate our behavior and our mortality. Perhaps a more precise word would be "rescue" or "save".

50 points to>>>>>mkknry for mentioning teilhard d chardin.

well,this is a new twist.i have never heard of "transhumanism" before.
i thought this video would be about carl jung.
absolutely delightful!/claps hands
the ideology of man expanding past his mortal coil and perhaps reaching something far greater.maybe even eventually reaching a point to touch and commune with god,is not a new ideology.
it is perhaps the oldest.
now we have people who wish to use technology to speed that process up?
brilliant.

OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An interesting fictional book on the subject of transhumanism and the singularity is Accelerando by Charles Stross (available free, here: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/accelerando/).

If a fraction of the things he predicts comes true, I would ditch this body in a second.

since the evolutionary force is not a christian god, i am not allowing any christians into the new club unless they invent technology that i can use. sorry. no homers.

I think technology that improves physical performance will become more widely accepted as people with disabilities start surpassing the abilities of "normal" people.

Eventually prosthetic legs will be faster than natural legs, an cochlear implants will provide better hearing than a normal person without them. People with "moral" objection to body amplification will have a hard time arguing that people with disabilities shouldn't have access to such performance, and normal people will want access to a "level playing field".

By the time it is available it will seem fairly natural.

>> ^enoch:
the ideology of man expanding past his mortal coil and perhaps reaching something far greater.maybe even eventually reaching a point to touch and commune with god,is not a new ideology.
it is perhaps the oldest.


Yes, you're right. This is why the transhumanist movement should do its best to be inclusive to spiritual traditions outside of secular humanism. There is much inspiration as well as understanding to be derived from mystical texts and traditions. There even exists a whole school of evolutionary posthumanism that predates the rise of integrated circuits. Writers and spiritualists such as Sri Aurobindo were considering the implications of the next stage in consciousness before Gordon Moore was even born. Therefore, transhumanists should not be presentists when considering the value of spirituality in the discourse over the future of humanity.

More than a transhumanist, I consider myself a Cosmist. The Cosmist perspective comes from the notion that the end of the Universe is the only limit for Consciousness.

Transhumanism and religion share some common motivations (eternal life, an existence far better than the current one, etc), but they are not that similar beyond that.

Religion in built around untestable ideas, such as finding eternal life by worshiping invisible entities. Transhumanism is built around the application of technology, which is inherently testable.

If religious people want to use technology to enhance their minds and bodies then that is fine with me, but I don't see any reason for secular transhumanists to welcome superstition into their worldview.

http://www.dansdata.com/gz092.htm

It seems guaranteed that each religion will split, with their reasonable wings adapting, and their luddite wings becoming isolated from mainstream society, similar to the Amish.

Moderates will adapt because, in the end, people are practical, and they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.

.

Some atheists may actually start believing in a higher power once they're half-lemur & half 9V-battery powered, tentacled soup can.

>> ^LooiXIV:
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.

I do not care what the religious freaks think, as long as they stay out of the way of technological development.

glad to see this being discussed more often. I'm a futurist and hope to eventually be transhuman, which will definitly be possible to an extent within my life time. go kurzweil!

>> ^LooiXIV:
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.


I'd say one of the best animes out there for sure

>> ^yourhydra:
>> ^LooiXIV:
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.

I'd say one of the best animes out there for sure



The series is better than the movie, imo. =)

There's no real difference in what people want. Just the packaging.

Is your new eternal body made from God's magic, or grown in a vat immune from flaws or disease? Does your life have more meaning if the new body is the reward?

You want heaven - made of gold in the clouds? or an immersive virtual reality cloud-hosted?

I think Fredric Brown said it best in "Answers"

>> ^chilaxe:
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.


That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.

>> ^Lodurr:
>> ^chilaxe:
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.

That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.


William Gibson, man. Neuromancer tells this story. This conversation reminded me of that book.

Title is silly. No theist/believer is 'scared' of transhumanism or any other contrary set of teachings. That's a conceit only held by people attempting to make themselves feel more important than they really are.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
Title is silly. No theist/believer is 'scared' of transhumanism or any other contrary set of teachings. That's a conceit only held by people attempting to make themselves feel more important than they really are.



Just like they aren't afraid of gay marriage and marijuana?

>> ^Lodurr:
>> ^chilaxe:
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.

That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.



It isn't something to get upset about. If I had access to a calculator and the internet then I could ace just about any IQ test in existence. That doesn't mean I have the innate abilities of Einstein, but if I were using today's tech on an IQ test then I'm pretty sure I could score better than he could without it.

Tech will certainly progress from there, but in a sense we are already on the edge of being transhuman. It sounds foreign when people speak about what may happen multiple decades from now, but it would have sounded the same if you had described today's tech 30 years ago. It would have sounded like a huge leap, but in reality it happened little by little, in a fairly natural progression.

I'm still waiting for my flying car. Get to fucking work on what's important.

Just like they aren't afraid of gay marriage and marijuana?

Nope. Religions aren't afraid of sin. Wrong attitude. They are saddened by the result of sins, and the misery they bring on those who commit them.

>> ^rottenseed:
I'm still waiting for my flying car. Get to fucking work on what's important.


Already happened. Didn't you get the memo?

*promote

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, May 8th, 2009 3:31pm PDT - promote requested by EDD.

I support transhuman, transgender, gay and lesbian rights!

Can transhuman's marry? Are they granted the same rights of humans? Do they get to vote? Can they work and provide shared medical benefits for other transhumans living on the same hard disk?

Transmetropolitan best comix BTW