>> ^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.

>> ^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. =)

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.

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.

see... no homers allowed in the transhumanism club

Your video, What is Transhumanism and why do Christians Not Like It?, has made it into the Top 30 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

>> ^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.

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.

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.

>> ^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".

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.

transhumanism at work.

praise... us!

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

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

^ I agree - that's why we need to meet the stellar community as worthy partners. - To do this we need to embrace Transhumanism. We're not evolving anymore - so we have to pull our species up on our own. Eugenics, genetic modification or computer augmentation.

Human beings need to be the boot loader for a much, much larger intelligence. We're barely sentient.