Transcript Lec 23 PowerPoint

Kenn Brown art

"I believe in
transhumanism:
...once there are enough
people who can truly say that,
the human species will be on
the threshold of a new kind of
existence, as different from
ours as ours is from that of
Peking man. It will at last be
consciously fulfilling its real
destiny.“
Julian Huxley
1957
Narcissus

…in love with his
own reflection…
Technological Revolutions...
Agricultural Revolution 12,000 BCE
 Industrial Revolution
18th C
 Computer Revolution
20th C

○ Nanotechnology
○ Cybernetics

Transhuman Revolution ????
Technological enhancement
Technological enhancement
Technological enhancement
Technological enhancement
Science Fiction…
Science Fiction…
Science Fiction…
Science Fiction…
Science Fiction…
RFDI
RFDI
Transhumanism (H+) is an…

…intellectual and cultural movement that
affirms the possibility and desirability of
fundamentally transforming the human
condition by developing and making widely
available technologies to eliminate aging
and to greatly enhance human intellectual,
physical, and psychological capacities.
(wikipedia)
Transhumanism (H+) is...

Some Transhumanists argue that we
have a moral obligation to help the
human race transcend its biological
limits.
Transhumanism (H+) is...

Some Transhumanists argue that we
have a moral obligation to help the
human race transcend its biological
limits.
Transhumanism (H+) is...
Defeating death?
 Cheating death?


Naysayers….
Bio-Luddites
Bio-conservatives
Transhumanism is a philosophy

…the ethics of human biotechnology or
genetic engineering is one of the most
important cultural issues of our time….
of your time!
Transhumanism is a moral issue
A Posthuman is...

a hypothetical future being "whose basic
capacities so radically exceed those of
present humans as to be no longer
unambiguously human by our current
standards."
A Posthuman is...

a hypothetical future being "whose basic
capacities so radically exceed those of
present humans as to be no longer
unambiguously human by our current
standards."
A Posthuman is...

a hypothetical future being "whose basic
capacities so radically exceed those of
present humans as to be no longer
unambiguously human by our current
standards."
Posthuman...
Transhuman?
Who’s afraid of a little chimera?
Aims of Transhumanism….

Increase in human health span (more than
merely life span)

Extension of intellectual and physical
capacities

Control of our mental states and moods
Singularity: the technological
creation of smarter-than-human
intelligence.

Hal, the thinking, talking computer in Kubrick's
1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, shows all
the capabilities of a human intelligence –
including the ability to feel threatened, to
protect territory, to disobey and kill. But to
many people what made it most human-like
was its reaction to impending "death"
Bioconservatives…

Are opposed to the use of technology to
modify human nature

Believe that human enhancement
technologies will undermine human
dignity (i.e. be dehumanizing)

Argue for public control of such
technologies
Two fears…

Posthumans might
harm themselves

Posthumans might
harm ‘ordinary’ humans
Ray Bradbury

"I don’t try to describe the
future. I try to prevent it."
-- Ray Bradbury

What does he mean?
Transhumanism:
Carpe Diem or Playing God?
Transhumanism:
Carpe Diem or Playing God?
Transhumanism:
Carpe Diem or Playing God?

The Epic of
Gilgamesh dates
from the 3rd
millennium BCE
and is one of the
finest surviving
epic poems in
world literature.
Singularity
“Singularity...
the point at which
technological
advancement will
become so rapid
that the possibilities
will become
endless...”
Coming to a college near you...
Rutger’s University (New Jersey)
 The course requires no
science or technology
background and is
recommended for students
with an art, humanities or
business focus as well as
anyone who anticipates
working in a high technology
or science-based industry or
profession.
The ‘singularity’ is coming…
Based on 21st C advances in
genetics
 nanotechnology
 robotics (including artificial
intelligence)


http://www.innoeco.com/labels/Ray%20Kurzweil.html
Transhumanism is a philosophy

…the ethics of human biotechnology or
genetic engineering is one of the most
important cultural issues of our time….
of your time!
Transhumanism is a moral issue
Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AY0RFYzsKk&feature=player_embedded
Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

Transhumanism and civil liberties...
Technological self-determination
 Reproduction
 Cognition
 Gender re-assignment
 End of life technology

Chimera

In Mythology
Parahuman...
"human-animal hybrids"


The Young Family 2002-3
Artist: Patricia Piccinini

At Stanford University in California,
experiments aim to create mice with
human brains.
Relationship between eugenics
and transhumanism...
Perfecting the human race
Humanity as a work in progress
 Enlightenment thinking
 Evolution

The Battleground?
The Battleground?
Clones
 Designer babies
 Spare parts babies
 Deaf babies for deaf
parents

Designer Babies....
Anna Salamon:
Research fellow at the
Singularity Institute
for Artificial Intelligence

The stakes around artificial intelligence
are the entire world and its future.
○
http://www.vimeo.com/7318055
What do you think?

Should we aid in our own evolution?

Should we leave it up to nature?

Who should decide?

Who can decide?
Transhumanists vs. Bioconservatives
Carpe Diem or Playing God?
Designer Babies...
Gattaca: Trailer
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr1IB9RVE_U&feature=related
Gattaca: Anton’s birth:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok3YjypQ-84
Designer Babies - Comments by Princeton professor Lee Silver
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN9ep4B9Hw0
Designer babies CBS
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDLa3Jlc&NR=1&feature=fvwp
60 minutes: Gender selection instead of disease eradication?
 http://www.fertility-docs.com/htmldocs/Video_60Min-B.html
CSI New York:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kefoIXnLAN0&NR=1&feature=fvwp