Category Archives: Transhuman

"Your mind is software. Program it. Your body is a shell. Change it. Death is a disease. Cure it. Extinction is approaching. Fight it." Transhumans, sometimes called Posthumans, are people who have exceeded the normal mental and physical abilities. The "how" that happened can be anything from magic to science, the only thing that's common among all of them is that they are better than was possible before. Despite the name, species-wide artificial improvement is not actually limited to humans. Other species or entities that are enhanced count as well. A positive portrayal of transhumanism generally places a work on the Enlightenment side of the Romanticism Versus Enlightenment spectrum while a negative portrayal or conspicuous absence of it does the opposite. Proponents argue that transhumanism is an essential part of our future lives, because... Improving the nature of mankind is an inevitable extension of the scientific progress. Earth has already been altered greatly by civilization, and we're more likely to fail if we try to halt progress in its tracks rather than explore all of its possibilities. The physiology and mental capability of an human have not changed drastically in 100,000 years, while technology keeps advancing at an exponential pace. Improvements to human condition are mandatory in order for humanity to avoid becoming the weakest link in the system it has created, otherwise it would be deemed irrelevant at best or simply unable to comprehend the state of the world around it. Humans are capable of surviving under extremely limited conditions on a fraction of the surface of one planet. Spreading the human civilization beyond the confines of Earth would likely require adapting the human organism to survive both prolonged space travel and hostile environments of other planets. The only alternative, Terraforming, is slow and requires tremendous effort and investment. Disease, old age and accidents take a tremendous toll from both economical and ethical standpoint, which is why we ought to alleviate as much of this suffering as we can. The opponents also have many arguments to support their views. Some claim that ethics and empathy are a direct consequence of individual weakness, and thus improving humankind would mean that an essential part of human nature will be lost in the process. Others worry about human alteration being a tool for the authoritarian regimes, similarly to Eugenics, and thus the destiny of mankind could potentially end up being directed by an Evilutionary Biologist with a superiority complex. Others still are afraid of potential radical alterations to human psychology courtesy of augmenting the brain, especially if it means integrating it with Artificial Intelligence. While natural evolution has its limits, it has perfected its designs over millions of years while artificial, human-induced evolution would occur much quicker. Any useful augmentations without apparent drawbacks would soon be extremely commonplace, potentially creating a disastrous outcome for the entire species if a critical flaw is suddenly discovered. If the current economical system persists into the future, inequality would be exacerbated greatly, as the haves and the have-nots will become physiologically distinct subspecies. Tremendous riots are likely once death itself is no longer the great equalizer. Historically, media has not been kind to transhumanists. For a long time, desiring for human improvement has been the province of dictatorial dystopian societies or a Mad Scientist with a God complex. Anarcho-Cyber Punk writers focused on how cybernetic augmentation could be abused to the detriment of society. Religious Moral Guardians object to the idea on the ground of tampering with God's creation (Though, ironically, many religions espouse a Transhumanist plane of existence free from the sinfulness of flesh). In fiction, upgrading a human being through science was usually portrayed as a bad idea strictly due to the Squick factor, and even when it wasn't, it was either shown as a Deadly Upgrade with significant disadvantages or a part of an Utopia Justifies the Means plan objectionable on moral grounds. Curiously enough, as augmentation-based medical therapies gain traction through both in-vivo genetic engineering and advanced prosthetics and improve human lives in ways thought impossible in the past, the criticism has gradually subsided. Today, many would agree that, from a strictly utilitarian standpoint, transhumanism has a great potential to be used for good, with the criticism being mainly aimed towards the implementation and its potential pitfalls and dangers rather than the idea itself. The word 'transhuman' is now found in legitimate scientific and political debates. In spite of being seldom mentioned by name, transhumanism encompasses many of other science fiction staples with their distinct tropes: Artificial Human: A man-made biological/organic human, often with purposefully modified genes. Artificial Limbs: A limited form of enhancement that's specific to the limbs. Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The mystical or religious variant where someone leaves the physical reality for another one. Assimilation Plot: Transforming an entire species into a Hive Mind with an unified purpose. Badass Transplant: See Artificial Limbs above. Being Human Sucks/Humans Are Flawed: A major motivation for this trope is removing the suck and the flaws. Beware the Superman: Where transhumanism has an overall negative net effect on the world. Bio-Augmentation: Biological enhancement, as compared to a Cyborg. Brain Uploading: The physical limitations of a body are outright removed. Cloning Blues: Are Clones People? Or just expendable? With LEGO Genetics, they may end up being more than we could ever imagine. Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Artificial limbs and organs make you less "human" in a way that has some sort of measurable or observable consequence. Used as a "balance" for being enhanced, usually seen in Cyberpunk RPGs. Cyborgs: Cybernetic enhancement. This is what most people think of when they think of transhumans. Designer Babies: Making a person better before they're even born. Emergency Transformation: If you become better than you were before. Better. Stronger. Faster. Evilutionary Biologist: A transhumanist who thinks that Utopia Justifies the Means and believes that what they do is the "natural" evolutionary path, rather than some controlled change. Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: The "critical flaw" discussed above can be part of a story, and often a threat. Tweaking with genes can create a disater on a different level than nuclear explosions. Humans Are Psychic in the Future: The concept is self-explanatory, if not the science. Magic Enhancement: Magical transhumansim, when applied to people, at least. Nanomachines: One of the most common ways to become Transhuman is through them. Pro-Human Transhuman: Despite no longer being (fully) human, the character still identifies with humanity. Super Breeding Program: Using genetic trait inheritance to create better people. Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Nearly always have advanced themselves to god-like power instead of starting out like that. Super Human Trafficking: Abuse of transhumans via slavery, organ trafficking, and other means. Super Serum: One of the ways to become one, but be wary of it's Psycho Serum cousin. Super Soldier: This one usually relies on the physical aspect of transhumanism for war. The Singularity: A hypothetical scenario where we become transhumans due to acceleration of progress. Transhuman Aliens: Where what appears to be a species of aliens turns out to actually be transhumans. Transhuman Treachery: For when this makes you go bad. Touched by Vorlons: Aliens or whatnot might be the cause. bermensch: Gratuitous German, meaning "Over-man" or "superman". Transhumans are likely to be transcendent not just on physical, but also on psychological and moral perspectives. Ultimate Life Form: The end-all and be-all of transhumanism (if they were purposely made). Uplifted Animal: A Trans-Animal, basically. We Can Rebuild Him: Forced to be enhanced due to injury, instead of personally seeking it out. Working for a Body Upgrade: Enhanced because they earned it as a job perk. For some of the abilities a Transhuman might have, see Stock Superpowers. See also No Transhumanism Allowed. This may be used as an aspect of a Cyberpunk or Post-Cyberpunk setting.

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'Cause it's gonna be the future soon, I won't always be this way/As the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away...

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Transhuman - TV Tropes

Humanity+ @ Conferences

Our Humanity+ conferences explore innovations of science and technology and their relationship to humanity. Recent conferences have been held at San Francisco State University, Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, California Technology Institute, and Harvard University.

H+ Magazine covers technological, scientific, and cultural trends that are changing humans in fundamental ways. H+ Magazine aims to reflect the newest edge culture by featuring creative expressions of humanity on a razors edge where daily life and science fiction seem to be merging.

H+ Connect is a dynamic social network for Humanity+ members and other transhumanists throughout the world. We hope H+ Connect will offer a unique environment for people to share what they are working on, meetup with others.

Join a Chapter or start one! There are many possible activities for local groups, from purely social gatherings to study groups and speaker series. All local chapters are autonomous, except insofar as we recognize and cooperate with you.

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Humanity+ | Elevating the Human Condition

Posts Tagged transhumanism What is tDCS, and is there actually any science behind its brain-boosting powers? December 4, 2014 at 1:02 pm

Transcranial direct brain stimulation, or tDCS, has hit the big time. By big time we mean that zapping the skull with electric current is now a science that garners serious consideration from many neuroscientists. We explore some new developments in the field, and take a closer look at the science alleged to be behind them.

With Christmas and the holiday season fast approaching, weve compiled a list of all the gadgets that we at ExtremeTech have bought or are saving up to buy so that you, or perhaps a friend or loved one, can feel like theyre living in the future, too. Without further ado, I give you ExtremeTechs 2014 Holiday Gift Guide For The Discerning Geek Who Wants To Feel Like Theyre Living In The Future.

While the human hand, with four fingers and opposable thumb, is pretty darn awesome, it still falls woefully short when it comes to some tasks such as opening a soda bottle or peeling a banana. MIT, which is obviously a firm believer that we can and should enhance humans as far as physically possible, has a solution: a wrist-mounted robot that gives you two extra fingers. With the so-called 7 Finger Robot equipped, you can both grasp a soda bottle and turn the cap at the same time. According to the MIT engineer who led the project, Harry Asada, some users might even begin to perceive the robotic helping fingers as part of their body like a tool you have been using for a long time, you feel the robot as an extension of your hand.

An MIT spin-off in Massachusetts, backed by the Gates Foundation, has developed a small, remote-controlled drug-dispensing implant that sits just under your skin. Such an implant could be used to dispense a whole range of useful drugs but in this case, one of the first commercial applications will be the contraceptive hormone levonorgestrel. A single implant can apparently provide enough levonorgestrel to be effective for 16 years; currently, no implanted contraceptive works for more than five years.

Stanford electrical engineer and biological implant mastermind, Ada Poon, has discovered a way of wirelessly transmitting power to tiny, rice-grain-sized implants that are deep within the human body. This could well be the breakthrough that finally allows for the creation of smaller pacemakers, body-wide sensor networks, and a new class of electroceutical devices that sit deep in the human brain and stimulate neurons directly, providing an alternative for drug-based therapies for depression, Alzheimers, and other neurological ailments.

Scientists have succeeded in creating the first organism with alien DNA. In normal DNA, which can be found within the genes of every organism , the twin strands of the double helix are bonded together with four bases, known as T, G, A, and C. In this new organism, the researchers added two new bases, X and Y, creating a new form of DNA that has never occurred in billions of years of evolution on Earth or elsewhere in the universe. Remarkably, the semi-synthetic alien organism continued to reproduce normally, preserving the new alien DNA during reproduction. In the future, this breakthrough should allow for the creation of highly customized organisms bacteria, animals, humans that behave in weird and wonderful ways that mundane four-base DNA would never allow.

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Transhumanism - News & Rumors | ExtremeTech

Transhuman or trans-human is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman.[1] In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans.[2] These abilities might include improved intelligence, awareness, strength, or durability. Transhumans sometimes appear in science-fiction as cyborgs or genetically-enhanced humans.

The use of the term "transhuman" goes back to French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who wrote in his 1949 book The Future of Mankind:

Liberty: that is to say, the chance offered to every man (by removing obstacles and placing the appropriate means at his disposal) of 'trans-humanizing' himself by developing his potentialities to the fullest extent.[3]

And in a 1951 unpublished revision of the same book:

In consequence one is the less disposed to reject as unscientific the idea that the critical point of planetary Reflection, the fruit of socialization, far from being a mere spark in the darkness, represents our passage, by Translation or dematerialization, to another sphere of the Universe: not an ending of the ultra-human but its accession to some sort of trans-humanity at the ultimate heart of things.[4]

In 1957 book New Bottles for New Wine, English evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley wrote:

The human species can, if it wishes, transcend itself not just sporadically, an individual here in one way, an individual there in another way, but in its entirety, as humanity. We need a name for this new belief. Perhaps transhumanism will serve: man remaining man, but transcending himself, by realizing new possibilities of and for his human nature. "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.[5]

One of the first professors of futurology, FM-2030, who taught "new concepts of the Human" at The New School of New York City in the 1960s, used "transhuman" as shorthand for "transitional human". Calling transhumans the "earliest manifestation of new evolutionary beings", FM argued that signs of transhumans included physical and mental augmentations including prostheses, reconstructive surgery, intensive use of telecommunications, a cosmopolitan outlook and a globetrotting lifestyle, androgyny, mediated reproduction (such as in vitro fertilisation), absence of religious beliefs, and a rejection of traditional family values.[6]

FM-2030 used the concept of transhuman as an evolutionary transition, outside the confines of academia, in his contributing final chapter to the 1972 anthology Woman, Year 2000.[7] In the same year, American cryonics pioneer Robert Ettinger contributed to conceptualization of "transhumanity" in his book Man into Superman.[8] In 1982, American Natasha Vita-More authored a statement titled Transhumanist Arts Statement and outlined what she perceived as an emerging transhuman culture.[9]

Jacques Attali, writing in 2006, envisaged transhumans as an altruistic vanguard of the later 21st century:

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Transhuman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When given powers or made non-human, characters gladly betray humanity and side with their creator. Part of the Horror of being infected by The Virus is its ability to corrupt the mind of a victim, subordinating them into a Hive Mind or outright making them a sociopathic shell of their former self, intent only on killing or infecting their former loved ones. But then there's times that a transformation doesn't brainwash, de-soul, drive insane, or demonically possess the victim. Other times the Viral Transformation causes changes that are purely cosmetic, granting amazing abilities albeit at great cost and (usually) a horrifying appearance. So what do these unwilling tranformees do? Become Phlebotinum Rebels or Vampire Refugees and use their powers to fight these monsters? Nope. They engage in Transhuman Treachery. They sell out humanity and ally with who- or what-ever did this to them, regardless of whether or not they wanted to kill all vampires, robots, mutants, or aliens five minutes ago. There is no shock, only joy at becoming "more" than human and being able to flout society's rules. If this Face-Heel Turn is too quick, it gives the impression that one of the other things is going, like The Dark Side, or With Great Power Comes Great Insanity. However; this trope may be justified a couple of ways. If The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body it doesn't matter that vampire Dan doesn't want to drink human blood, he has to, and trying to be friendly won't last. Alternately, someone seeking the Curse That Cures may make the painful choice to switch sides to save their life. If the setting has an ongoing "race war" against what the character has become, if they don't join their new race they'll quickly face death. However most of the time the switch in alliances comes about with alarming speed and lack of concern. At best you'll see these Big Bad Friends offer the transformation to a friend or loved one... and kill them if they refuse. The Dark Side, they have cookies. It seems resisting these new biological impulses or avoiding becoming drunk on power is reserved solely for protagonists with Heroic Willpower. A possible cause of Beware the Superman, this is the third sin in the Scale of Scientific Sins. Compare Sheep in Wolf's Clothing and Species Loyalty. Contrast Monsters Anonymous. May lead to forming an Anti-Human Alliance. Opposite Trope to Pro-Human Transhuman or Humanity Is Infectious, depending on the details.

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Transhuman Treachery - TV Tropes

Ashley Waters, Lee Walls - Transhuman (Original Mix) [Metamorph Advance]
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By: Toolbox Digital Shop

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Ashley Waters, Lee Walls - Transhuman (Original Mix) [Metamorph Advance] - Video