"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
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith
