The Bare Bones:
Transhumanism is one of those things that everyone has heard of but hardly anyone actually knows the definition of. The term means different things to different people, but the generally accepted understanding of Transhumanism is that it’s basically just using technology to improve human existence. With a definition this vague, it’s literally a form of biohacking. At current, biohacking tend to focus on the technology that we already have, and transhumanism focuses on what would require future technology. Things like life extension, often to the point of immortality.
There is much debate among academics over what ultimate goal is preferable and by what means that goal may be reached. Some of them don’t really want to be human, but a new cyborg form of life. Others just want to be able to improve human senses. Either way, the one thing they have in common is that they believe the current state of human life is just one step in our evolutionary journey – and the next step is reached through technology.
Artificial intelligence is of great interest to transhumanists for reasons which should be obvious.
Transhuman Politics:
With Transhumanism comes a whole series of philosophical questions. There are some who object to the idea of using technology to advance the human form. Transhumanism has become a movement, and is therefore inherently political. There are even political parties dedicated to the promotion of the ideology. There are transhumanist parties in the US, UK, and Germany. They aim ultimately to gain heavy investment into appropriate research.
Eternal Life:
As previously mentioned, many are interested in ultimately becoming immortal. There is an organization called the 2045 initiative which aims to make human immortality possible by the year 2045. It was named after, and inspired by, Ray Kurzweil. He’s a futurist who famously predicted humans will be capable of eternal life by the year 2045. The organization was set up by a Russian billionaire to make Ray Kurzweil’s prediction came true. Interestingly, Ray Kurzweil is attempting to live a healthy life so that he may survive long enough for Transhumanism to extend his life. But he’s currently 68 years old. The 2045 initiative aim to create robotic avatar bodies for human beings to transfer their consciousness into. That’s how we’d live forever, in the robot body of our choosing.
Transhumanists tend to be a lot more radical than your average biohacker. Biohacking is more about finding shortcuts that really work, and Transhumanism is about the ultimate merger of biological life and technology. Some transhumanist theories involve changing human genetics. It might not include any robotic elements, just biological manipulation. Think about it like this – there are some animals that regenerate cells to the point of being practically immortal. What if we could change human biology to give us similar genetics.
Transhumanism may be the route for us humans to improve ourselves in ways we can’t even imagine. Perhaps our physical biology won’t even exist a hundred years from now. Maybe we really can become immortal. But the real question is this: If transhuman ideals are achieved, would humans be considered gods?