Editing Transhumanism (section)

== Theory ==
It is a matter of debate whether transhumanism is a branch of [[posthumanism]] and how this philosophical movement should be conceptualised with regard to transhumanism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Umbrello|first1=Steven|last2=Lombard|first2=Jessica|date=2018-12-14|title=Silence of the Idols: Appropriating the Myth of Sisyphus for Posthumanist Discourses|url=https://www.lumenpublishing.com/journals/index.php/po/article/view/1118|journal=Postmodern Openings|language=en|volume=9|issue=4|pages=98–121|doi=10.18662/po/47|issn=2069-9387|doi-access=free|hdl=2318/1686606|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Evans, W. | title = Review of On Transhumanism | journal = Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation | volume = 38 | issue = 2 | pages = 271–74 | date = June 2022 | doi = 10.13169/prometheus.38.2.0271 | s2cid = 252023683 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Transhumanism is often referred to as a variant or [[activist]] form of posthumanism by its [[Conservatism|conservative]],<ref name="Fukuyama 2004"/> [[Christianity|Christian]]<ref name="Hook 2004"/> and [[Progressivism|progressive]]<ref name="The Hedgehog Review 2002"/><ref name="Coenen 2007"/> critics.<ref>{{Citation|last=MacFarlane|first=James Michael|title=The Techno-Centred Imagination|date=2020|work=Transhumanism as a New Social Movement|pages=205–233|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-40090-3_8|isbn=978-3-030-40089-7|s2cid=219495940}}</ref>

A common feature of transhumanism and philosophical posthumanism is the future vision of a new intelligent species, into which humanity will evolve and which eventually will supplement or supersede it. Transhumanism stresses the evolutionary perspective, including sometimes the creation of a highly intelligent animal species by way of cognitive enhancement (i.e. [[biological uplift]]),<ref name="Hughes 2004" /> but clings to a "posthuman future" as the final goal of participant evolution.<ref name="Bostrom 2006">{{cite web | last = Bostrom | first = Nick | title = Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up | url = http://www.nickbostrom.com/posthuman.pdf | access-date = December 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Umbrello|first=Steven|date=2018-10-17|title=Posthumanism|url=https://pubs.biblio.laurentian.ca/index.php/contexte/article/view/279|journal=Con Texte|language=en|volume=2|issue=1|pages=28–32|doi=10.28984/ct.v2i1.279|issn=2561-4770|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the idea of creating [[artificial intelligence|intelligent artificial beings]] (proposed, for example, by roboticist [[Hans Moravec]]) has influenced transhumanism.<ref name="Moravec 1998" /> Moravec's ideas and transhumanism have also been characterised as a "complacent" or "[[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]]" variant of posthumanism and contrasted with "[[cultural posthumanism]]" in [[humanities]] and the arts.<ref name="Cultural Critique 2003" /> While such a "cultural posthumanism" would offer resources for rethinking the relationships between humans and increasingly sophisticated machines, transhumanism and similar posthumanisms are, in this view, not abandoning obsolete concepts of the "[[Agency (philosophy)|autonomous liberal subject]]", but are expanding its "[[prerogative]]s" into the realm of the [[posthuman]].<ref name="Hayles 1999" /> Transhumanist self-characterisations as a continuation of [[humanism]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinking correspond with this view.

Some [[Secular humanism|secular humanists]] conceive transhumanism as an offspring of the humanist [[freethought]] movement and argue that transhumanists differ from the humanist mainstream by having a specific focus on technological approaches to resolving human concerns (i.e. [[technocentrism]]) and on the issue of mortality.<ref name="Inniss 1998" /> Other progressives have argued that posthumanism, in its philosophical or activist forms, amounts to a shift away from concerns about [[social justice]], from the [[social change|reform of human institutions]] and from other Enlightenment preoccupations, toward narcissistic longings to transcend the human body in quest of more exquisite ways of being.<ref name="Winner 2005" />

The philosophy of transhumanism is closely related to [[technoself studies]], an interdisciplinary domain of scholarly research dealing with all aspects of human identity in a technological society and focusing on the changing nature of relationships between humans and technology.<ref>{{cite book|author=Management Association, Information Resources|title=Public Affairs and Administration: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2S51CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA2192|year=2015|publisher=IGI Global|isbn=978-1-4666-8359-4|page=2192}}</ref>

=== Aims ===
{{Blockquote|You awake one morning to find your brain has another lobe functioning. Invisible, this auxiliary lobe answers your questions with information beyond the realm of your own memory, suggests plausible courses of action, and asks questions that help bring out relevant facts. You quickly come to rely on the new lobe so much that you stop wondering how it works. You just use it. This is the dream of artificial intelligence.|''[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]]'', April 1985<ref name="lemmon198504">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-04/1985_04_BYTE_10-04_Artificial_Intelligence#page/n125/mode/2up | title=Artificial Intelligence | work=BYTE | date=April 1985 | access-date=14 February 2015 | author=Lemmons, Phil | page=125 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420115129/https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-04/1985_04_BYTE_10-04_Artificial_Intelligence#page/n125/mode/2up | archive-date=20 April 2015 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

[[File:PPTCountdowntoSingularityLog.jpg|thumb|upright=1.36| [[Ray Kurzweil]] believes that a countdown to when "[[Technological singularity|human life will be irreversibly transformed]]" can be made through plotting major world events on a graph.]]

While many transhumanist theorists and advocates seek to apply reason, science and technology to reduce poverty, disease, disability, and malnutrition around the globe,<ref name="What is Transhumanism" /> transhumanism is distinctive in its particular focus on the applications of technologies to the improvement of human bodies at the individual level. Many transhumanists actively assess the potential for future technologies and innovative social systems to improve the quality of [[biocentrism (ethics)|all life]], while seeking to make the material reality of the human condition fulfill the promise of legal and political equality by eliminating [[Congenital disorder|congenital mental and physical barriers]].

Transhumanist philosophers argue that there not only exists a [[perfectionism (philosophy)|perfectionist ethical imperative]] for humans to strive for progress and improvement of the human condition, but that it is possible and desirable for humanity to enter a transhuman phase of existence in which humans enhance themselves beyond what is naturally human. In such a phase, natural evolution would be replaced with deliberate participatory or [[directed evolution]].

Some theorists such as [[Ray Kurzweil]] think that the [[Accelerating change|pace of technological innovation is accelerating]] and that the next 50 years may yield not only radical technological advances, but possibly a [[technological singularity]], which may fundamentally change the nature of human beings.<ref name="Kurzweil 2005"/> Transhumanists who foresee this massive technological change generally maintain that it is desirable, but some are concerned about the dangers of extremely rapid technological change and propose options for ensuring that advanced technology is used responsibly. For example, Bostrom has written extensively on [[existential risk]]s to humanity's future welfare, including ones that emerging technologies could create.<ref name="Bostrom 2002"/> In contrast, some proponents of transhumanism view it as essential to humanity's survival. For instance, Stephen Hawking points out that the "external transmission" phase of human evolution, where [[Knowledge economy|knowledge production]] and [[knowledge management]] is more important than transmission of information via [[evolution]], may be the point at which [[Civilization|human civilization]] becomes unstable and self-destructs, one of Hawking's explanations for the [[Fermi paradox]]. To counter this, Hawking emphasizes either self-design of the [[human genome]] or mechanical enhancement (e.g., [[Brain–computer interface|brain-computer interface]]) to enhance [[human intelligence]] and reduce [[aggression]], without which he implies human civilization may be too stupid collectively to survive an increasingly unstable system, resulting in [[societal collapse]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/life.html|title=Life in the Universe|last=Hawking|first=Stephen|work=Public Lectures|publisher=University of Cambridge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421051343/http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/life.html|archive-date=April 21, 2006|access-date=May 11, 2006}}</ref>

While many people believe that all transhumanists are striving for [[immortality]], that is not necessarily true. Hank Pellissier, managing director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (2011–2012), surveyed transhumanists. He found that, of the 818 respondents, 23.8% did not want immortality.<ref name="Pellissier, Hank 2012">Pellissier, Hank. "Do all Transhumanists Want Immortality? No? Why Not?" Futurist 46.6 (2012): 65-. Web.</ref> Some of the reasons argued were boredom, Earth's overpopulation, and the desire "to go to an afterlife".<ref name="Pellissier, Hank 2012"/>

=== Empathic fallibility and conversational consent ===
{{See also|Uplift (science fiction)}}
Certain transhumanist philosophers hold that since all assumptions about what others experience are fallible, and that therefore all attempts to help or protect beings that are incapable of correcting what others assume about them, no matter how well-intentioned, are in danger of actually hurting them, all [[sentience|sentient]] beings deserve to be [[sapience|sapient]]. These thinkers argue that the ability to discuss in a [[falsifiability|falsification-based]] way constitutes a [[critical phenomena|threshold that is not arbitrary]] at which it becomes possible for someone to speak for themself in a way that is independent of exterior assumptions. They also argue that all beings capable of experiencing something deserve to be elevated to this threshold if they are not at it, typically saying that the underlying change that leads to the threshold is an increase in the preciseness of the brain's ability to discriminate. This includes increasing the neuron count and connectivity in animals as well as accelerating the development of connectivity to shorten or ideally skip non-sapient childhood incapable of independently deciding for oneself. Transhumanists of this description stress that the genetic engineering that they advocate is general insertion into both the somatic cells of living beings and in germ cells, and not purging of people without the modifications, deeming the latter not only unethical but also unnecessary due to the possibilities of efficient genetic engineering.<ref>Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential: A Cosmic Vision of Our Future Evolution, Ted Chu 2014</ref><ref>The thinker's guide to ethical reasoning, Linda Elder and Richard Paul 2013</ref><ref>How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age Theodore Schick</ref><ref>Ten Billion Tomorrows: How Science Fiction Technology Became Reality and Shapes the Future, Brian Clegg 2015</ref>

=== Ethics ===
{{Humanism}}
Transhumanists engage in [[interdisciplinary]] approaches to understand and evaluate possibilities for overcoming biological limitations by drawing on [[futurology]] and various fields of ethics.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} Unlike many philosophers, social critics, and activists who morally value preservation of natural systems, transhumanists see the concept of the specifically natural as problematically nebulous at best and an obstacle to progress at worst.<ref name="Bostrom, Sandberg 2002">{{cite web |author=[[Nick Bostrom|Bostrom, Nick]] |author2=[[Anders Sandberg|Sandberg, Anders]]| title = The Wisdom of Nature: An Evolutionary Heuristic for Human Enhancement |website=Nick Bostrom |date=2007| url = http://www.nickbostrom.com/evolution.pdf| access-date=September 18, 2007}}</ref> In keeping with this, many prominent transhumanist advocates, such as Dan Agin, call transhumanism's critics, on the political right and left jointly, "[[Bioconservatism|bioconservatives]]" or "[[neo-luddism|bioluddites]]", the latter term alluding to the 19th-century [[luddite|anti-industrialisation]] social movement that opposed the replacement of human manual labourers by machines.<ref name="Hughes 2002"/>

A belief of counter-transhumanism is that transhumanism can cause unfair human enhancement in many areas of life, but specifically on the social plane. This can be compared to steroid use, [[Doping in sport|where athletes who use steroids in sports have an advantage over those who do not]]. The same disparity may happen when people have certain neural implants that give them an advantage in the workplace and in education.<ref name="Tennison 2012"/> Additionally, according to M.J. McNamee and S.D. Edwards, many fear that the improvements afforded by a specific, privileged section of society will lead to a division of the human species into two different species.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|jstor=27719694|doi=10.1136/jme.2005.013789|pmid=16943331|pmc=2563415|title=Transhumanism, medical technology and slippery slopes|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|volume=32|issue=9|pages=513–518|year=2006|last1=McNamee|first1=M. J.|last2=Edwards|first2=S. D.}}</ref> The idea of two human species, one at a great physical and economic advantage over with the other, is troublesome at best. One may be incapable of breeding with the other, and may by consequence of lower physical health and ability, be considered of a lower moral standing than the other.<ref name=":0" />

[[Nick Bostrom]] has said that transhumanism advocates for the wellbeing of all sentient beings, including [[non-human animals]], [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrials]], and artificial forms of life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transhumanist Values |url=https://nickbostrom.com/ethics/values#:~:text=Transhumanism%20advocates%20the%20well-being,and%20religious%20intolerance%20are%20unacceptable. |access-date=2022-12-21 |website=nickbostrom.com}}</ref> This view is reiterated by [[David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]], who advocates the use of biotechnology to eradicate suffering in all [[sentient beings]].<ref name="The Hedonistic Imperative">{{Cite web |title=The Hedonistic Imperative |url=https://www.hedweb.com/ |access-date=2022-12-21 |website=www.hedweb.com}}</ref>

=== Currents ===
There is a variety of opinions within transhumanist thought. Many of the leading transhumanist thinkers hold views that are under constant revision and development.<ref name="WTA FAQ 5.2"/> Some distinctive currents of transhumanism are identified and listed here in alphabetical order:
* [[Eradication of suffering|Abolitionism]], the concept of using biotechnology to eradicate suffering in all sentient beings.<ref name="The Hedonistic Imperative"/> 
* [[Democratic transhumanism]], a political ideology synthesizing [[liberal democracy]], [[social democracy]], [[radical democracy]] and transhumanism.<ref name="Hughes A2002" />
* [[Equalism (socio-economic theory)|Equalism]], a socioeconomic theory based upon the idea that emerging technologies will put an end to social stratification through even distribution of resources in the [[technological singularity]] era.<ref>{{cite book|first=Newton|last=Lee|title=The Transhumanism Handbook|publisher=Springer Nature|date=2019}}</ref>
* [[Extropianism]], an early school of transhumanist thought characterized by a set of principles advocating a [[Proactionary principle|proactive approach]] to human evolution.<ref name="More 1990"/>
* [[Immortalism]], a moral ideology based upon the belief that radical [[life extension]] and [[Immortality#Technological immortality|technological immortality]] is possible and desirable, and advocating research and development to ensure its realization.<ref name="imminst"/>
* [[Libertarian transhumanism]], a political ideology synthesizing [[libertarianism]] and transhumanism.<ref name="Hughes 2002"/>
* [[Postgenderism]], a social philosophy which seeks the voluntary elimination of [[gender]] in the human species through the application of advanced biotechnology and [[reproductive technology|assisted reproductive technologies]].<ref name="Dvorsky 2008" />
*[[Postpoliticism]], a transhumanist political proposal that aims to create a "[[Post-democracy|postdemocratic state]]" based on reason and free access of enhancement technologies to people.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327756347|title=Extrapolitical Theory and Postpoliticism - A Transhumanist Political Theory|last=Gayozzo|first=Piero|date=2018-09-20}}</ref>
*[[Singularitarianism]], a moral ideology based upon the belief that a [[technological singularity]] is possible, and advocating deliberate action to effect it and ensure its safety.<ref name="Kurzweil 2005" />
* [[Technogaianism]], an ecological ideology based upon the belief that emerging technologies can help restore Earth's environment and that developing safe, [[clean technology|clean]], [[alternative technology]] should therefore be an important goal of [[environmentalist]]s.<ref name="Hughes A2002" />

=== Spirituality ===
Although many transhumanists are [[atheism|atheists]], [[agnosticism|agnostics]], or [[secular humanism|secular humanists]], some have [[religion|religious]] or [[spirituality|spiritual]] views.<ref name="Hughes 2005"/> Despite the prevailing secular attitude, some transhumanists pursue hopes traditionally espoused by religions, such as [[immortality]],<ref name =imminst/> while several controversial [[new religious movement]]s from the late 20th century have explicitly embraced transhumanist goals of transforming the human condition by applying technology to alter the mind and body, such as [[Raëlism]].<ref name="Rael 2002"/> But most thinkers associated with the transhumanism focus on the practical goals of using technology to help achieve longer and healthier lives, while speculating that future understanding of [[neurotheology]] and the application of [[neurotechnology]] will enable humans to gain greater control of [[altered states of consciousness]], which were commonly interpreted as [[spiritual experience]]s, and thus achieve more profound [[Self-knowledge (psychology)|self-knowledge]].<ref name="Hughes BH 2004"/> Transhumanist Buddhists have sought to explore areas of agreement between various types of Buddhism and [[Buddhist meditation|Buddhist-derived meditation]] and mind-expanding neurotechnologies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha|title=IEET Cyborg Buddha Project|work=ieet.org|access-date=October 14, 2014|archive-date=October 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016231222/http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha}}</ref> They have been criticised for appropriating [[mindfulness]] as a tool for transcending humanness.<ref name="Evans 2014"/>

Some transhumanists believe in the compatibility between the human mind and computer hardware, with the theoretical implication that human consciousness may someday be transferred to alternative media (a speculative technique commonly known as [[mind uploading]]).<ref name="Sandberg 2000"/> One extreme formulation of this idea that interests some transhumanists is the proposal of the [[Omega Point]] by Christian cosmologist [[Frank J. Tipler|Frank Tipler]]. Drawing upon ideas in [[Digital physics|digitalism]], Tipler has advanced the notion that the collapse of the [[Universe]] billions of years hence could create the conditions for the perpetuation of humanity in a [[simulated reality]] within a megacomputer and thus achieve a form of "[[posthuman God|posthuman godhood]]". Before Tipler, the term Omega Point was used by [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]], a [[paleontologist]] and [[Jesuit]] theologian who saw an evolutionary [[telos (philosophy)|telos]] in the development of an encompassing [[noosphere]], a global consciousness.<ref name="tipler1994"/><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://jetpress.org/v20/steinhart.htm?pagewanted=all |title=Teilhard de Chardin and Transhumanism |first=Eric |last=Steinhart |journal=Journal of Evolution and Technology |volume=20 |issue=1 |date=December 2008 |pages=1–22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Transhumanism and Transcendence |first=Michael S. |last=Burdett |page=20 |quote=...others have made important contributions as well. For example, [[Freeman Dyson]] and Frank Tipler in the twentieth century... |publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-58901-780-1}}</ref>

Viewed from the perspective of some Christian thinkers, the idea of mind uploading is asserted to represent a [[#Contempt for the flesh|denigration of the human body]], characteristic of [[gnostic]] manichaean belief.<ref name="Pauls 2005"/> Transhumanism and its presumed intellectual progenitors have also been described as [[Gnosticism in modern times|neo-gnostic]] by non-Christian and secular commentators.<ref name="Giesen 2004"/><ref name="Davis 1999"/>

The first dialogue between transhumanism and faith was a one-day conference at the [[University of Toronto]] in 2004.<ref name="Campbell & Walker 2005"/> Religious critics alone faulted transhumanism for offering no eternal truths or relationship with the divine. They commented that a philosophy bereft of these beliefs leaves humanity adrift in a foggy sea of [[postmodern]] [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynicism]] and [[anomie]]. Transhumanists responded that such criticisms reflect a failure to look at the actual content of transhumanist philosophy, which, far from being cynical, is rooted in optimistic, idealistic attitudes that trace back to the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]].<ref name="TransVision 2004: Faith, Transhumanism and Hope Symposium"/> Following this dialogue, [[William Sims Bainbridge]], a [[sociology of religion|sociologist of religion]], conducted a pilot study, published in the [[Journal of Evolution and Technology]], suggesting that religious attitudes were negatively correlated with acceptance of transhumanist ideas and indicating that people with highly religious worldviews tended to perceive transhumanism as a direct, competitive (though ultimately futile) affront to their spiritual beliefs.<ref name="Bainbridge"/>

Since 2006, the Mormon Transhumanist Association sponsors conferences and lectures on the intersection of technology and religion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mormon Transhumanist Association |url=https://www.youtube.com/user/transfigurism |work=YouTube}}</ref> The Christian Transhumanist Association<ref>{{cite web |title=CTA Website |url=https://www.christiantranshumanism.org/ |publisher=Christian Transhumanist Association}}</ref> was established in 2014.

Since 2009, the [[American Academy of Religion]] holds a "Transhumanism and Religion" consultation during its annual meeting, where scholars in the field of [[religious studies]] seek to identify and critically evaluate any implicit religious beliefs that might underlie key transhumanist claims and assumptions; consider how transhumanism challenges religious traditions to develop their own ideas of the human future, in particular the prospect of human transformation, whether by technological or other means; and provide critical and constructive assessments of an envisioned future that place greater confidence in nanotechnology, robotics and information technology to achieve virtual immortality and create a superior posthuman species.<ref name="AAR: Transhumanism and Religion Consultations"/>

The physicist and transhumanist thinker [[Giulio Prisco]] states that "cosmist religions based on science, might be our best protection from reckless pursuit of superintelligence and other risky technologies."<ref>{{cite web | publisher=Turing Church | title=Religion as Protection From Reckless Pursuit of Superintelligence and Other Risky Technologies | date=September 9, 2014 | url=http://turingchurch.com/2014/09/09/religion-as-protection-from-reckless-pursuit-of-superintelligence-and-other-risky-technologies/ | first=Giulio | last=Prisco | access-date=May 8, 2016 | archive-date=May 7, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507034125/http://turingchurch.com/2014/09/09/religion-as-protection-from-reckless-pursuit-of-superintelligence-and-other-risky-technologies/ }}</ref> He also recognizes the importance of spiritual ideas, such as those of Russian Orthodox philosopher [[Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov]], to the origins of the transhumanism movement.