Editing Transhumanism (section)

=== 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>