Blog post 8: transhumanism and biotechnologies

    "The future is now thanks to science!" Pokémon XY episode one told me that years ago and today I can say the same.

    Ray Kurzweil may have sounded like a prophet a century ago, but he was so far off. He believed there'd be only 20,000 years of progress in the twenty-first century.

    Transhumanism asserts that some biotechnologies threaten "natural" human life.
    biotechnologies intended to enhance human health, reproductive capacity, longevity, cognitive ability, and/or athletic ability via genetic modification, but some biotechnologies are problematic and in need of governmental bans and regulations. 

    Libertarians have observed that governments that claim to pursue the greater good tend to embrace policies that preserve/advance the interests of those who now benefit from existing biotechnologies. 

    This implies the usage of biotechnologies to be locked behind government control and taught to professional doctors with limited information to the general public with the state the news is currently.

    The implications could also resurface the idea of human test subjects beyond the ethical spectrum. There are always risks with new technology. Death is inevitable and even the pillow I sleep on can be used to kill me via suffocation. 

    I find the possibilities of saving life worthwhile in terms of mishaps. To me it is not the idea of transhumanism but what can be possible by a single individual. How much damage one person could spread with transhumanism is my worry. What comes from transhumanism and our creativity, comes a world of possibilities. 

    Longer life can lead to a search for immortality. Improving the human mind could help with mental illnesses and disabilities. Money will be wasted and gained a new opportunity, another race this time not to space but towards transhumanism will come about weather for fortune, love, power, and knowledge.

    Some will want more detail on biotechnologies that have been debated in the US (e.g., transgender medicine, reproductive assistance); others will wish the debate between therapeutic versus life-enhancing technologies had been revived; some will want more on socialized versus free-market healthcare; and those who study AI will rue the absence of analysis of how biotechnologies might be integrated into robotic humans. 

    If (when) human brains are replaced by computers, would the beneficiaries be regarded as machines or humans? Possibly useful as supplemental reading on the philosophy and ethics of biotechnology.

    Transhumanism is a movement that explores the possibilities that arise from integrating technology in the human body. Neurostimulators and smart prosthetics are some of the technologies that may soon change the way humans interact with their surrounding environment and enhance their well-being.

    It is the incorporation of biotechnologies that will affect all, from longer life spans for the elderly and rich who can seek out immortality, 

    an operation to make my sister more female to “societies” unyielding eyes, giving the LGBTIQQ communities children from two same gendered bodies going beyond the human capabilities and the unfortunate sterile who long for a blood connecting what may have been previously themselves,

     a cheaper alternative for the less fortunate in still in need for a prosthetic or an operation that needs a donor that can now be made.

    Bio technologies will change our world and thus our generation who is being raised in an already chaotic time will sire children in the world that will have support and knowledgeable teachers in how to navigate an unknown technological landscape and with moral implications.
    I am looking forward to how our generation will change the world and teach our students and descendants a hopefully brighter future.

Citations

Guerreiro, J., Correia Loureiro, S. M., Romero, J., Itani, O., & Eloy, S. (2022). Transhumanism and engagement-facilitating technologies in society. Journal of Promotion Management, 28(5), 537–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2021.2009615

White, R. F. (2022). On transhumanism. Choice, 59(7), 897-898. https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/on-transhumanism/docview/2634063829/se-2 

Transhumanism, B. (2012, Sep). Beyond Transhumanism. The Futurist, 46, 42-43,41. https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/beyond-transhumanism/docview/1034727911/se-2