Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by The Shiznit on February 26, 2012 at 12:52am

Just finished watching.  Loved it.  Especially the part about the guy with the artificial hand that could feel... because I've often wondered about how our consciousness could practically function w/o sensory input, and/or with enhanced sensory input - like being able to see a wider spectrum of light, and hear higher & lower frequencies of sound than we can with our "human" bodies.  I suppose that having these kind of increased abilities also provides the answer to one of your questions, in that once we are able to enhance our bodies enough, or to completely transfer our consciousness into a cybernetic body, we will not truly be human anymore, but something else.  

Trans-human = the idea of transition from being "human" to being a higher form of life.  :-)

Permalink Reply by Focking Original on February 26, 2012 at 12:43pm

I like this idea of trans humanism for the sake of medical aid and technological evolution.
If a person has a metal arm, he still is truly human.(Because they just connected the nerve endings on his shoulder (who were connected to the fingers before) to buttons on his new mechanical fingers. Sending a basic on/off signal.)
If a person has night vision lenses, he still is human.
Up until we can reverse engineer the human brain, there would be a small possibility to be able to transfer consciousness, as our biological cells currently don't allow it.
Trans humanism for the sake of eternal life?
1. The main component of life is renewal and it's purpose is to transfer energy into different forms of energy. From sunlight and water (and other energy), into lifeforms like flowers, people animals, bacteria, cells,..
Eternal life has little to no use in the structure of how life has been existing for thousands of years. We want to continue evolving as living beings. Our future society will be thankful if we take deception seriously.
Trive for things that are in reach and good for future generations, so people don't get angry over claims who are out of proportions (like me). When people hope for the impossible there whole life, it can lead to problematic behavior (like I had with my sister).
2. In this todays society, death is viewed as something bad. In some countries they celebrate the death of a person. At our funerals, people cry for themselves, that they will miss the person in there future life. They aren't happy that the died in piece or that the person who died never has to worry about anything again.(Because there is no oxygen (fuel/energy) going to the brain)
3. It seems rather all pointless and selfish to live forever as a robot.
You know that end of the world, robot killing humans theory (which I find bogus), haven't humans done that with the world today?
The people who are bitter about reality, don't give a fuck about the future. And our current economic system makes people bitter.
So in a way we're destroying ourselves as a society.

Permalink Reply by Chris K on March 3, 2012 at 10:04pm

The documentary "Transcendent Man" can give you a good idea of things that will prob come in the future.

As for the living forever part:

I don't view death as something good. I think of it as the disease of life. I don't want to die and I most definitely don't want my friends and family to die. I don't say I want to live forever, I can't possibly ever say that, but I do know for a fact that I don't want to die now, and high chance I won't wanna die when I'm older either. Nobody will force you to stay alive if you don't want to.

It's kinda anoying seeing people talk about what's "possible" and what's not as if they truly know. Don't u understand how much u limit yourself and your consciousness by thinking like that? WE ARE ONLY LIMITED BY OUR IMAGINATION. Every thought, every dream, every IDEA is AS REAL as anything else. They are physically presented by electrical signals in your brain.

Ofcourse many people view death as something good and holy. IT MAKES SENSE. Why?Because it has been and still is INEVITABLE. People have to make excuses for it, so they don't feel bad about it. They have no choice BUT to accept it, so self-defense mechanism implemented by evolution kick in.

Selfish wanting to live more? Selfish to admit the fact that I DONT WANT TO DIE? I would like to live more than the normal human life span for the excact same reason why I wanna be alive tomorow. If you think it's pointless, then I can only imagine your life being boring.

I also suggest you watch an Aubrey De Grey video on youtube(prefferably the one where he talks on TED)