What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the

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world! the paragon of animals!

No death and an enhanced life: Is the future transhuman?

Robin McKie, 6 May 2018

"Transhumanists believe that we should augment our bodies with new technology. Composite: Lynsey Irvine/Getty

The 21st-century tech revolution is transforming human lives across the globe

he aims of the transhumanist movement are summed up by Mark O’Connell in his
book To Be a Machine, which last week won the Wellcome Book prize. “It is their
belief that we can and should eradicate ageing as a cause of death; that we can
and should use technology to augment our bodies and our minds; that we can and should

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merge with machines, remaking ourselves, finally, in the image of our own higher ideals.”

The idea of technologically enhancing our bodies is not new. But the extent to which
transhumanists take the concept is. In the past, we made devices such as wooden legs,
hearing aids, spectacles and false teeth. In future, we might use implants to augment
our senses so we can detect infrared or ultraviolet radiation directly or boost our cognitive

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processes by connecting ourselves to memory chips. Ultimately, by merging man and
machine, science will produce humans who have vastly increased intelligence, strength,
and lifespans; a near embodiment of gods.

Is that a desirable goal? Advocates of transhumanism believe there are spectacular rewards
to be reaped from going beyond the natural barriers and limitations that constitute an ordinary

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human being. But to do so would raise a host of ethical problems and dilemmas. As O’Connell’s
book indicates, the ambitions of transhumanism are now rising up our intellectual agenda. But
this is a debate that is only just beginning.

There is no doubt that human enhancement is becoming more and more sophisticated – as
will be demonstrated at the exhibition The Future Starts Here which opens at the V&A museum

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in London this week. Items on display will include “powered clothing” made by the US company
Seismic. Worn under regular clothes, these suits mimic the biomechanics of the human body
and give users – typically older people – discrete strength when getting out of a chair or climbing
stairs, or standing for long periods.

In many cases these technological or medical advances are made to help the injured, sick or

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elderly but are then adopted by the healthy or young to boost their lifestyle or performance.
The drug erythropoietin (EPO) increases red blood cell production in patients with severe
anaemia but has also been taken up as an illicit performance booster by some athletes to
improve their bloodstream’s ability to carry oxygen to their muscles.

And that is just the start, say experts. “We are now approaching the time when, for some

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kinds of track sports such as the 100-metre sprint, athletes who run on carbon-fibre blades
will be able to outperform those who run on natural legs,” says Blay Whitby, an artificial
intelligence expert at Sussex University.

The question is: when the technology reaches this level, will it be ethical to allow surgeons
to replace someone’s limbs with carbon-fibre blades just so they can win gold medals? Whitby

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is sure many athletes will seek such surgery. “However, if such an operation came before any
ethics committee that I was involved with, I would have none of it. It is a repulsive idea
– to remove a healthy limb for transient gain.”


Scientists think there will come a point when athletes with carbon blades will be able to out-run able-bodied rivals.
Photograph: Alexandre Loureiro/Getty Images

Not everyone in the field agrees with this view, however. Cybernetics expert Kevin Warwick,
of Coventry University, sees no problem in approving the removal of natural limbs and their

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replacement with artificial blades. “What is wrong with replacing imperfect bits of your body
with artificial parts that will allow you to perform better – or which might allow you to live
longer?” he says.

Warwick is a cybernetics enthusiast who, over the years, has had several different electronic
devices implanted into his body. “One allowed me to experience ultrasonic inputs. It gave me

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a bat sense, as it were. I also interfaced my nervous system with my computer so that I could
control a robot hand and experience what it was touching. I did that when I was in New York,
but the hand was in a lab in England.”

Such interventions enhance the human condition, Warwick insists, and indicate the kind of
future humans might have when technology augments performance and the senses. Some

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might consider this unethical. But even doubters such as Whitby acknowledge the issues are
complex. “Is it ethical to take two girls under the age of five and train them to play tennis every
day of their lives until they have the musculature and skeletons of world champions?” he asks.
From this perspective the use of implants or drugs to achieve the same goal does not
look so deplorable.

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This last point is a particular issue for those concerned with the transhumanist movement.
They believe that modern technology ultimately offers humans the chance to live for aeons,
unshackled – as they would be – from the frailties of the human body. Failing organs would
be replaced by longer-lasting high-tech versions just as carbon-fibre blades could replace
the flesh, blood and bone of natural limbs. Thus we would end humanity’s reliance on

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“our frail version 1.0 human bodies into a far more durable and capable 2.0 counterpart,”
as one group has put it.

However, the technology needed to achieve these goals relies on as yet unrealised
developments in genetic engineering, nanotechnology and many other sciences and may
take many decades to reach fruition. As a result, many advocates – such as the US inventor

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and entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil, nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler and PayPal founder
and venture capitalist Peter Thiel have backed the idea of having their bodies stored in liquid
nitrogen and cryogenically preserved until medical science has reached the stage when they
can be revived and their resurrected bodies augmented and enhanced.

(...)

Transhumanism: advances in technology could
already put evolution into hyperdrive – but should
they?

March 29, 2018

David Trippett University of Cambridge

Biological evolution takes place over generations. But imagine if it could be expedited beyond
the incremental change envisaged by Darwin to a matter of individual experience. Such things
are dreamt of by so-called “transhumanists”. Transhumanism has come to connote different
things to different people, from a belief system to a cultural movement, a field of study to a

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technological fantasy. You can’t get a degree in transhumanism, but you can subscribe to it,
invest in it, research its actors, and act on its tenets.

So what is it? The term “transhumanism” gained widespread currency in 1990, following its
formal inauguration by Max More, the CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation. It refers to
an optimistic belief in the enhancement of the human condition through technology in all its

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forms. Its advocates believe in fundamentally enhancing the human condition through applied
reason and a corporeal embrace of new technologies.

It is rooted in the belief that humans can and will be enhanced by the genetic engineering
and information technology of today, as well as anticipated advances, such as bioengineering,
artificial intelligence, and molecular nanotechnology. The result is an iteration of Homo sapiens

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enhanced or augmented, but still fundamentally human.

Evolution in hyperdrive

The central premise of transhumanism, then, is that biological evolution will eventually be
overtaken by advances in genetic, wearable and implantable technologies that artificially
expedite the evolutionary process. This was the kernel of More’s founding definition in

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1990. Article two of the periodically updated, multi-authored “transhumanist declaration”
continues to assert the point: “We favor morphological freedom – the right to modify and
enhance one’s body, cognition and emotions.”

To date, areas to improve on include natural ageing (including, for die-hards, the cessation
of “involuntary death”) as well as physical, intellectual and psychological capacities. Some

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distinguished scientists, such as Hans Moravec and Raymond Kurzweil, even advocate a
posthuman condition: the end of humanity’s reliance on our congenital bodies by transforming
“our frail version 1.0 human bodies into their far more durable and capable version 2.0
counterparts”.

The push back against such unchecked optimism is emphatic. Some find the rhetoric

 30 

distasteful in its assumptions about the desire for a prosthetic future.

And potential ethical problems, in particular, are raised. Tattoos, piercings and cosmetic
surgery remain a matter of individual choice, and amputations a matter of medical necessity.
But if augmented sensory capacity, for instance, were to become normative in a particular field,
it might coerce others to make similar changes to their bodies in order to compete. As Isaiah

 35 

Berlin once put it: “Freedom for the wolves has often meant death to the sheep.”

Augmented human hearing

In order to really get to grips with the meaning of all this, though, an example is needed.
Take the hypothetical augmentation of human hearing, something I am researching within a
broader project on sound and materialism. Within discussions of transhumanism, ears are not

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typically among the sense organs figured for enhancement.

But human hearing is already being augmented. Algorithms for transposing auditory
frequencies already exist (common to most speech processors in cochlear implants and
hearing aids). Research into the regeneration of cilia hairs in the cochlear duct is also
ongoing. Following this logic, augmenting unimpaired hearing need be no different,

 45 

in principle, to correcting impaired hearing.


Artist’s impression of a robotic ear. Ociacia/Shutterstock.com

What next? Acoustic sound vibrations sit alongside the vast, inaudible electromagnetic spectrum,
and various animals access different portions of this acoustic space, portions to which we — as
humans — have no access. Could this change?

If it does, this may well alter the identity of sound itself. Speculations as to whether what is

 50 

visible as light might under other circumstances be perceivable as sound have arisen at various
points over the past two centuries. This raises heady questions about the very definition of
sound. Must it be perceived by a human ear to constitute sound? By a sentient animal? Can a
machine hear sufficiently to define sound beyond the human auditory range? What about
aesthetics? Aesthetics itself — as the (human) study of the beautiful — may no longer even be

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applicable.

(...)

OCCASIONAL ADDRESS

by Tim Minchin 25th Sep 2013

“In darker days, I did a corporate gig at a conference for this big company who made and sold
accounting software. In a bid, I presume, to inspire their salespeople to greater heights, they’d
forked out 12 grand for an Inspirational Speaker who was this extreme sports dude who had had
a couple of his limbs frozen off when he got stuck on a ledge on some mountain. It was weird.

 5 

Software salespeople need to hear from someone who has had a long, successful and happy career
in software sales, not from an overly-optimistic, ex-mountaineer. Some poor guy who arrived in the
morning hoping to learn about better sales technique ended up going home worried about the blood
flow to his extremities. It’s not inspirational – it’s confusing.

And if the mountain was meant to be a symbol of life’s challenges, and the loss of limbs a metaphor

 10 

for sacrifice, the software guy’s not going to get it, is he? Cos he didn’t do an arts degree, did he? He
should have. Arts degrees are awesome. And they help you find meaning where there is none. And let
me assure you, there is none. Don’t go looking for it. Searching for meaning is like searching for a
rhyme scheme in a cookbook: you won’t find it and you’ll bugger up your soufflé.

Point being, I’m not an inspirational speaker. I’ve never lost a limb on a mountainside, metaphorically

 15 

or otherwise. And I’m certainly not here to give career advice, cos… well I’ve never really had what
most would call a proper job.

However, I have had large groups of people listening to what I say for quite a few years now, and it’s
given me an inflated sense of self-importance. So I will now – at the ripe old age of 38 – bestow upon
you nine life lessons. To echo, of course, the 9 lessons and carols of the traditional Christmas service.

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Which are also a bit obscure.

You might find some of this stuff inspiring, you will find some of it boring, and you will definitely
forget all of it within a week. And be warned, there will be lots of hokey similes, and obscure
aphorisms which start well but end up not making sense.

So listen up, or you’ll get lost, like a blind man clapping in a pharmacy trying to echo-locate the

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contact lens fluid.

Here we go:

1. You Don’t Have To Have A Dream.
Americans on talent shows always talk about their dreams. Fine, if you have something that you’ve
always dreamed of, like, in your heart, go for it! After all, it’s something to do with your time…

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chasing a dream. And if it’s a big enough one, it’ll take you most of your life to achieve, so by the time
you get to it and are staring into the abyss of the meaninglessness of your achievement, you’ll be
almost dead so it won’t matter.

I never really had one of these big dreams. And so I advocate passionate dedication to the pursuit of
short-term goals. Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in

 35 

front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit
will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If
you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye. Right?
Good. Advice. Metaphor. Look at me go.

2. Don’t Seek Happiness

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Happiness is like an orgasm: if you think about it too much, it goes away. Keep busy and aim to
make someone else happy, and you might find you get some as a side effect. We didn’t evolve to be
constantly content. Contented Australophithecus Afarensis* got eaten before passing on their genes.

3. Remember, It’s All Luck
You are lucky to be here. You were incalculably lucky to be born, and incredibly lucky to be brought

 45 

up by a nice family that helped you get educated and encouraged you to go to Uni. Or if you were
born into a horrible family, that’s unlucky and you have my sympathy… but you were still lucky:
lucky that you happened to be made of the sort of DNA that made the sort of brain which – when
placed in a horrible childhood environment – would make decisions that meant you ended up,
eventually, graduating Uni. Well done you, for dragging yourself up by the shoelaces, but you were

 50 

lucky. You didn’t create the bit of you that dragged you up. They’re not even your shoelaces.

I suppose I worked hard to achieve whatever dubious achievements I’ve achieved … but I didn’t make
the bit of me that works hard, any more than I made the bit of me that ate too many burgers instead
of going to lectures while I was here at UWA.

Understanding that you can’t truly take credit for your successes, nor truly blame others for their

 55 

failures will humble you and make you more compassionate.

Empathy is intuitive, but is also something you can work on, intellectually.

4. Exercise
I’m sorry, you pasty, pale, smoking philosophy grads, arching your eyebrows into a Cartesian curve
as you watch the Human Movement mob winding their way through the miniature traffic cones of

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their existence: you are wrong and they are right. Well, you’re half right – you think, therefore you
are… but also: you jog, therefore you sleep well, therefore you’re not overwhelmed by existential
angst. You can’t be Kant, and you don’t want to be.

Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run… whatever… but take care of your body. You’re going to need
it. Most of you mob are going to live to nearly a hundred, and even the poorest of you will achieve

 65 

a level of wealth that most humans throughout history could not have dreamed of. And this long,
luxurious life ahead of you is going to make you depressed!

But don’t despair! There is an inverse correlation between depression and exercise. Do it. Run, my
beautiful intellectuals, run. And don’t smoke. Natch.

5. Be Hard On Your Opinions

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A famous bon mot asserts that opinions are like arse-holes, in that everyone has one. There is great
wisdom in this… but I would add that opinions differ significantly from arse-holes, in that yours
should be constantly and thoroughly examined.

We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out
onto the verandah and beat them with a cricket bat.

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Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privilege.

Most of society’s arguments are kept alive by a failure to acknowledge nuance. We tend to generate
false dichotomies, then try to argue one point using two entirely different sets of assumptions, like two
tennis players trying to win a match by hitting beautifully executed shots from either end of separate
tennis courts.

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By the way, while I have science and arts grads in front of me: please don’t make the mistake of
thinking the arts and sciences are at odds with one another. That is a recent, stupid, and damaging
idea. You don’t have to be unscientific to make beautiful art, to write beautiful things.

If you need proof: Twain, Adams, Vonnegut, McEwen, Sagan, Shakespeare, Dickens. For a start.

You don’t need to be superstitious to be a poet. You don’t need to hate GM technology to care about

 85 

the beauty of the planet. You don’t have to claim a soul to promote compassion.

Science is not a body of knowledge nor a system of belief; it is just a term which describes humankind’s
incremental acquisition of understanding through observation. Science is awesome.

The arts and sciences need to work together to improve how knowledge is communicated. The idea
that many Australians – including our new PM and my distant cousin Nick – believe that the science

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of anthropogenic global warming is controversial, is a powerful indicator of the extent of our failure
to communicate. The fact that 30% of this room just bristled is further evidence still. The fact that
that bristling is more to do with politics than science is even more despairing.

6. Be a teacher.
Please? Please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You

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don’t have to do it forever, but if you’re in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. Just for
your twenties. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke – we need male primary
school teachers. Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted
your education. Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.

7. Define Yourself By What You Love

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I’ve found myself doing this thing a bit recently, where, if someone asks me what sort of music I like, I
say “well I don’t listen to the radio because pop lyrics annoy me”. Or if someone asks me what food I
like, I say “I think truffle oil is overused and slightly obnoxious”. And I see it all the time online, people
whose idea of being part of a subculture is to hate Coldplay or football or feminists or the Liberal
Party. We have tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff; as a comedian, I make a living out

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of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your
praise of those you admire. Send thank-you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro-stuff, not just
anti-stuff.

8. Respect People With Less Power Than You.
I have, in the past, made important decisions about people I work with – agents and producers –

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based largely on how they treat wait staff in restaurants. I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat
in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful. So there.

9. Don’t Rush.
You don’t need to already know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. I’m not saying sit
around smoking cones all day, but also, don’t panic. Most people I know who were sure of their career

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path at 20 are having midlife crises now.

I said at the beginning of this ramble that life is meaningless. It was not a flippant assertion. I think it’s
absurd: the idea of seeking “meaning” in the set of circumstances that happens to exist after 13.8
billion years worth of unguided events. Leave it to humans to think the universe has a purpose for
them. However, I am no nihilist. I am not even a cynic. I am, actually, rather romantic. And here’s my

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idea of romance:

You will soon be dead. Life will sometimes seem long and tough and, god, it’s tiring. And you will
sometimes be happy and sometimes sad. And then you’ll be old. And then you’ll be dead.

There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence, and that is: fill it. Not fillet. Fill. It.

And in my opinion (until I change it), life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much

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as you can, taking pride in whatever you’re doing, having compassion, sharing ideas, running(!),
being enthusiastic. And then there’s love, and travel, and wine, and sex, and art, and kids, and giving,
and mountain climbing … but you know all that stuff already.

It’s an incredibly exciting thing, this one, meaningless life of yours. Good luck.

Thank you for indulging me.”


Photo courtesy of UWA (photographer – Ron D’Raine)


Line 42: Australophithecus Afarensis – an extinct early human species that lived 3.9 to 2.8 million years ago in Africa. (http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-afarensis)