What is Transhumanism and why do Christians Not Like It?
tags:
Stumble ThisChristians can have their resurrection, I'll have fun being a big brain tooling around the universe while they go extinct.
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Yet again videosift has plus oned my powers.
*talks
But writers such as Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest who began writing in support of a Christian-contextualized evolution, have been exploring the relationship of these two forces, suggesting that there can be a reconciliation in meaning derived on a spiritual level (that is, a level deeper than intellectual understanding) that the natural system of evolution is a guiding force that has the potential to redeem humanity as well as define its origins.
There's plenty of reading material available if anyone is interested in the subject.
^ But I don't know that it makes sense to single out humanity, when considering the massive nature of such a system one would be talking about.
The reason why it makes sense to single out humanity, as Chardin focuses on in his book The Phenomenon of Man, is because humanity is the point where evolution becomes self-aware, where evolution extends beyond biology and into thought or consciousness, as evidenced by the accelerating cultural and technological developments in culture and civilization. Humanity is a critical stage of evolution that signifies the transition from a genetic-based system to a consciousness-based system: the posthuman.
Also, the reason I used the word redeem was to sort of tie some Christian verbiage into the explanation. Transhumanism recognizes that the human being is an evolutionary work-in-progress, that many of its shortcomings -- both physical and moral -- are due to outdated biological forms that dictate our behavior and our mortality. Perhaps a more precise word would be "rescue" or "save".
well,this is a new twist.i have never heard of "transhumanism" before.
i thought this video would be about carl jung.
absolutely delightful!/claps hands
the ideology of man expanding past his mortal coil and perhaps reaching something far greater.maybe even eventually reaching a point to touch and commune with god,is not a new ideology.
it is perhaps the oldest.
now we have people who wish to use technology to speed that process up?
brilliant.
If a fraction of the things he predicts comes true, I would ditch this body in a second.
Eventually prosthetic legs will be faster than natural legs, an cochlear implants will provide better hearing than a normal person without them. People with "moral" objection to body amplification will have a hard time arguing that people with disabilities shouldn't have access to such performance, and normal people will want access to a "level playing field".
By the time it is available it will seem fairly natural.
the ideology of man expanding past his mortal coil and perhaps reaching something far greater.maybe even eventually reaching a point to touch and commune with god,is not a new ideology.
it is perhaps the oldest.
Yes, you're right. This is why the transhumanist movement should do its best to be inclusive to spiritual traditions outside of secular humanism. There is much inspiration as well as understanding to be derived from mystical texts and traditions. There even exists a whole school of evolutionary posthumanism that predates the rise of integrated circuits. Writers and spiritualists such as Sri Aurobindo were considering the implications of the next stage in consciousness before Gordon Moore was even born. Therefore, transhumanists should not be presentists when considering the value of spirituality in the discourse over the future of humanity.
More than a transhumanist, I consider myself a Cosmist. The Cosmist perspective comes from the notion that the end of the Universe is the only limit for Consciousness.
Religion in built around untestable ideas, such as finding eternal life by worshiping invisible entities. Transhumanism is built around the application of technology, which is inherently testable.
If religious people want to use technology to enhance their minds and bodies then that is fine with me, but I don't see any reason for secular transhumanists to welcome superstition into their worldview.
Moderates will adapt because, in the end, people are practical, and they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.
I'd say one of the best animes out there for sure
>> ^LooiXIV:
OMG this is just like Ghost in a Shell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ghost in the shell is one of the mostly philosophical anime's out there, and as such, underrated.
I'd say one of the best animes out there for sure
The series is better than the movie, imo. =)
Is your new eternal body made from God's magic, or grown in a vat immune from flaws or disease? Does your life have more meaning if the new body is the reward?
You want heaven - made of gold in the clouds? or an immersive virtual reality cloud-hosted?
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.
That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.
>> ^chilaxe:
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.
That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.
William Gibson, man. Neuromancer tells this story. This conversation reminded me of that book.
Title is silly. No theist/believer is 'scared' of transhumanism or any other contrary set of teachings. That's a conceit only held by people attempting to make themselves feel more important than they really are.
Just like they aren't afraid of gay marriage and marijuana?
>> ^chilaxe:
they don't want to be the only ones in society who don't have a 500 IQ.
That's kind of infuriating to me because there's enough quality of life inequity because of poverty and the lopsided distribution of wealth, and if we go this route it will get many times worse. And IQ is not wisdom, so don't expect the "haves" of the future to be more enlightened than they are now.
It isn't something to get upset about. If I had access to a calculator and the internet then I could ace just about any IQ test in existence. That doesn't mean I have the innate abilities of Einstein, but if I were using today's tech on an IQ test then I'm pretty sure I could score better than he could without it.
Tech will certainly progress from there, but in a sense we are already on the edge of being transhuman. It sounds foreign when people speak about what may happen multiple decades from now, but it would have sounded the same if you had described today's tech 30 years ago. It would have sounded like a huge leap, but in reality it happened little by little, in a fairly natural progression.
Nope. Religions aren't afraid of sin. Wrong attitude. They are saddened by the result of sins, and the misery they bring on those who commit them.
I'm still waiting for my flying car. Get to fucking work on what's important.
Already happened. Didn't you get the memo?
Can transhuman's marry? Are they granted the same rights of humans? Do they get to vote? Can they work and provide shared medical benefits for other transhumans living on the same hard disk?