Transhumanism

Transhumanism (also known as H+ or >H) is a movement that promotes or at least discusses the enhancement of the human race through science and technology. A transhuman society would have changed itself to the point where it would challenge the standard meaning of "being human" - removing or changing some of the basic "ailments" of humanity, providing extreme longevity, enhanced brain functions and memory, ending of diseases and so on.

As seen by recent developments (chips in heads that allow remote control of a computer, robotic exoskeletons that allow the paraplegics to walk etc), transhumanism is rooted in realistic projections of the development of technology. However, most transhumanists are often criticized for excessive amounts of idealism and enthusiasm, even technological fetishism that doesn't care about the consequences of its actions. The line of debate is usually split between those who believe a human, scientific, involvement in the further evolution of the human race is inevitable and necessary and those who find the idea of changing humanity horrific. Counter-arguments against TH usually run along the lines of "playing god", and present various bad scenarios that could happen; for instance extermination of the human race ala Terminator or a genetic divide ala Gattaca. Others present Transhumanism as a "threat to democracy" (which obviously brings into question the supposed intrinsic value of the "democratic" status quo).

The event of passing into a wholly transhumanist period is often referred to as the Singularity, where the technological advances become so fast we are unable to keep track of them and take on a "life" of their own. Also called the "Nerd Rapture", Singularity is often criticized as one of the proofs that transhumanism is just an irrational wish fulfillment fantasy, not unlike religion; whereas transhumanists harbor "contempt for flesh" and want to leave their bodies or their limitations by becoming robots or uploading their consciousness in a computer.

Transhumanist methods or areas of research mostly include genetics, nanotechnology, robotics and cybernetics, amongst others.

This article is related to Transhuman Space.