Refuting Transhumanism
Transhumanism, the belief that man will radically alter his basic human nature through technology, is a religion. It has no basis in objective scientific reality. The reason so many seemingly intelligent people believe in it is because they want to believe so as to fulfill their need for meaning in a universe that is oblivious to them.
I first learned of transhumanism when I stumbled on the webpage of Hans Moravec, an adjunct faculty member in the Robotics Department at Carnegie Mellon. Moravec believes that in just a few decades from now, the human brain will be simulated in a computer. The computer will then start researching itself and improving its own design causing it to take off in a sort of feedback loop, converting “dumb” matter into “smart” matter. Mankind will be wiped out in the process, but no matter, because it is our inevitable destiny to give birth to this “next stage of evolution,” this super-intelligence.
When I first read this I was horrified but then I started to realize the flaws in Moravec’s thinking, the greatest being his inability to contemplate his own insignificance. Since then, I have seen transhumanism crop up over and over again. About once every month I would read an article about how we will soon be immortal or about Drexler’s “grey goo”. I would meet people at parties who had heard of Ray Kurzweil’s ideas. Once, at a book club two high school seniors asked if I worked on nanotechnology. When I said yes, they excitedly asked me when I thought we would have nanobots. In these situations I would calmly explain why this stuff is nonsense and that most scientists have never heard of nanobots, let alone take them seriously. However, recently something happened that pushed me over the edge and made up my mind to start a blog with the goal of refuting transhumanism.
On November 5th, 2006, C-Span had Ray Kurzweil on their Book TV In Depth program. If you don’t know, In Depth is a call-in TV show that devotes a full 3 hours to review the work of a distinguished author. Previous guests have been Nobelist Toni Morrison, Gore Vidal and Jacques Barzun. I was horrified that someone like Kurzweil could be invited onto this prestigious program. You might as well invite Claude Vorilhon of the Raelians to be interviewed for heavens sake. But the fact that Kurzweil was defiling my beloved BookTV was the last straw. I then and there resolved to start this blog to refute the transhumanists in all their persuasions.
I first learned of transhumanism when I stumbled on the webpage of Hans Moravec, an adjunct faculty member in the Robotics Department at Carnegie Mellon. Moravec believes that in just a few decades from now, the human brain will be simulated in a computer. The computer will then start researching itself and improving its own design causing it to take off in a sort of feedback loop, converting “dumb” matter into “smart” matter. Mankind will be wiped out in the process, but no matter, because it is our inevitable destiny to give birth to this “next stage of evolution,” this super-intelligence.
When I first read this I was horrified but then I started to realize the flaws in Moravec’s thinking, the greatest being his inability to contemplate his own insignificance. Since then, I have seen transhumanism crop up over and over again. About once every month I would read an article about how we will soon be immortal or about Drexler’s “grey goo”. I would meet people at parties who had heard of Ray Kurzweil’s ideas. Once, at a book club two high school seniors asked if I worked on nanotechnology. When I said yes, they excitedly asked me when I thought we would have nanobots. In these situations I would calmly explain why this stuff is nonsense and that most scientists have never heard of nanobots, let alone take them seriously. However, recently something happened that pushed me over the edge and made up my mind to start a blog with the goal of refuting transhumanism.
On November 5th, 2006, C-Span had Ray Kurzweil on their Book TV In Depth program. If you don’t know, In Depth is a call-in TV show that devotes a full 3 hours to review the work of a distinguished author. Previous guests have been Nobelist Toni Morrison, Gore Vidal and Jacques Barzun. I was horrified that someone like Kurzweil could be invited onto this prestigious program. You might as well invite Claude Vorilhon of the Raelians to be interviewed for heavens sake. But the fact that Kurzweil was defiling my beloved BookTV was the last straw. I then and there resolved to start this blog to refute the transhumanists in all their persuasions.
Ray Kurzweil has done a much better job in explaining why "transhumanism" will occur, while your blog does nothing to prove why it won't. Your diatribe is reminiscent of what someone at the patent office said over 100 years ago, that everything has already been invented. Like it or not, there will come a time when humans will transcend biology. It may not happen in the next 50 years, but rest assured, it will happen. If this frightens you, then check out some of the latest anti-anxiety medications.
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Danny, I suggest you check out some of the latest nootropics.
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Very funny blog! I am a transhumanist and agree with most of what you have said. I think that Drexler et al. are living in la-la land. I would like to point out that we are going through a revolution in fields such as genetics (last week a study came out with no less than 90000 participants identifying SNPs associated with BMI) that could form the basis of a neo-eugenicist movements (euphemims: pro genetic choice, or gene therapy on embryos). And this within our lifetimes....
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