Transhumanism

Now who is caught up in human arrogance?

I think the term "just human" is a humble statetment.

Now we simply have a direct hand in it in so many, many, ways.

Yes we have because we think we know better.

We have preserved species

And we have destroyed many.

Weve introduced invasive species

Yes we have.

Geology and weather do not control topography to a very large degree anymore

?

Global warming, pollution, also being addressed

We made the problems.

:whistle:

But do you not think technology, and integration could not be benifical

I wasn't commenting on that. I have no problem with tec. It's a great tool for humans.

which not only makes them a cyborg(and less human, by your reasoning

I said nothing about cyborgs or anyone being less human.

So we are in agreement, no cells no life.

Not at all, in fact, I believe there is plenty of life.

So do I, we agree. Life is based on cells/biology.

This has become convoluted and gone on tangents. This is what I'm stating again,

I believe the origional statment/question was:

If we replace our bodies, digitize our brains, and expand our perception beyond human limits, are we still human?

You said

No, we wont be human anymore

That is exactly my point and the only point I was trying to make.

We agree.

Thanks

It be an interesting discussion.

Long live the meat suits! :laugh:

Ah,so because negatives come along in life with the good that makes what in anything regarding a point?

Thats common sense.

Variety is the spice of life, and it cant be sunshine and roses.

If it is your desire to focus on the negative of things to justify your worldview, its no wonder you have the worldview you do.

However you seem to be intentionally ignoring all the positives, and with little more than a desire to hang on to your attachment to what "life" is/

As an aside, there is alot of information and evidence regarding global warming not being made by us, as there is also the fact that the earth goes through cycles.

At one time, my current residence was under a mile of ice.

Also, pollution, as it is defined, existed before humans.

But if its your desire to blame everything bad that happens in the world on humanity thats cool too.

Its just not as factual as you would like to make it

Khaos wrote: As an aside, there is alot of information and evidence regarding global warming not being made by us, as there is also the fact that the earth goes through cycles.

At one time, my current residence was under a mile of ice.

Also, pollution, as it is defined, existed before humans.

I don't disagree with you on most of what we've been discussing but this one I do have to disagree on. While science is not perfect it does provide us goo objective analysis. All but a small number of scientists, whom are funded by oil and automotive companies and their subsidiaries, agree that global warming is both happening and it is caused by our level of carbon emission.

Now the relevance of this to transhumanism is spurious at best I think.

The thread is transhumanism, so the idea is to improve upon being human and not just staying human. The idea perhaps to take all the bits which you think constitute your human experience and improving and extending them... to become some post-human form of human. So yea, no, its not about being human. I guess that could scare some people because an automatic reaction might be to imagine words like inhumane and have visions of killer robots.

As Wescli pointed out that has a dark side too, and as most often the case with technology its the US military which has the funding the focus to make fast progress in those areas. Unless the IT billionaires like Elon Musk take an big interest. An important step in this direction has been the recent initiatives for mapping of the human brain.

"The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a research project which aims to simulate the human brain with supercomputers to better understand how it functions. The end hopes of the HBP include being able to mimic the human brain using computers and being able to better diagnose different brain problems."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Brain_Project_(EU)
http://www.humanbrainproject.eu/
http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/

"The BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, also commonly referred to as the Brain Activity Map Project) is a proposed collaborative research initiative announced by the Obama administration on April 2, 2013, with the goal of mapping the activity of every neuron in the human brain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAIN_Initiative
http://www.nih.gov/science/brain/

I think once the central nervous system has been mapped and can be artificially created, we will see that the conscious experience could be transferred to it. It might just be like waking up from a deep nights sleep.... or not. The only way to tell might be to try it
:blink:

I think it would be wise to start over and try to define what it means to be human... then you can speculate on what would be beyond human and decide if it will happen.

Whyte Horse wrote: I think it would be wise to start over and try to define what it means to be human... then you can speculate on what would be beyond human and decide if it will happen.

I agree. I'd say human is the history of human action, and being human is being born into that history. What differentiates human from non-human then seems fitting to be that vessel for which they exist in. That vessel then is a range of genetic/epigenetic configurations that have been born into life. A scientific position is something tangible to the discussion, but a metaphysical one becomes a bit nebulous since there is so many different beliefs and ideas.

I personally believe animals are much more conscious then we give them credit, but they are not human. It's why I prefer to classify individuals based on the individual path, and things like religions can dictate path's which group any member together, human, animal or machine... which is when I wonder if a machine can be a Jedi!! I guess so, if it acts like one, then why not!?

I don't disagree with you on most of what we've been discussing but this one I do have to disagree on. While science is not perfect it does provide us goo objective analysis. All but a small number of scientists, whom are funded by oil and automotive companies and their subsidiaries, agree that global warming is both happening and it is caused by our level of carbon emission.

Haha, I'm not sure how accurate your percentage is there, but that's just as agenda driven, given that many would like to charge us for our carbon footprint.

Everyone is funded by someone with an agenda, and that's hardly objective.

The majority has been wrong, even in science, especially when combined with agenda driven funding.

But hey, nobodies perfect.

Arguing the fact that the earth doesn't go through climate cycles , even extreme ones,that have effected our planet in a multitude of ways, seems to be ignoring a lot of science, and history though.

Of course I suppose your right this is off topic.

A good documentary in regards to this subject is "Transcendent Man".

Though incidentally, Kurzweil does indeed seem have an obsession with immortality, and bringing his father back.

That said, the man is still a genius, and his obsession will,and has benefited millions, so I won't begrudge him that.

We all deal with existential angst, despair, and death, in our own way.

I believe the origional statment/question was:

If we replace our bodies, digitize our brains, and expand our perception beyond human limits, are we still human?

I spent some time reflecting on this last night from the point of view of my essence being transfered into a viritual world with no DNA.

The emotions are a problem I can mimic them perfectly but I don't feel them. My sensors are excellent at dectecting: sound, lighht, touch, smell and analysing the molecules of taste but I can't feel emotions. I'd have to leave that behind.


I really hate to say this but I believe R2D2 was a life form in the movie and that has no bearing on my previous statments.

A perfectly replicated brain does include emotion.