Transhumanism - Engineering the Human Condition

Overcoming the limitations of our short lives has always being among the deepest, most heartfelt of human desires, no matter how arrogant this may sound. And, by the way, just look at the original Latin root of the verb “desire,” a combination of “de,” which indicates “lack of something,” and “sidus,” that is, “star.” To desire literally means “to miss the stars,” to feel a need for them. Transhumanists, like many others, want to fulfill this “human, too human” desire to reach for the stars, and in a quite literal sense. Reaching the stars, living among them, becoming like Gods, and, of course, living forever, without ever having to meet the Grim Reaper.

And here we are, at the real Transhumanism; this strange hybrid movement that expressly wants to retrace the footsteps of the builders of the famous biblical tower, with the awareness that, this time, there won’t be anyone to confuse the languages. Considered by some an ideology or a philosophy, by others a kind of faith, by others still a mixture of theories waiting for scientific validation or denial, this movement – precisely because of its interdisciplinarity and the way in which it mixes political agendas and theoretical speculations – is still difficult to define. Wikipedia considers Transhumanism “an international intellectual movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellect and physiology.” Not bad, as a program, but then, neither were the forerunners kidding.

As this is a chapter about death and the human search for immortality, I was tempted to begin it with some kitschy rhetorical statement about “the dream of eternal life that has always motivated human beings,” the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, the Fountain of Youth, and so on. Nothing you don’t already know; that’s exactly why I’d rather begin with something different, that is, a concept not very well known to the masses: TMT, the Terror Management Theory.

Transhumanists are incurable optimists, no doubt about that. They do strongly believe in techno-scientific progress, and they hope that physical immortality is really around the corner, that they are going to enjoy a limitless life. I feel nothing but sympathy for these nerds, and, in spite of my skeptic background, I admit that these are normally very educated and smart people. That’s why they know that the transition from human to post-human – a package that includes physical immortality – might take some time, that it might take too many decades or too many centuries. What can they do then? How can they cheat death? They need a “Plan B,” and the solution is a magic word: “cryonics.”

Faster than light, able to fly, practically invulnerable, Superman is the forefather of a long series of characters distinguished not only by a more or less garish costume and a secret identity, but also – and above all – by a large series of powers of all kinds. Apart from some outsiders, like Batman and Iron Man, the bulk of superheroes differs from us common mortals for intrinsic capacities caused by exceptional events that enable them to perform actions that a human being, however gifted, would never be able to do. And so, Hulk has literally monstrous strength, and he can jump over the atmosphere and hold his breath underwater for hours; Spider-Man naturally adheres to vertical walls and has a “spider sense” that warns him of danger, while the Human Torch can ignite and reach the temperature of a nova; and these are just some of the many superheroes who have been haunting comics, movies, video games and TV series for decades. In short, we are now accustomed to hearing about superpowers, and there is no reason to be surprised if many expect that, thanks to the science of the near future, these capacities are destined to become real. To the point that there are those who, obviously lacking patience, have decided to get to work on obtaining these powers. This is how the concept – very Transhumanist, but now rapidly spreading outside of this context – of human enhancement was born, a fairly neutral term that hides the “human, too human” ambition to become post-human.

With a metaphor destined to become very famous, in 1942, the famed neurophysiologist Charles S. Sherrington defined the brain as “the enchanted loom.” As well as being a scientist, Sherrington was also a poet, and he never missed the opportunity to combine his two passions, coloring brain activity with poetry. And it is truly enchanted, that bizarre kilogram and a half of matter that lies behind our eyes, which, for some unknown reason, is capable of thinking. Not that we have not tried to understand the brain; indeed, especially in the last two decades, thanks in part to magnetic resonance – which has given us the opportunity to look inside of this biological puzzle – our knowledge on the subject has grown considerably. But the mystery remains, as we see now.

Just to be blunt, what is the point of living forever if you cannot live happily ever after? In other words, do we want our ordinary lives, with all of their messes and hassles, to go on indefinitely? To keep working like dogs, to be bored during a rainy Sunday afternoon, to suffer for love or for the lack of it, to feel lonely, and so on? In short, why would someone repeat the banality of life forever and ever?

The hyper-technological avalanche that will swamp us, transfiguring us, already has a date of arrival, 2045, and also a name: the Singularity.

Certainly, simply living forever and escaping the entropic process that will slowly extinguish our universe cannot be the final goal of Transhumanists, right? After all, what are you going to do with all of that time to fill? Evolution might be the answer, or one of the possible answers. Another one, which will appear to be full of hubris to casual readers – and not just to them, I have to say – would be to become, or to build, God Himself. Not a bad goal, as a way to fill the eternal life that you have just obtained. But, before jumping to conclusions and labeling the entire Transhumanist movement as just plain crazy, bear with me for a moment. In truth, I have at least to point out that Transhumanists are not alone in this dream – that is, the desire to become just like God. They are in good company, actually, as the concept of “theosis” – of being elevated to the level of God – can be found in a number of different Christian denominations, and not just Christian ones at that.