Transhumanism and Human Enhancement: The Quest for Paragon

Transhumanism is an intellectual movement that has developed over the past two decades. It advocates for the enhancement of the human condition and organisms through the use of emerging technologies. The end goal is to enhance human longevity and cognition.

This school of thought explores existing technologies like genetic engineering and information technology. It also relies on anticipated future technologies such as artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.

What Does Transhumanism Entail?

The human enhancement options under exploration by the transhumanism movement include;

  • Eradication of disease
  • A boost in human intellect
  • An exorbitant improvement in human health and lifespan
  • An expansion of the physical and emotional prowess of humans

Other transhumanist ideas include the prospect of creating intelligent machines, together with other technological developments that have the potential of extensively affecting the human condition. Transhumanist ideas go beyond the creation of technological gadgets and medicine. They also include psychological, social, and cultural developments.

Transhumanists believe that human nature is not perfect in its current state, and we can improve it as we desire. The current human nature does not necessarily need to be the endpoint of evolution. In brief, transhumanists believe that, with the responsible use of technology, we can become post-human with more robust capabilities and capacities than current humans.

The Post-Human Realm

The range of thoughts, feelings, and genetic predispositions accessible to humans is probably a tiny proportion of the possibilities available. We cannot assume, for instance, that the mode of being a cheetah has more limitations than the state of being a human. Cheetahs cannot understand what it is like to be human. We, too, cannot fully understand what it is like being post-human.

Transhumanism promises possibilities whose allures no human being has experienced yet. We can only imagine humans that reach a greater level of development than current human beings.  do because they have the ability to live very long with their bodies functioning optimally.

We can only imagine beings that can create a machine that we can only understand shallowly. If you were to perceive them, you’d probably envision beings that embody these qualities;

  • Extremely smart, and able to create solutions to problems we would sweat attempting to solve
  • Can comprehend and synthesize exorbitantly large volumes of information
  • Very long lifespan with bodies working optimally throughout
  • Humans with perfect ideals. If they were to love, their love would be of the purest form

The possibilities are endless!

While we can surmount some of our biological limitations, some aren’t transcendable. This may not necessarily be due to technological limitations, but it could be due to metaphysical reasons. While certain modes of living may be comprehensible to us, they may not be possible for humans. The paragon may be so different from us that they would in no way be us.