Techno-Boner Safety

 I've been known to skitter disjointedly around the borders of the Transhumanist community. Never as an active participant, much to my chagrin, but always an enthusiastic advocate. However, as with all of the ideologies I tend to become entangled with, I have a hard time towing the party line.

For those who don't know, the Transhumanist movement is a loosely bound group of individuals and small groups dedicated to the absolute development of humankind through the expansion of science and technology. Key tenets of the movement are movement are; the abolition of involuntary suffering, the end of biological decay of the living (aging), cognitive enhancement, and exploration of the universe. By and large I agree with these ideals, though for me the core of the issue is absolute biological freedom, the ability to completely determine one's own characteristics and abilities. Notice nowhere in either sentence is mind uploading or the "immorality" of death described. There are members of the community who hold these as goals but I give no fucks about them. My issue arises from people disregarding or denouncing the community for those beliefs. Or worse, claiming that we're either complicit or blind to the possibility of corporate exploitation. 

To many of us the dissemination and availability of these technologies is absolutely crucial to transhumanity. Trans-humanity, not trans-oligarchy, not trans-white people. All the willing must be given the viable option to ascend or we're talking about a different thing entirely. That option bit is pretty fucking important too, by the way, its a freedom thing not a full spectrum biosynthetic rape. 

My other big gripe is the argument that augmentation is an unnatural violation of the human self, the fear that modifying the body will indelibly taint the soul and turn people into robots. This is the worst one and we see it everywhere. Games like Deus Ex and Shadowrun, on T.V. with Doctor Who's Daleks and Cybermen, in every vein of science fiction. This whole line of inquiry sets me down a hatespiral that I tend to struggle with for days.

Since the first filthy cave-dweller accidentally stabbed himself on a broken rock, human evolution has been primarily external. Sure the average height of Europeans has increased, pinky toes have shrunk and appendices have become vestigial; but two of those three are based in the development of technology. The extra digestive organ that became the appendix atrophied as cooking techniques became more advanced and less effort was required to keep food from killing us. Pinky toes are no longer needed to assist balance because of the broad leather or rubber pads we strap to our feet. Tools get better, mankind evolves to better accommodate the tools. 

So Transhumanism isn't even a question. Its a misnomer. Humanity has always been defined by the tools its developed, so naturally integration of those tools into the body cannot negate any aspect of humanity. If anything, exploration into the integration of tools and development of the self in regard to the external is one the most human activities one can participate in. So fuck those people, lets all get to it and bust out some sweet ass robot arms.

~Eshi