Blog Post #9: EOTO 2

Transhumanism

Transhumanism in its simplest form is a movement that pushes the study and research of human-enhancing technologies. These technologies would boost our sensory reception. First coined in 1957 by English philosopher and biologist Julian Huxley, Transhumanism is a relatively new idea when it comes to being mainstream. Although the term was first used in 1957, it wasn't until around 9 years later that Transhumanism would be first defined. The Great Encyclopedia Dictionary defined Transhumanism as surpassing, transcending, going beyond. However, even though the term was first defined in the mid 60s it wasn't until the age of the internet that the movement would really start to gain traction. The introduction of mass media and social media really gave the movement a boost when it came to spreading its ideals and beliefs.

However, although it may sound great to increase our sensory ability (I mean who wouldn't want to live longer?), it raises some serious moral and ethical questions that we still don't really have the answer to. I want to reiterate a comparison I made in my presentation to the designer baby issue that is going on in China right now. Simply put, designer babies are babies whose genome has been altered or tampered with in order to give that baby more desirable traits (blue eyes, clear skin, etc). Not only is this procedure morally and ethically questionable, it's certainly not even close to being cheap. The augments that would appear with Transhumanism would fall under the same category. They would be morally and ethically questionable, and they would be anything but cheap. Many philosophers worry that the introduction of Transhumanism would only futher the already apparent gap between the rich and poor. Death, the only thing that money can't solve. Well, with Transhumanism maybe it can. Another really big problemthat would arise with the mainstream introductin of Transhumanism is the creation of what you could consider two entirely different species. It is likely that those who have been augmented by the developments of Transhumanism would consider themselves to be genetically and physically superior to those who have not been altered. There is a scenario in which the world becomes a sort of doomsday scenario in which the "superior" humans only marry eachother to try and keep their genes superior. And yes while all of this is a little far fetched, I do think it is more of a possiblity than people think if Transhumanism were truly to become the norm.

One last thing I want to talk about when it comes to Transhumanism is, at what point has modern medicine gone too far. The main purpose of modern medicine is to cure diseases and help prolong life. While it is obvious that modern medicine is an absolute blessing and it saves countless lives every single day, year, and month. I do think there is a limit to what should be done with medicine. There is a point, like I mentioned before, where everything starts to get a bit gray and we must question if it is really the correct path. At a certain point, we will need to come to terms with the fact that humans are not meant to live forever and that death is just a natural part of life.