[QUOTE=FuckaNinja;32204257]I hate robots.[/QUOTE]
So?
[QUOTE=ijyt;32204031]Transhumanism is what will hopefully let me see out of my left eye again.
And if not via bionics, stem cells.[/QUOTE]
Why would you choose a real eye when you could have a bitchin' visor like Geordi
[QUOTE=ironman17;32203007]Just a bunch of old men fearing the future. Makes sense, since the future will end them eventually; we are the future, a new age. Our moral beliefs of all people deserving life no matter who they are, even though it is a very good thing, has meant that those who would normally be picked off by the wild hunter-beasts, those with "complications", are alive and well. In the ancient ages before we gained our sense of morality, the "weak" would die sooner than the stronger, as dictated by the forces of Nature. Survival of the fittest aided in the ways our species eventually became the highly-adaptable intelligent creatures we are today, but with our reason and morality came a force that gradually drew us away from Nature's restrictions and laws, and as we grow stronger technologically we are coming closer to the next "stage" of evolution. Now that we are reaching the cusp of Augmentation, this next stage of evolution is not necessarily the type of evolution we imagine when we hear the word.
It is not simply an evolution of the species, but of the self. Before, the man was the result of the parents, the blending of two bloods (I know blood isn't the source of life, this is just a metaphor), but in time perhaps Augmentations could let us become more than then joining of two, giving us mastery of who we are, allowing us to evolve as individuals as well as as a species. If we wish to be strong, we could be strong. If we wish to be smart, we could be smart. If we wish to put on trenchcoats and fight some conspiracies, then we could get experience and level up abilities. But we need to make our choices to determine who and what we become; will we pick Rifles or Computers? Or will we pick Swimming, which turns out to actually be kinda useful?
Regardless, being able to choose and adapt is what makes us human. Even though some claim that being able to change and adapt what we are would spell the death of mankind, they are half-wrong. Sure, it would make mankind less of a specific species, but it wouldn't destroy humanity. For you see; humanity is not a species, but a state of being, the ability to choose and adapt. Having choice removed and adaptivity stunted is the real threat against humanity, the risk of sustained stasis will eventually cause us to melt and rot into nothingness, causing us to lose our humanity.
We must also fend against a similar threat; that of absolute unity. There must be individuals, there must be many. Having everything as one, one mind, one soul, one body; these things will purge individuality from all except one, one single individual. The threat of absolute individuality, where everyone acts utterly independant of one another, can only lead to collapse and clusterfuck. Being individual yet connected is the right way forward, balancing unity and individuality together so that we can act individualy yet also work together, alternating between unity and individuality.
Alternatively; Old Men. Warning. Warning. Old Men.[/QUOTE]
what's wrong with becoming a hivemind
it's like the only part of the singularity that appeals to me
This won't even happen, at least not for a very very long time. All of us will be long gone by then, so don't get your hopes up about becoming a super l33t cyborg because you played deus ex.
My ironman you sure have something against hiveminds.
Control my emotions? That sounds stupid. I don't want to take away the perfect imperfection of being a human.
I mean I'm all for advancement and such, but I personally would not want to modify myself.
Well, aside from the disease resistance. That sounds neat.
Why do they always cite Dr. Moreau? I mean god damnit I once had a latin teacher who was afraid of genetics research and into alternative medicine (and was sure to "educate" the entire class in the finer points of how changing your blood PH balance can make you immune to cancer :eng99:) who brought up the island of doctor Moreau and since then I've had no respect for people who use it as an argument against technological advancement.
[QUOTE=FuckaNinja;32204493]This won't even happen, at least not for a very very long time. All of us will be long gone by then, so don't get your hopes up about becoming a super l33t cyborg because you played deus ex.[/QUOTE]
Uh no, with the speed that technology is advancing, I AM SURE all of us will live to see widespread transhumanism. Also, it's not about becoming a super soldier with integrated nadelunchers and shit, but stuff like replacing organs if they fail, eyesight for the blind, stronger limbs, enabeling us to work with less rest and maybe even brain implants, negating the whole need for education.
[QUOTE=Scar;32204983]Uh no, with the speed that technology is advancing, I AM SURE all of us will live to see widespread transhumanism. Also, it's not about becoming a super soldier with integrated nadelunchers and shit, but stuff like replacing organs if they fail, eyesight for the blind, stronger limbs, enabeling us to work with less rest and maybe even brain implants, negating the whole need for education.[/QUOTE]The Singularity is near.
[QUOTE=FuckaNinja;32204493]This won't even happen, at least not for a very very long time. All of us will be long gone by then, so don't get your hopes up about becoming a super l33t cyborg because you played deus ex.[/QUOTE]
It will happen sooner than you realize. Likely within the lifespans of the younger, non-smoking users here.
[editline]9th September 2011[/editline]
Oh wait, Cuba cured lung cancer, so I guess that means I'll be there too
as dumb as i find the article this is a genuinely enthralling subject. so interesting. i'll probably stay up till 3am now reading around it
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;32199982]
we're almost always talking about the creation of a human-animal chimera from which those stem cells are being derived. [/QUOTE]
[img]http://ayaneya.web.fc2.com/Artworks/GalleryImages/Original/ChimeraWeb.jpg[/img]
I'm...ok with this?
youre all just nerds who want technology to help you beat up those mean jocks who got laid instead of you
i can tell you arent making an unbiased appraisal of the facts available because you disagree with me
im going to huff paint thinner fumes some more
-snip, I'm an idiot
[QUOTE=froztshock;32204784](and was sure to "educate" the entire class in the finer points of how changing your blood PH balance can make you immune to cancer :eng99:) [/QUOTE] Wouldn't that kill you or at least get you really sick?
[QUOTE=Lankist;32205107]It will happen sooner than you realize. Likely within the lifespans of the younger, non-smoking users here.[/QUOTE] Yea the thing people forget is that science is moving forward faster and faster. Just look at the changes between the early 19 hundreds and now and we should see at least twice that much change in are life times.
[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;32205447]Wouldn't that kill you or at least get you really sick?
Yea the thing people forget is that science is moving forward faster and faster. Just look at the changes between the early 19 hundreds and now and we should see at least twice that much change in are life times.[/QUOTE]
Hell just look at the difference between 2001 and 2011. In ten years cell-phones went from expensive luxury to essential devices. They went from something that made calls to an outlet for a mass of information. Phones, among other devices, are the first wave of transhumanist evolution. We are changing the way we think and learn because now we have an enormous wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. In decades past, if you were bitten by a snake you would need to remember from school what species of snake that was and whether it was poisonous. Today, you can take a picture of the snake and fucking google it. You don't need to *learn* that information today in the same way you needed to learn it ten years ago.
Having that connection jammed into your brain is only the next step in a very long line of advancements. At some point in the near future it is conceivable that we won't even need to have physical schools, at least for basic education. You have Wolfram on your phone. You have Wikipedia on your phone. You have Google on your phone. It is not a stretch to think that we can change our brains to make those sorts of technologies intuitive from a very young age.
Fuck, if someone could give me a Wolfram Mathematica chip to put in my brain, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
I know that anything big that we discover or work on, there will always be a certain risk or a dangerous weakness of it. The problem to solve it is try to reinforced the weakness to where it is less dangerous. For example, Electricity. the benefit is to make power, the bad thing is that it could kill people, to cover that weakness, protection, rubber, non-conductive to protect the user.
[QUOTE=Upgrade123;32204516]Control my emotions? That sounds stupid. I don't want to take away the perfect imperfection of being a human.
I mean I'm all for advancement and such, but I personally would not want to modify myself.
Well, aside from the disease resistance. That sounds neat.[/QUOTE]
I'd only "augment" myself if it was some kind of exosuit or other removable thing. That way I can do my job or whatever I need the extra abilities for, and then take it off and go home as a human.
I'm fine with trans-humanism as long as they don't fuck up two things:
Free thought
Our ability to reproduce naturally
Other than that I honestly don't see how anyone could be against it if those two things were kept intact. Let's say there's some cataclysmic event and we're forced to hunga bunga with sticks and shit for a few hundred years before technology is rediscovered. Well, if we're allowed to think freely and reproduce naturally, everything will be A-OK! Nothing of value was lost! Who knows, we could have supremely biologically enhanced humans who pass this on to their children, effectively destroying that "trans-human" thing completely. It would be the de facto state, kept alive through natural breeding. Hell, even without a cataclysmic event we could try to get a chick with night vision and a guy with super reflexes to get busy and have ninja babies.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32206398]I'd only "augment" myself if it was some kind of exosuit or other removable thing. That way I can do my job or whatever I need the extra abilities for, and then take it off and go home as a human.[/QUOTE]
For the most part yeah. Like, any kind of physical/internal augmentations would probably be really cool, but I wouldn't want to tamper with my brain at all.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32206398]I'd only "augment" myself if it was some kind of exosuit or other removable thing. That way I can do my job or whatever I need the extra abilities for, and then take it off and go home as a human.[/QUOTE] Either way you would still be human. I mean I see nothing wrong with being able to have a computer in your head. Having a map, food recipes and a phone in your head seems very useful for everyday things.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;32206471]Free thought
Our ability to reproduce naturally
[/QUOTE] I would say human reproduction is far from natural as it is and what exactly do you mean free thought?
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;32206471]I'm fine with trans-humanism as long as they don't fuck up two things:
Free thought
Our ability to reproduce naturally[/QUOTE]
Sorry to tell you but transhumanism already has in-vitro fertilization down pat.
sometimes eight babies are born at once.
It's also got contraceptives going for it in order to better control the conditions in which children are born.
[quote]
If you want to get a glimpse of the experiments taking place that will remind you of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," I suggest you get a copy of a new video that introduces the brave new world of trans-humanism.[/quote]
Let's all see how many irrelevant sci-fi horror stories we can bring up in a single sentence.
"Transhumanists want us all to be Dreaming of Electric Sheep on our Brave New Island of Doctor Frankenstein"
[QUOTE=RichyZ;32206825]i think he means more along the lines of carbon fibre wombs and nanotech vaginas[/QUOTE]
penis augmentations
[QUOTE=Lankist;32206942]penis augmentations[/QUOTE]
Argh, I was gonna say that.
Trans-humanism is probably going to be monopolized by the rich and regulated so it is made inaccessible to the common man.
Calling it now.
[QUOTE=Lankist;32206942]penis augmentations[/QUOTE]There are already companies trying to create penises from scratch that you can buy to replace your own.
[QUOTE=Reimu;32206971]Trans-humanism is probably going to be monopolized by the rich and regulated so it is made inaccessible to the common man.
Calling it now.[/QUOTE]
What like medicine?
[quote]even to achieve immortality through science.[/quote]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUr__-VZeQ[/media]
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