FURTHER VIEWS IN DEFENSE OF TRANSHUMANISM AND THE PRESERVATION OF RELIGIOUS VALUES

Let's take a walk in a railway station or even a busy airport. During rush hour, if someone trips and falls, there are very few people who would stop on their way and pick up the fallen person. I hope everyone is aware of the silent "personal space" battles we fight everyday in restaurants, public benches, and theatre seat armrests. If we extrapolate this graphical example into the future, surely the fears of being left behind that you have suggested is inevitable.

When I spoke in an international conference ( http://www.angelfire.com/indie/naturemeet ) about the possibility of an altruistic Cyborg population, most people asked me whether the cyborgs with their superior intellect would disavow us.

Last week, I spoke with an elderly man who had lost all of his life's savings in buying imported drugs for treating his only son. Important life saving drugs are not available everywhere. They still have to be imported and then at a very expensiverate which is not possible for people with very low incomes.

Farmers have to now suffer the wrath of giant MNC's who pump bio-engineered seeds into agriculture and then place incredibly huge restrictions on traditional practices. Of course, there are legitimate reasons on the part of the companies to protect their hard earned work; but that does not mean that poor farmers should suffer.

The future is not far away. It is evolving as you read this post. The vast majority of people are now convinced that the future does not belong to them or their children but instead to the so-called elite.

I think that we must discuss further as transhumanists on how to address these issues so that we may all harvest from technological yields. Those articles that oppose transhumanism are just blind swings in the night that claim that transhumanists want to transcend and live forever and blah blah. Sure we are all that, but I don't recall any of those articles trying to say why we are also determined to create an equitable future for all. Transhumanists are just about the most selfless gentle techno geeks there can be who care.

1. We are not satisfied with the present world nor the body. We know in our hearts that this state is just temporary.

2. We do not wish to wait for a divine light to uplift us into heavenly heights. Instead, we feel that the light is already within us, the capacity to transcend has already been granted to us. We just have to boldly go about researching and find out the secrets ie; the hidden code, whether it be of genome or whether it be of atoms.

3. We want to live forever. We have heard this promise from religion that one day, we will all be eternal beings. We think this can be made possible with technology. What is wrong with this picture ? How can it be less religious to finally understand the wonders to which our bodies can reach. Those of us who are religious would only thank God more for having given us such transcendable bodies.Somehow we must make those who oppose us understand this.
How do we project a friendlier future ? This is a question open to discussion.

WHY TRANSHUMANISM COULD WORK

a. Global communications have improved to such an extent that most of us around the world can be contacted.

b. Governments around the world are becoming friendlier and forming newer and better co-alitions than ever before.

c. Scientific research, programming code is now increasingly showing a favour for
open source. Hopefully, we would all have unrestricted access to research and code.
eg. the human genome code is available online for those interested.

Therefore, this is a very good time for transhumanists to promise aiming for a friendly society where immortal technology could in fact become available to all ( free of commerce ).

I hope transhumanism can dispell fears amongst all of us humans as a whole that we would be discriminated and deprived from immortalist technologies.

While other futuristic movements talk about being immortal or developing into chimeras, I think transhumanism is the only movement that tries to defend the dignity of every individual in the future. Perhaps this one promise is enough defense in favour of transhumanism. In the wider public arena, it is important for transhumans to self project themselves as individuals who wish for an ethical future filled with technologies that is available to all instead of projecting themselves as gothic manifestations of extreme cyberpunk fantasies. I have chosen the former representation.

I personally do not wish to be immortal in a society that monitors my every biorhythm and
charges me unfairly for every breath I take from the atmosphere. The bills for a mortal in the current world is itself unbearable.

DEFENDING THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

Most people ask …"If God is so great, then why can't I see him or her ?"

We have been trying to put God within the scope of our senses.This is an impossible thing to do.The concept of God is just too huge. All of our logic and linguistic skills will fail if we try to explain God.

I have not seen God. But I am not dissapointed since I feel that my biological eyes might quite incapable of perceiving a dimensional entity that is much much more complex than my own.We share a lot of genetic homology with almost every other living and non living form in this planet. We realized this only a few years back (The Human Genome project ). This could be taken as the scientific explanation for the "Oneness" with the universe. Any decent physicist should be able to tell you about the many other dimensions that exist. We are able to physically sense only 3 dimensions ( length, breadth and height ).

So, my point is that we are still infants in our potential to evolve. It is too early to hypothesize
about whether Jesus was really blond. Let's use transhumanist technologies to evolve and improve our understanding of our own body. Our understanding of God will also improve along with it and one day, we will be able to experience what we call God without religion, drugs, electrodes. I am sure of this. But that future is so different that I can't even imagine what it would be like.

The true ultimate aim of any religious work is actually to escape and transcend beyond the verses. This is what escaping all bondage and desires really equates to; transcending our biological limitations.

This is why I think transhumanism or any futuristic movement can take us there. Therefore, there shouldn't be a problem in a transhumanist being religious.

However, religion should never be forced on anyone.This also means that you don't get to laugh at people who are religious.

People should study religion by themselves and not depend on falsified versions. It is not religion which is at fault, but us. Let's tweak ourselves, ethically.

LOGIC AND NEED FOR RELIGION FOR TRANSHUMANISM

While it may be perfectly logical to derive an equation stating that Mr.X is unacceptable offering no alternative for reversal; religion offers something called salvation.

The majority of human beings out there are Mr.X's. Science only offers the technology to perhaps overcome mechanical or chemical limitations of their bodies. It is sometimes the love from religion alone that grants some way of hope by which the person concerned would wish to continue to maintain the life force within the
body ( stay alive ).

Transhumanism is a favourable way into the future because it offers something that no other so called logical approaches to the future give. It promises to transcend the biological limitations in an ethical/humane manner. This is very similar to religious promises of a beautiful and equal heaven for all. So, people would choose transhumanism in their futuristic studies as it is the closest thing to what they are already comfortable with, religion.

I have chosen simple words to explain my point. I understand that; to the experienced philosopher or to the self-proclaimed logistics experts, my views may sound distorted and vague.

However, this is exactly the reason why I think transhumanism would work. Because it gives equal hope to those who think through the spirit and those who think through the microscope.

According to me, Transhumanism is a very simple thing to understand. You just need to forget all those difficult words. This is how I see it and I am free to choose so. However, if logistics dictate that my statements are not required since they lack rationality or any of the "isms" proudly and carelessly thrown into the chaos, then I think we have a problem.