Do you want to be Transhuman?

No. I'm far from a nature-loving hippie, but we, humans, are starting to forget that, no matter how great our capabilities are, we are still a part of nature. We cannot win in a struggle against it, nor should we try to abolish mortality and imperfectness - it's an important part of what we are and we would, eventually, lose our humanity in the process. By the way, the Earth is already overcrowded - if every man was immortal, where would we live?

The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

Why is losing our humanity a bad thing?

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

In the computers.

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

There are a couple of issues to address in your post. First, there's nothing sacred about nature — it's a complex interaction of complex processes, which can be understood and "mastered" as any other thing in our physical universe. Mankind is a part of it, to be sure, but there's no inherent upper limit on our capabilities as a species, save our imagination and some odd abstract concept called morality.

Second, senescence and death are wired into us as part of our genetic heritage, but again there's nothing sacred about genes; they can be modified or coerced to behave differently than they currently do. Again, we have moral and ethical constraints, not ones of physical capability.

There would be nothing inherently preventing us from reaching out for the stars if we had immortality in our grasp, anyway. But overpopulation is already an issue, and even if we become clinically immortal we still have to eat and drink. Blowing through the Earth's resources will limit population whether we like it or not.

edited 25th Mar '11 11:54:32 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I like being human? I mean, if I can't retain some level of what made me curious, able to laugh, and even cry, then what am I? Machine like is alright until you're not able to smile anymore.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

You are you just not human.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Nothing inherently prevents us from outliving the stars, from a purely theoretical standpoint.

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

Humanity isn't what makes you do all those things. Who says you won't have any of these things if you're a machine?

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

By the way, the Earth is already overcrowded

[citation needed]

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

Erm, I believe we've into a contradiction of definitions. How would you guys define humanity anyway?

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

The state of being a member of the Homo sapiens species.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

I define it as being biologically human. Nothing more. Nothing less. Emotions aren't inherently human. Some humans don't have them and certain other animals do have them. Who's to say that there won't be computers capable of doing everything we are physically, mentally, and emotionally at some point in the future? They won't be human though. They will computers.

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

Humanity is overrated. This one values sapience, no matter what set of DNA (if any) it's attached to.

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

9Humanity is overrated. And the thing your describing Usht is a person, not a human. There actually is a difference. We don't criticize What Measure Is A Nonhuman without a reason. Although, I think we'll probably retain those abilities and feelings and even find new ones.

Anyway, I'm gone for a few hours and find like a hundred posts. Didn't think being Transhuman was so popular.

edited 25th Mar '11 12:04:46 PM by Ekuran

Edit: I see the discussion has moved past this, so feel free to ignore.

Sorry, but no. I would not see someone else in that mirror. I would see me. I just don't see how the speed with wich such a 'transformation' takes place has any relevance. Just because you can't quite remember changing that much it doesn't/didn't happen? You still recognize yourself on photos taken many years ago, I assume? I don't remeber having a tail in the womb, I still did. (but not anymore for those wondering ).

If you want to argue that "changing too quickly" means that "you is not you anymore", ok. But then, how slow must change go to remain myself or how quick is too quick?

edited 25th Mar '11 12:03:42 PM by GreatLich

Okay, that definition. Sorry, I've been reading a few too many classic novels that always use the word "humanity" for this sort of stuff. Carry on.

Speed of the change was what I was getting at Lich. As for how slow is still keeping us with our same identity? I'd say it varies from person to person, but our natural physical growth as it is is usually more than plenty slow enough for all of us to remain ourselves.

edited 25th Mar '11 12:05:52 PM by Usht

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

It's just a matter of what you're accustomed to. Waking up and suddenly finding myself unexpectedly inside a robot body or a computer would be shocking, but we are nothing if not adaptable. And it's less shocking if I'm expecting it.

edited 25th Mar '11 12:04:56 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Best summed up in this quote of mine:

"Humanity/Personity, Fuck Yeah!"

edited 25th Mar '11 12:13:20 PM by Ekuran

You're not supposed to leave Videodrome thinking "Long Live the New Flesh."

You laugh at the poor deluded lab rats in their cages when you laugh at humans as poor deluded lab rats in their cage of science. In so doing, you only laugh at yourself. Same old same old. Down with the weak. Down with the abject other

The "tear-jerking modern rift"* of subject-object dualism wasn't stimulating enough. You require more of the same stimulation

Humanism is already a fractured relationship with the inhuman. That's the problem, not the solution

The thrill of the “post-” is predicated on the abjection of the “sub-.”

You are not yet human.

Kill all math nerds

Fighteer, I wouldn't mind having some advanced telepresence robot(s) to try that out, actually.

edited 25th Mar '11 12:07:58 PM by GreatLich

But that's the thing; I don't think I would wake up inside a robot body, there'd simply be a robot with my personality walking around alongside myself.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

Of course, you could systematically upgrade your brain so it would be you the whole entire way. Not that it matters, considering we aren't even the same person we were a second ago, what with the loss and gaining of mass happening constantly.

You wouldn't wake up inside the body, but he would. The problem we're encountering is that English does not distinguish between you (physical object) and you (personality)

edited 25th Mar '11 12:14:03 PM by Yej

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

I'm not talking about remaining the same person, I'm talking about making sure my mind is actually moving instead of simply being duplicated.

edited 25th Mar '11 12:14:18 PM by Wicked223

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

Kind of like if you got a second body with your brain downloaded into that. If both of you were still alive, you'd be different people and not directly effect the existence of the other by dying. That being said, leaves room for getting a gender flipped version of yourself and...

You know what, I've never seen what people find so sexy about having sex with themselves.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.