Technology

Embrace transhumanism

Introduction
Transhumanism is a school of thought that believes in proper use of science and technology to enhance human physical and mental capabilities. This idea basically refuses to be patient with human evolution choosing instead to hasten and even go beyond the potential of evolution in the search for a better human being. To the transhumanist, death, disability and disease do not have to be part of the human beings life they should be eliminated. By seeking to create a human being with such enhanced capabilities, transhumanism envisions a superhuman being and for that reason, this movement has also been referred to as posthuman.

Currently, animal evolution is guided by adaptation to the environment. This was captured by Charles Darwins origin of species in which he postulated the natural selection theory (survival for the fittest). For the posthumanist however, the idea is to enhance the human being using technologies available such as nanotechnology, computer science and robotics, and thus, the transhumanist seeks to circumvent evolution as the transformation mechanism for human nature.

Tranhumanism has received its fair share of criticisms as well accolades. Most of the criticism is from conservatives who view the attempt to enhance human capabilities using technology as a usurpation of Gods role in human life. These are people who believe that life should be left to human nature. This paper begs to differ with them. Much as transhumanism is fraught with uncertainty, its opponents are only driven by fear of the unknown, in the process threatening the progress of a good idea.

Why support transhumanism

Equality
Firstly, transhumanism will bring about more equality to citizens of the world contrary to the arguments that it will create a genetic divide. Some of the technologies of interest to transhumanism include biotechnology, nanotechnology and cognitive science. A notable capability of this technology will be the production of designer babies. Yet this forms a basis for one of the central arguments advanced by critics of transhumanism that acceptance of the technology will lead to an emergence of a genetic haves and have-nots. Prima facie, their fears appear legitimate because one can only imagine the effect of rich people having the ability to determine the characteristic of their children while on the other hand, the poor are left to rely on fate.

This according to (Gale Group, 2004) may go against the declaration of independences assertion that all men are born equal. What this argument fails to acknowledge is that inequality already exists for the said men that are supposedly born equal. Laws and legislations will neither give the blind eyes to appreciate natures beauty, nor will they give the deaf ears to appreciate the morning sound of birds humming. In other words, legislations are limited and only appear to give ornamental rights that do not have a substantive impact on an individuals quality of life.

However, accepting transhumanism will pave way for adoption and improvement of technologies such as biotechnology. A good example is the cyborg given in (acceleratingfuture, 2009). The Cyborg given in that example is named Dr. Michael Chorost, a man born with severe hearing impediments but was given hearing aids that enabled him to get through schooling. This technology is known as cybernetics and although available for a long time, it stands a chance of further improvements should transhumanism be fully embraced. For now, the technology is only working for those with a small hearing capability, but it has the capacity to be used on those without any hearing capability if well developed.

Granted, inequality cannot be totally ruled out because it is an inherent feature of any capitalist system. However, it should be addressed by legislation and any other mechanism that is being used now to mitigate any inequalities. It is no different from the rest. It will be wrong to gag an idea that would bring so much relief to a marginalized group of citizens for fear of it being unavailable to everyone. In any case, there is a huge possibility that prohibiting the technology might lead to emergence of a black market that will further aggravate the very inequalities being fought.
Ethics

(Bostrom) defines the transhumanist as one who believes that use of science and technology responsibly will lead to posthumanism. Transhumanists are the people that determine the guiding philosophy for transhumanism and for that reason it is worth noting the words responsible use as used in the definition. Indeed there are ethical challenges to the technology but those should be dealt with by social policies and legislations.

An example of a transhumanist technology that faces this kind of criticism is genetic engineering or enhancement. In particular, the ability of parents to determine the sex and other attributes of their babies, according to many of the opponents of the technology, will lead to disappearance of many of the values that human nature holds dear now. According to (majorityrights, 2009), some of the values that will be lost include appreciation of talent, everybodys uniqueness and concern for the less fortunate.

The enhancements will not be a onetime occurrence in which there will be a sudden change in human nature the changes will take place gradually during which time, there will be time for people to adjust to the changes. More importantly, the authorities will have the opportunity to decide what to accept and what not to accept because the government will still be there to play its regulatory role. This is consistent with suggestion by (Bostrom) that proper ethics will be realized by the societys action in determining the technologies to adopt and reject.

Ultimately, the question of ethics will depend on the government and transhumanism cannot be blamed for any erosion of ethics that may occur due to its adoption. In fact according to  (McNamee  Edwards, 2006), transhumanism will present an opportunity for humans to model their morals in line with their intellectual capacities in contrast with the current situation, which appears to derive morality from human fears and vulnerabilities.

Quality of human life
Human life is a function of both length and quality whereby good quality is characterized by a long healthy life. As noted earlier, transhumanist technologies have the potential of increasing ones lifespan by getting rid of diseases and even death. However, in addition to it increasing ones life, it also does increase the quality of life. These technologies are already in use but they have not been used to create an immortal human as advocated by the transhumanists.

Its effects on the quality of human life are already notable. Cyborg is an example of technology currently in use that has improved human life. This technology has been used for purposes of helping those with hearing and vision impairments. The technology incorporation in to their bodies is camouflaged in such a manner that is becomes impossible for one to differentiate them from other people. These people are known as cyborgs and carry on their normal duties hardly betraying any hint of disability.

There are medical chips that can be implanted on to a humans body to track particular a particular disease or condition to prevent it from proceeding beyond certain levels. Diabetes, for example, can be checked by inserting a chip in to a patients body and connecting it to a doctors computer. This will enable the doctor to monitor the blood sugar for the patient and take any necessary steps if it goes beyond certain concentrations. Genetic enhancements can also be used to prevent disabilities by genetically screening embryos for disability genes. This has already been described as an inequality reducing measure, but in addition to that, the intervention improves a persons quality of life.

Allergies and disease vulnerabilities may also be dealt with by getting rid of genes that cause people to be susceptible to attacks of the particular ailments. Moreover, people may acquire talents by having genes responsible for them in other people being introduced in to the body system. Gene therapy represents endless possibilities including identification and isolation of genes responsible for criminal tendencies.

A further improvement in the medical application can be found in the application of molecular nanotechnology. It allows for macro manufacturing with micro precision (acceleratingfuture, 2009).  Medically, this technology is applied by using nanodevices to perform surgeries and heal wounds without the need for surgery. That would simplify medical procedures and allow for wounds to heal faster.

Quality of life can also be improved by use of non human entities to carry out duties that the humans may find unpleasant to do. (acceleratingfuture, 2009) gives an example of replicating robots. These robots may be used to carry out duties such as cleaning the house, cutting grass and other duties that to the normal human may be unpleasant to do. This will then free the human being to carry out more intelligent duties such designing more value addition activities. Alternatively, it may afford one the opportunity to engage in recreational activities.

It is clear from the foregoing that the quality of life under transhumanism will be of a much higher quality compared to the current state. Additionally, the human intellectual faculties can be modified to change the cognitive and perceptive tendencies. This way, the mind can be better controlled and the whole matter of well being taken care of. That means, on top of the physical wellness being improved, psychological state of a person is greatly improved. Feelings such as moodiness, anger, happiness and other subjective reactions can be better controlled, further leading to an improved life quality.

Environmental changes
The past century has seen a very rapid transformation of the earths environmental conditions. Increased human population and purchasing power has taken consumerism to levels that could not have been envisioned by the 19th century economists.  (Veizer 2002) predicts a global temperature rise of between 1.5 and 5.5 degrees Celsius in the next century. In the past, such changes in temperature took a very long time and were even classified as evolutionary periods lasting millions or billions of years. Many other changes will happen as a result of this temperature change that will adversely affect the way humans and animals live.

Already the effects are visible from the increased regularity of natural disasters. However, these are occurring without the temperature increase having reached the peak as unabated greenhouse gases choke the atmosphere. The problem is that these changes are occurring within very short periods that cannot be referred by the evolution scientists as evolutionary periods. It is not possible that by 2100 the human body will have evolved to withstand such a drastic increase in temperature. In addition, this increase is bound to bring about an interference of the carbon water cycle, which, according to geologists is the story of life because carbon and water interchange determines life for most living organism (Veizer, 2002).

The idea is not to confine speculation within the next century but give it an infinite consideration. Given the current rate of environmental degradation, it will not be surprising that in less than three centuries to come, the earth will be inhabitable to the human being with the current physical and mental capabilities. This, unlike the fear by the conservatives is not inspired by desire to stick to the beaten path there is history and predictive trends to support it. History shows that dinosaurs became extinct due to the inability to cope with changing environment while on the other hand the current trends show that temperature changes will result in drastic changes within the next few years.

The human body does not have time to adapt to these changes within such a short time. There are two choices adapt the human body to the changes or change the way in which human business is carried out, which means reducing activities producing the effects. The latter has proven hard to implement because of the economic and social effects of reducing economic activity. It would be more realistic to look into ways of reducing negative reaction of the human body towards climate and environmental change. So far, the world leadership has failed to agree and there are no signs that any of them will agree on how to curb climate change. Transhumanism can be used both as an alternative or complementary measure. Technology is the cause of the current state of affairs and it is only fair for it to be used in mitigation of its negative attributes.

Increased functionalities
A person in the transhumanist world will have increased capabilities both mentally and physically. The current human being is very limited in capability compared to the person envisioned by the transhumanists. If one were to consider the number of mysteries yet to be solved or certain physical undertakings that are yet to be achieved by the human body, then a clearer picture of the limits imposed by the mental and physical capabilities emerges. For instance, two weaknesses should suffice the inability of the human being to breathe at certain atmospheric pressure and the number of scientific mysteries that have never been solved. Embracing transhumanism will increase these capabilities.

Already, technologies are signaling that in future manipulation capabilities of human intelligence will be greatly enhanced going by the current developments. One such development according to (Bioethicsanddisability ) happened in 2004, when two couples had their nervous systems linked. The linking may have been done for purposes of pure research but it nevertheless gave an angling of possibilities that come with technology. It may be possible, for example, to put a persons brain on a computer and compare it with that of another person.

Artificial intelligence may also be improved by brain prosthesis. A person who has undergone severe brain damage can be helped by being given an artificial brain. There is no limit on the source of the brain it may be from an animal that has been modified or it may be totally artificial. The brain may be replaced in part or as a whole. The bottom line is that no persons survival should be tied to the brain. As things stand now, the brain is an indispensible part of the human body, meaning that any damage to it spells doom for the human being. The best that can be done is brain surgery and that too has its risks of failure. Brain prosthesis will eliminate the need for surgery and anyone who has a brain damage will get a replacement.

The same goes for people with mental problems. If someone is born with a brain that has limited capabilities, such a person may be given another brain at infanthood. One area that a social policy may be needed would be in such an area. One of the fears listed before is that transhumanist technologies may lead to inequalities. However, the government may have a policy that no human being should live with a brain that has a capacity below a specified minimum. As soon as a child is born, the brain will be tested and if it below the specified capacity, a new one is given. In addition, the policy may be that the government-issued brain cannot go beyond a certain capacity.

Apart from mental, physical capabilities can also be enhanced. The resilience of the human body can be enhanced so that duties that have to date proved impossible for the human being to perform can be done. This is a matter of genetic modification so that ones body can withstand greater physical extremes. A human beings genetic make-up can be modified to have bodies with greater tolerance to temperature variations unlike the current bodies, which withstand a very limited thermal range. This will remove the limits that exist for people who, for example, cannot survive in the deserts or in the poles where temperatures are extremely low.

Conclusion
Transhumanism has shown endless possibilities in as far as human capabilities are concerned. To restate it again, the opponents of transhumanism are guided by their fear for the unknown. There is no credible basis for rejecting the idea altogether because even transhumanists themselves share the concerns, only that for them that does not mean abandoning such a good idea. To them, it is a sign that the idea needs more attention and brainstorming.

Anti-transhumanism agents appear to believe that accepting it will lead to a fortnight change in human nature so that there will be no time for the human being to adopt to the new world that will be created by the idea. Most definitely there will be a change in how business is carried out because the world will be dealing with a more intelligent and physically stronger human being. But, this is the same human being that will be running the government because everyone will have equal access to any of the benefits brought about by the adoption of the technology.

Social inequities will also have to be there. The world is largely capitalistic and as is the case with that, inequality has to be present. Reasonable inequality has been identified as one of the motivating factors towards hard work for people living in a capitalist environment. The argument is that in trying to narrow the wealth gaps people will work hard, something that will increase production and wealth of a people. Similarly, it can be expected that services available in the transhumanist world will be reason enough for people to work hard.

However, as is the case now, there has to be some socialist policy that will ensure that essential technology is available to everyone so that people are left to work hard to acquire that which will be classified as luxury. The government, for example, may make it mandatory for hospital to offer the genetic screening of all embryos to ensure that children born to any parents, regardless of their socio economic status, have a threshold of certain traits. It will then be up to the parents to decide whether they would like go ahead and acquire extra features for their child such as brain prosthesis to enhance their ability to discern colors.

Alternatively, they may ask the child to work hard so that in future he or she can afford brain prosthesis. That is an example of how a transhumanist world economy will operate in terms of medical services. The other features of a modern economy will remain the same, meaning that they will be dictated by demand and supply.