Category Archives: Transhuman

building Gods Documentary | transhuman artificial intelligence and nanotechnology AI
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building Gods Documentary | transhuman artificial intelligence and nanotechnology AI - Video

By Erin Biba on Oct. 8, 2013 at 10:25 a.m.

This week were taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. Well present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. Well have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?

The scenario: You have carpal tunnel from repetitive tasks and your legs dont have much muscle left because you sit all day long anyway. Dont fret! Advances in prosthetics means cheap, easily attachable, bionic parts are available to you. Why not replace all your limbs? Mechanical hands can type faster than your stubby human ones, mechanical legs dont get shin splints or bum knees, and a new metal elbow will make playing catch with your dog WAY more fun (especially since your dog is a robot). Prosthetics are better than your real limbs, theyre super cheap now, and its a simple in-and-out procedure. What do you do?

How Realistic is This?

In a lot of ways, prosthetic limbs are already starting to look better than the regular old boring human ones. All the way back in 2009, an arm prosthetic called the iLimb came equipped with its very own iPhone app that allowed its users to customize a variety of personalized grips. Today its able to gradually increase the strength of its grip to adjust to different activities (like tying a shoe versus picking up a glass). And thats just arms. In 2012, Zac Vawter and his bionic leg climbed all 103-flight of Chicagos Willis (aka Sears) Tower in just under an hour. His $8 million dollar prosthesis, made by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicagos Center for Bionic Medicine, is connected directly to the nerves in his leg that would normally control his hamstring. Right now, the biggest hurdle preventing us all from replacing our limbs with bionic ones is the price tag.

Youll have to decide how you feel about cutting off your already working limbs. After all, theyve served you well enough for this long. And you have no idea how youll actually feel about your bionic replacements. Remember, once your limbs are gone, theres no going back (probably). And how prepared are you to come in for regular firmware and hardware upgrades? Youll also have to decide how your friends and colleagues will feel about your modifications -- because once youre part robot youll jump higher and run faster than any of them. Plus youll beat everyone in arm wrestling. But if youre a reporter youll be able to type super fast, so maybe its worth it.

Much like in other elective surgeries, your doctor will have to decide how he feels about basically maiming you in order to enhance you.

Here's what ethicists have to say on the matter.

Shockingly, this is already an issue were already confronting. Partial amputees are opting to have more of their limbs removed in order to make their replacement limbs more comfortable and easier to use. And we all know about the Olympic argument about whether or not runner Oscar Pistorius had an advantage over other athletes thanks to his carbon fiber blade legs. But what about elective surgery in people that arent already injured?

Some ethicists note that humankind is pretty well hindered by the limitations of our bodies. Talking to The Guardian, Andy Miah, director of the Creative Futures Institute and professor of ethics and emerging technologies at the University of the West of Scotland said: What's crucial about these technologies is they don't just repair us, they make us better than well. The human enhancement market will reveal the truth about our biological conditions we are all disabled."

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A Transhuman Conundrum: Elective Bionic Limb Replacement ...

By Erin Biba on Oct. 9, 2013 at 9 a.m.

This week were taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. Well present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. Well have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?

The scenario: Everyones always told you to relax. Youre too high-strung. You just have so much anxiety about everything. So why not get yourself a shiny new exocortex. A little computer that you can wear behind your ear. It plugs into your brain and helps you have all those fantastic personality traits youve always wanted. Want to be funnier? Tap into a repository of jokes and anecdotes. Have a better memory? Storage capacity is not a problem. Instantly speak a foreign language? Sure! Why not even a constructed one?

The exocortex--or even the ability to jack your brain into a computer to enhance it--is still a long way away. But its not completely impossible. Were already experimenting with it on the small scale. You can already buy a whole slew of toys that claim to be operated by your brain (Mattels Mindflex games let you use your mind to direct a ball through a maze). UC Berkeley's Carmena Lab is developing techniques to use the brain to manipulate mechanical devices. And, of course, theres Obamas infamous brain map initiative--who knows what will come from that. Applications today work in one direction--from brain to device--but two-way connections, such as memory implants, are in the works.

Your new exocortex is going to help you with high level thinking. It could make you a better student or a better all around person. But it could also significantly change (or even replace) your personality. Youre going to have to decide how far you want to go. Just how different are you going to end up being after all is said and done? Youre also going to have to take into account how your friends and family are going to react to these changes. At the same time, your boss might consider you to be the ultimate employee--truly dedicated to being the best at your job that you can be.

Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxfords Future of Humanity Institute, writes in his paper Dignity and Enhancement, that its important to remember how enhancements like hooking our brains into a computer will ultimately affect our dignity:

"A trait acquired through the deliberate employment of some enhancement technology could be more authentically ours than a trait that we possessed from birth or that developed in us independently of our own agency. Could it be that not only the person who has acquired a trait through personal growth and experience, but also one who has acquired it by choosing to make use of some enhancement technology, may possess that trait more authentically than the person who just happens to have the trait by default? Holding other things constant such as the permanency of the trait, and its degree of integration and harmonization with other traits possessed by the person this would indeed seem to be the case."

So what say you? Is adding a new brain onto our old brain a great way to get ahead in the world? Or is it unfair (or just plain creepy) to modify parts of your personality youd otherwise have no control over? Discuss!

Continued here:
A Transhuman Conundrum: Brain-Machine Interfaces - Tested

There was a time when literature and religion dealt largely with super powered beings of holy origin. We marvelled at the feats of Gods and Demi Gods, and we wrote tales about magic and sorcery. Today though these power fantasies seem to focus more on science and on human achievement. Superheroes and science fiction dont herald powerful beings that come from the skies, but rather normal humans that have amazing abilities thanks to the wonders of science.

Either way we have dreamed about overcoming the limitations of the human condition for millennia now, and its something that has always been a part of our culture. But thanks to the recent rate of technological progress and innovation, it might well be that were finally on the cusp of getting to experience that fantasy for real. Ever played the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution? It has a plot about transhuman technology resulting in the augmentation of half of society people giving themselves incredible abilities by implanting bionic arms and altering their DNA. Of course this leads to various political problems and revolutions and hence you are entered into the fray as a high-tech warrior. But the amazing thing? Were quite possibly only a few years away from just such a revolution and it might be even more dramatic than that too. Take a look at some of these medical breakthroughs and you may see what I mean

One of the most science fiction concepts imaginable is the idea of bionic robotic arms that we might one day be able to replace our limbs with robotic ones capable of incredible feats of strength and speed. This is almost already commonplace with blade runners in the Special Oympics such as Oscar Pistorious essentially being real life bionic men (and women). But a recent breakthrough took this much further when Jan Schuermann a 52 year old quadriplegic was given mental control over a robotic arm via two 96-channel microelectrodes implanted into her brain. She could use the arm almost as easily as though it were her own to open rappers and feed herself chocolate bars, and thanks to the remarkable ability of the brain to adapt she has been steadily gaining increased reaction speed and dexterity too.

Now theres no reason to think that one day this couldnt be used to replace a missing limb and to grant someone superhuman strength. In fact, combine this with the X1 Exoskeleton developed by NASA and you could grant someone the ability to run super-fast and lift incredible weights.

Perhaps even more amazing is current research into gene doping. Gene doping is what happens when new DNA is injected into the nucleus of a cell in order to alter its expression. This can then lead to permanent and profound changes to the human body with unthinkable implications. For instance, with a single injection its possible to reduce the amount of myostatin that the body produces a chemical that suppresses the development of muscle. This then in turn can give the recipients several times more muscle mass and less body fat with no obvious side effects its essentially a real-life super soldier serum.

Now you might be thinking that all this is a long way off, but in fact these injections have already been successful in mice and gene doping has been used on human patients in other capacities. Scariest of all, its no actually that difficult for a hobbyist with a degree and a few thousand dollars worth of equipment to reproduce these results in their basement. So even if gene doping is never offered by medical institutions to treat muscle wasting diseases you can best that it will find its way onto the black market for use by athletes and people who just want to increase their strength.

And in fact some of thats already going on as we speak. Search for biohacking on Google and youll find forums and chat rooms where people are already discussing the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to increase their intelligence and the use of subdermal implants to give themselves extra sensory capabilities

The future is nearly here, and when it arrives, its going to be more amazing and disruptive than any science fiction could imagine

This post has been contributed by Jack Turner, a technician at Freedom Lift Systems which specializes in porch wheelchair lifts. He is a passionate individual and he enjoys challenging himself at accomplishing new feats.

Originally posted here:
A Glimpse Into Medical Research And A Transhuman Future

By Erin Biba on Oct. 7, 2013 at 9:30 a.m.

This week were taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. Well present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. Well have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?

This week were taking a look at the ethics of enhancing ourselves. Well present you with a series of ethical conundrums brought about by entirely possible future transhuman modifications and you can argue the ethics in the comments. Well have to face these questions eventually, might as well get started now. Are you pro or con superhumans?

The scenario: You are going blind. But not to worry, its the future, so theres technology to fix that. While at the doctors office discussing your retinal implant options, the doctor mentions that he can grant you with all sorts of visual abilities well beyond simply restoring your sight--all he has to do is add some extra features to the device. Want the ability to see x-rays, ultraviolet light, or infrared? How about a radar display? Even better, what about heat mapping? No problem! You may not actually need any of these extras, but you can have them anyway. All you have to do is ask. What do you do?

There are a slew of implantable devices that replicate different functions of the human eye currently in development. The most recent, the Argus II, connects a retinal implant to a pair of glasses, which transmits visual information to the patient's optic nerve and allows them to see (despite their damaged eyeball cells). Its entirely plausible that in the future retinal implants will evolve to allow for a variety of extras.

If you choose to have the extended implant you will now have abilities that you don't need and, when compared to the rest of society, you'll be an "other"--a new version of human with supervision. In fact, if you simply chose the implant without any of the extras you'll already be a little bit superhuman. Either way, people around you won't necessarily know that you can see them in special ways. And they certainly won't know you're standing in front of their house using your brand new heat vision to tell if they're home.

On your doctor's part, he will have to decide whether or not to offer you these special new abilities. If he decides not to, your doc will have to risk the possibility that you will later discover he had the option to give them to you--and now everybody with your implant can see in ultraviolet but you can't.

So what do ethcists say about this?

Implant ethics are a long-argued area of thinking. After all, we already have elective plastic surgery--and nobodys really decided if giving someone giant boobs for no reason other than because they wanted them is ethical. According to philosopher Sven Hansson, writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, ...the distinction between disease and health or normality is not as clear as it may first seem. Disease is not a biologically well defined concept but one that depends largely on social values. Some conditions previously regarded as diseases are now thought of as normal states of the mind or body. Others that were previously perceived as variations of normality are now regarded as diseases.

According to the ethicists the question we should be pondering here is: what kinds of humans should there be? In the case of retinal implant extras, do we want humans to replace the machines we use (machines took our jobs and now were taking them back)? And do we even have the right to manipulate humanity the extent that we are basically creating a new class of people that have super-human visual abilities?

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A Transhuman Conundrum: The Retinal Implant - Tested

By: Anonymous Transhumanist

On July 25, 2013 in the city of Madrid Spain the Catholic Church declared open war on transhumanism. The occasion was a meeting , theXVIII International Science and Life Congress. The result of this meeting, the so called Madrid Declaration on Science and Life, outlines the churchs stance and opposition to transhumanism, going further to oppose the use of reason and science in the betterment of life and society, and calling for the creation of an extra legal international court and advocating the use of violence and kidnapping. The goal of the proposed court being to try scientists for crimes based on the Churchs mistaken anti-scientific beliefs such as creationism and divine will.

The meeting was expressly held to discussscience, humanism and post-humanism but the declaration goes beyond a mere evaluation of these ideas from a theological or religious perspective, calling for the creation of an international criminal court before which those experimenting with human life,understanding it as a mean of production, or simply destroying it in the early stages of its development, be accountable. The imagined criminal court of course reaches beyond any existing international law and the charter of the International Criminal Court. An ironictwist given the recent attempt by child molestation victims to bring a case against top Vatican officials there. The proposal also neglects the existing framework of international agreements and organizations within the United Nations that already address some of these issues.

The Catholic Church of course has a long standing opposition to science dating back to the middle ages. While in more recent times the church has attempted to update its position, it doesnt take much work to find unscientific and erroneous ideas taken as fact in the Vaticans positions. These are especially apparent surrounding the ideas of evolution and genetics but are clearly not limited to these areas as both history and the Madrid Declaration clearly demonstrates.

More irony, the attempts of certain Catholic theologians and writers to tie modern transhumanism to Nazi eugenics when in fact it is the Catholic Church that actually had connections to the Nazis during World War II. The true origins of modern ideas of transhumanism post date World War II, the eugenics movement and all of these events by almost half a century.

At the Humanity+ Conference in San Francisco in 2012, science fiction author David Brin reminded the audience about the disturbing history of anti-science religious fanaticism and thetrial and execution ofGiorgano Bruno.Galileo Galileiwas also tried but not executed. The Madrid Declaration seeks a return to power for Vatican based kangaroo courts of this sort and proposed extradition and trial of scientists conducting research that is deemed entirely legal in their home countries.

But if you arent outraged yet, the Madrid Declaration goes even a bit further calling for the illegal kidnapping of scientists and transhumanists traveling internationally and rendition to stand trial before the Vaticans court. Before this any country who defends human life should react. Just as certain dictators take care not to travel to some places for fear of arrest, those attempting against human beings, regardless if their activity is permitted in their country of origin, should know that they are not exempt from been brought to trial before an international court.

Any such renditions are clearly in violation of numerous national and international laws and since it seems unlikely that any scientist would admit voluntarily to such a trial, this would require and only be possible through the use of force, secretly kidnapping or causing the arrest of scientists conducting entirely legal international travel. Transhumanists and scientists working especially in the field of in vitro fertilization and related technologies might actually want to consider these events when planning international travel. Individuals should contact their national embassies and related authorities for advice before traveling. Others singled out for attack in the Madrid document might be individuals advocating animal or robotic/AI rights since they argue that in giving rights to animals (natural or artificial), robots, or new human species artificially manipulated, lies a real danger to human life as we know it with their freedom and way of being.

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The Catholic Church Has Declared War on Transhumanism

Transhumans, sometimes called Posthumans, are people who have exceeded the normal mental and physical abilities. The "how" that happened can be anything from magic to science, the only thing that's common among all of them is that they are better than was possible before. A positive portrayal of transhumanism generally places a work on the Enlightenment side of the Romanticism Versus Enlightenment spectrum while a negative portrayal or conspicuous absence of it does the opposite. In fact, most popular media deals with transhumanism and anything relating to it as being 'dehumanizing' or even comparable to Eugenics with little chance for anything different. Thus, it has become a cliche that transhumanists are Sci Fi Nazis or Evilutionary Biologists with a God complex, even though it has an equal potential to be used for good. Generally, anarcho-Cyber Punk writers focus on the evils of Transhumanism. So do religious Moral Guardians, when ironically, religion espouses a Transhumanist plane of existence free from the sinfulness of flesh. On the other hand, transhumanists and utilitarians themselves focus on the benefits. The main reason why Transhumanism's opponents tend to be very uncomfortable about it, however, is because of the implied radical alteration of what it means to be human. It is therefore assumed that, while the idea does have potential for positive outcomes, if there was to be a negative outcome, then it probably would not be reversible. Even though this trope is called Transhuman, it's not actually limited to humans. Other species or entities that are enhanced count as well. Despite the fact that the word 'transhuman' isn't commonly tossed around and is usually supplanted with 'cyborg', this is a quite common trope, and thus related to all of the following: Artificial Human: A man-made biological/organic human, often with purposefully modified genes. Artificial Limbs: A limited form of enhancement that's specific to the limbs. Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The mystical or religious variant. Badass Transplant: See Artificial Limbs above. Being Human Sucks/Humans Are Flawed: A major motivation. Bio-Augmentation: Biological enhancement, as compared to a Cyborg. Brain Uploading: The physical limitations of a body are outright removed. Cloning Blues: Are Clones People? Or just expendable? With LEGO Genetics, they may end up being more than we could ever imagine. Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Used as a "balance" for being enhanced, usually seen in Cyberpunk RPGs. Cyborgs: Cybernetic enhancement. This is what most people think of when they think of transhumans. Designer Babies: Making a person better before they're even born. Emergency Transformation: If you become better than you were before. Better. Stronger. Faster. Genetic Engineering Is The New Nuke: Genetics = magic. Goal Oriented Evolution: Or at least an attempt at it, via technology. Humans Are Psychic In The Future: The concept is self-explanatory, if not the science. Magic Enhancement: Magical transhumansim, when applied to people, at least. Nanomachines: One of the most common ways to become Transhuman is through them. Pro Human Transhuman: Despite no longer being (fully) human, the character still identifies with humanity. Super Breeding Program: Using genetic trait inheritance to create better people. Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Nearly always have advanced themselves to god-like power instead of starting out like that. Superhero: For those that gain their powers. If they have them. Super Human Trafficking: Abuse of transhumans via slavery, organ trafficking, and other means. Super Serum: One of the ways to become one, but be wary of it's Psycho Serum cousin. Super Soldier: This one usually relies on the physical aspect of transhumanism for war. The Singularity: A hypothetical scenario where we become transhumans due to acceleration of progress. Transhuman Aliens: A variation where the transhuman can't be called "Human" anymore. Transhuman Treachery: For when this makes you go bad. Touched by Vorlons: Aliens or whatnot might be the cause. bermensch: Gratuitous German, meaning "Over-man". Transhumans are likely to be transcendent not just on physical, but also on psychological and moral perspectives. Ultimate Life Form: The end-all and be-all of transhumanism (if they were purposely made). Uplifted Animal: A Trans-Animal, basically. We Can Rebuild Him: Forced to be enhanced due to injury, instead of personally seeking it out. Working For A Body Upgrade: Enhanced because they earned it as a job perk. For some of the abilities a Transhuman might have, see Stock Superpowers. See also No Transhumanism Allowed. This may be used as an aspect of a Cyberpunk or Post Cyberpunk setting.

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'Cause it's gonna be the future soon, I won't always be this way/As the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away...

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Main/Transhuman - Television Tropes & Idioms

Transhumans, sometimes called Posthumans, are people who have exceeded the normal mental and physical abilities. The "how" that happened can be anything from magic to science, the only thing that's common among all of them is that they are better than was possible before. A positive portrayal of transhumanism generally places a work on the Enlightenment side of the Romanticism Versus Enlightenment spectrum while a negative portrayal or conspicuous absence of it does the opposite. In fact, most popular media deals with transhumanism and anything relating to it as being 'dehumanizing' or even comparable to Eugenics with little chance for anything different. Thus, it has become a cliche that transhumanists are Sci Fi Nazis or Evilutionary Biologists with a God complex, even though it has an equal potential to be used for good. Generally, anarcho-Cyber Punk writers focus on the evils of Transhumanism. So do religious Moral Guardians, when ironically, religion espouses a Transhumanist plane of existence free from the sinfulness of flesh. On the other hand, transhumanists and utilitarians themselves focus on the benefits. The main reason why Transhumanism's opponents tend to be very uncomfortable about it, however, is because of the implied radical alteration of what it means to be human. It is therefore assumed that, while the idea does have potential for positive outcomes, if there was to be a negative outcome, then it probably would not be reversible. Even though this trope is called Transhuman, it's not actually limited to humans. Other species or entities that are enhanced count as well. Despite the fact that the word 'transhuman' isn't commonly tossed around and is usually supplanted with 'cyborg', this is a quite common trope, and thus related to all of the following: Artificial Human: A man-made biological/organic human, often with purposefully modified genes. Artificial Limbs: A limited form of enhancement that's specific to the limbs. Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The mystical or religious variant. Badass Transplant: See Artificial Limbs above. Being Human Sucks/Humans Are Flawed: A major motivation. Bio-Augmentation: Biological enhancement, as compared to a Cyborg. Brain Uploading: The physical limitations of a body are outright removed. Cloning Blues: Are Clones People? Or just expendable? With LEGO Genetics, they may end up being more than we could ever imagine. Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Used as a "balance" for being enhanced, usually seen in Cyberpunk RPGs. Cyborgs: Cybernetic enhancement. This is what most people think of when they think of transhumans. Designer Babies: Making a person better before they're even born. Emergency Transformation: If you become better than you were before. Better. Stronger. Faster. Genetic Engineering Is The New Nuke: Genetics = magic. Goal Oriented Evolution: Or at least an attempt at it, via technology. Humans Are Psychic In The Future: The concept is self-explanatory, if not the science. Magic Enhancement: Magical transhumansim, when applied to people, at least. Nanomachines: One of the most common ways to become Transhuman is through them. Pro Human Transhuman: Despite no longer being (fully) human, the character still identifies with humanity. Super Breeding Program: Using genetic trait inheritance to create better people. Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Nearly always have advanced themselves to god-like power instead of starting out like that. Superhero: For those that gain their powers. If they have them. Super Human Trafficking: Abuse of transhumans via slavery, organ trafficking, and other means. Super Serum: One of the ways to become one, but be wary of it's Psycho Serum cousin. Super Soldier: This one usually relies on the physical aspect of transhumanism for war. The Singularity: A hypothetical scenario where we become transhumans due to acceleration of progress. Transhuman Aliens: A variation where the transhuman can't be called "Human" anymore. Transhuman Treachery: For when this makes you go bad. Touched by Vorlons: Aliens or whatnot might be the cause. bermensch: Gratuitous German, meaning "Over-man". Transhumans are likely to be transcendent not just on physical, but also on psychological and moral perspectives. Ultimate Life Form: The end-all and be-all of transhumanism (if they were purposely made). Uplifted Animal: A Trans-Animal, basically. We Can Rebuild Him: Forced to be enhanced due to injury, instead of personally seeking it out. Working For A Body Upgrade: Enhanced because they earned it as a job perk. For some of the abilities a Transhuman might have, see Stock Superpowers. See also No Transhumanism Allowed. This may be used as an aspect of a Cyberpunk or Post Cyberpunk setting.

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'Cause it's gonna be the future soon, I won't always be this way/As the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away...

Originally posted here:
Main/Transhuman - Television Tropes & Idioms

ArmA3: Combine Transhuman Overwatch Test
A small test showing my upcoming Combine units for ArmA3. Music copyright by Valve, will not be offered for download! http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.p...

By: Mats Liljeroos

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ArmA3: Combine Transhuman Overwatch Test - Video

FM-2030: Are You a Transhuman?

By: GalacticArchives

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FM-2030: Are You a Transhuman? - Video