The tale of Transhumanism
- The Random Leftist
- Mar 27, 2020
- 8 min read
"Don't you wish to conquer the sun? Don't you wish to rule overall? Don't you wish to purge your fears?!"
Props to whoever gets that reference, but in all seriousness, that quote perfectly defines the principle of the ideology of Transhumanism. For those who don't know Transhumanism, which wishes to evolve humanity through scientific means for members species to achieve feet' once thought as superhuman, thus causing them to transcend humanity. Hence the name transhumanism. They mainly want technology to be utilized to enhance humans, through either genetic or cybernetic modifications, with the use of these enhancements to increase things like physical strength, cognitive capacity, and life span. Now, if you think this all sounds like stuff from a sci-fi series well, you're not wrong since it's similar to how fictional stories had inspired innovations of the past. Such as how Karel Capek helped coin the word Robot. Transhumanists see works of fiction that depict a future where it is a commonplace for humans to get biologically or cybernetic enhancements, as inspiration for what they think society should become.
Now depending on who you ask, the movement either began during the late 50's or 1,800 years before the birth of Christ. Canadian philosopher W.D Lighthall first coined the term transhumanism. However, his usage of the word had very little to do with science but rather spiritualism, and it is believed that his invention of the term was his sole contribution to the movement.
It is believed that the Transhumanist movement began with English biologists and philosophers Julian Huxley, and an essay he wrote, that was titled Transhumanism. However within Huxley essay he primarily discussed having societal and cultural changes in order to improve the human condition, rather than improving it through scientific and technological means. Huxley believed that humans could evolve naturally, but thought that human civilization had grown to the point that social institutions could be utilized to direct the evolutionary process and used to improve the species. Though these ideas might not exactly be what first comes to mind when people think of Transhumanism, they certainly don't contradict what people imagine Transhumanist to be.
However, Huxley's essay is only the origin of the term transhumanism and not the ideas behind it. According to Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, one of the earliest transhumanist works was the epic of Gilgamesh, which to oversimplify grossly is a story written a little over 2,000 years before the birth of Christ and is about is a king who travels to the afterlife to resurrect a friend of his who died. As stated earlier, that was a gross oversimplification. Still, the critical thing to keep in mind is that the story was about cheating death and, according to Bostrom Transhumanism as in one form or another, existed as long as the human desire for eternal life has.
One early work that was fundamental for the development of modern Transhumanism was the "Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" by William Goodwin. Just like Huxley and many others after him, Goodwin argued in favor of "earthly immortality," while also being one of the earliest advocates of anarchism, thus causing many transhumanists to also believe in anarchism.
Six years later, Goodwin published a gothic novel called st. Leon. Which centers on a French aristocrat who loses all his money, almost goes insane, and accepts an elixir of life from a stranger—spending the rest of his existence wandering the earth separate from humanity. Similar to the before-mentioned epic of Gilgamesh, it's a story with an odd premise with immortality as it's a core theme. It's also believed that this book served as inspiration for Frankenstein.
One thinker that modern transhumanists don't have a consensus on is Friedrich Nietzsche. Since Nietzche did believe in humans obtaining a new state. However, too many, that's where the similarities with his philosophy and transhumanism end since he desired for people to attain their new state through self-actualization instead of technological innovation. However, other transhumanists see Nietzsche as a source of philosophical inspiration with him influencing transhumanist principles rather than ideology.
In 1906 the Russian cosmism movement was founded by Nikolai Fyodorov. It is considered an ideological precursor to Transhumanism since much like modern Transhumanism, it advocated physical immortality, space travel, and even the resurrection of the dead through scientific means.
One world war later what we now know as transhuman would begin to manifest in 1923 with the publication of the essay Daedalus; or, Science and the Future by British, geneticists and Marxist, J. B. S. Haldane, where Haldane used the mythical characters Daedalus as a metaphor for science and the advancements it brings. However, one thing the essay emphasized was ethics, and he argued that scientific progress would bring only despair if not utilized ethically. However, the core themes of the piece are still in line with Transhumanism, for it advocates for humans to be the masters of their evolution through scientific means.
Six years later, Haldane's work would inspire molecular biologists J.D Bernal to write The World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Where he discussed many previously established transhumanist ideas such as the use of science to direct human evolution and also expanded on the concept of human colonization of outer space.
Two years later, the short story the Jameson Satellites by Neil R. Jones, would be published. The story was about a corpse that somehow managed to go into space and became frozen there for a million years, only to be found by a race of cyborgs. Just like Bernal's work, the core themes of Neil's story are cybernetic modification and space colonization.
After another world war, the next significant development to Transhumanism would occur in 1948, with the publishing of another short science fiction story. It would be titled "The Penultimate Trump," (no like to the US president or his family) and it was written by Robert Ettinger. The science-fiction elements of Transhumanism are dialed up to 11 for one of the major themes of the story is time travel utilizing Cryonics, which is the act of freezing a person in order to put a pause on their aging. Obviously they wouldn't be conscious during this process. Yes, I kind you no, this was the original futurama, and most surprisingly, Cryonics are some of the most prevalent subgroups in Transhumanism.
As stated earlier, the first essay to utilize the word Transhumanism as a term used to describe an ideology that seeks to direct human evolution via scientific means would be written by Julian Huxley and published in 1951.
Three years later, we find ourselves back in the world of fiction with the publishing of Jerry Sohl's "The Altered Ego." Which was about a man who made a digital copy of his mind which could be accessed after his death. Which marked the first appearance of mind uploading in fiction, mainly introducing the idea of downloading consciousness and memory.
Half a decade later, we find back in the world of actual science with a lecture by physicist Richard P. Feynman. Where he discussed the idea of manipulating atoms in synthetic chemistry, this would go on to influence the development of nanotechnology.
One year later, in the land of the rising sun, the architectural movement Metabolism would publish a manifesto with a section that related to Transhumanism. The part of the manifesto stated that as technology progressed, regular humans would have implants that would allow them to receive brainwave messages. Now metabolism is a rather complex ideology, and in all honesty, I haven't heard of it before researching this article. With that said, it's emphasis on growth and links to Marxism make it qualified for being the subject of a future article.
Three years later and we see Cryonics making a comeback with the publishing of their manifesto titled "the prospect of immortality," and Robert Ettinger wrote it. The contents of the manifesto are apparent, with its core message being that Cryonics is a future means of immortality. Surprisingly enough, this book would prove to be rather influential, and this book would influence various cryonics society.
Three years after that, yet another text would be written this time by computer scientists and cryptographer John Good. It would be titled "Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine" and, as stated in the title, was about the possibility of ultra-intelligent human-made machines. Making it one of the earliest literary works to address the question of artificial intelligence, which would go on to be a vital component of the modern transhumanist ideology.
Two years would follow, and we find ourselves in the world of philosophy with the invention of the idea of extropy by Harry Overstreet philosophers in a 1967 volume of the journal, Physis. The concept is that life will indefinitely expand across the universe. This is a source of inspiration for supporters of space colonization.
That same year Cryonics goes from science fiction to science fact with the first-ever cryogenic freezing of an individual- Robert Nelson, a television repairman. Tragically this test would be a failure and Nelson would die. Despite this set back there would still be a substantial amount of support for Cryonics.
Half a decade later, we once again find ourselves back in the world of applied science, and this time it would be a success. For 1972 was the year humankind went to and from its closest neighbor, the moon. I am, of course, referring to the Apollo 11 mission, which changed the course of history and validated the beliefs of many that human colonization of space was inevitable.
That same year Cryonics made a comeback with the foundation of the Alcor Society for Solid State Hypothermia. A non-profit that advocates for research into Cryonics and has frozen a multitude of dead animals with the hopes that they'll be unfrozen once technology has advanced enough for them to be resurrected. It is still around boasting 1,731 members with 172 members who had died and had their corpses frozen.
One year later, Fereidoun M. Esfandiary published the "Up-Wingers: A Futurist Manifesto." A book both coined the term up winger and redefined the term futurism. It was one of those manifestos which claimed to preach an ideology which was beyond left and right. It essentially stated that bioengineers that wished to rewrite human DNA and scientists who plan how to colonize space are motivated by ideals that transcend the left and right duality. On the matter of space colonization.
The fellow year yet another text about space colonization would be published. "The colonization of space" by Physicist Gerard K. O'Neil would contain many of the same arguments of other works relating to Space colonization. However, O'Neil's work has an extra emphasis on earth's resources being soaked up while the population grew.
One year later, the 5L society would be founded, being inspired by O'Neil's ideas.
Two years later, the Cryonics Institute would be founded. Similar to the Alcor society, it freezes the corpses of dead humans and animals. Also identical to the Alcor society, it's still around today and has over 1,700 members.
Four years later, the 5L society works with Corporate interest to defeat the moon treaty. Thus allowing private space ventures. Yes, this is way space x exists.
Now we reach the cumulation of not only this article but these at least initially separate movements and ideas with the publishing of the transhumanist manifesto. The book would be published in 1983, and it was written by scientist Natasha Vita-More.
Though this article may be coming to a close, this topic isn't. For in the years following, the ideology of Transhumanism did undergo a plethora of changes. In addition to the fact that it's one of the few doctrines that's supporters aren't base isn't in a single quadrant of the political spectrum and thus has supporters from all sides.
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