- What is Transhumanism, And What Are its Goals?
The term 'Transhumanism was coined by biologist Julian Huxley in 1927, who defined it as "man remaining man, but transcending himself, by realizing new possibilities of and for his human nature." However, current definitions of transhumanism stretch the boundaries of Huxley’s definition. Here are a few:
Sebastian Anthony, on the website Extremetech, describes transhumanism this way:
“Transhumanism is a cultural and intellectual movement that believes we can, and should, improve the human condition through the use of advanced technologies. One of the core concepts in transhumanist thinking is life extension: Through genetic engineering, nanotech, cloning, and other emerging technologies, eternal life may soon be possible. Likewise, transhumanists are interested in the ever-increasing number of technologies that can boost our physical, intellectual, and psychological capabilities beyond what humans are naturally capable of (thus the term transhuman).”
Max Moore offers his description of transhumanism by stating:
"Transhumanism is a loosely defined movement that has developed gradually over the past two decades. Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values.” (1990)
h+ magazine quoting from wikipedia defines it this way:
". . . an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities".
Transhumanist Mark Pesce in his film Becoming Transhuman, states:
“Once the genome was transcribed, once we knew what had made us human, we had—in that moment—passed into the Transhuman. Knowing our codes, we can recreate them in our so-called synthetic rows of 1s and 0s. Artificial Life.
And now we have discovered the multiverse, where nothing is true and everything is permissible. And now we will reach into the improbable, re-sequence ourselves into a new Being, de-bugging the natural state, translating ourselves into supernatural, incorruptible, eternal.”
“…. we seek… a transcendence of transience, translation to incorruptible form. An escape if you will, a stop to the wheel. We seek, therefore, to bless ourselves with perfect knowledge and perfect will; to become as gods, take the universe in hand, and transform it in our image — for our own delight. As it is on Earth, so it shall be in the heavens. There is no God but Man.”
According to transhumanist thought, there are three central objectives, or goals, to Transhumanism; they are super longevity, super intelligence, and super well-being. These three goals are primary because of their perceived transformative potential for the human race. The following video will give you a nice overview of the goals and purpose of transhumanism from the transhumanist perspective.
A Brief History
While some trace the roots of transhumanism as far back as 4,000 BC and further, a more accurate assessment would find current transhumanist thought coming to light in 1923 by British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane. Haldane, in his essay Daedalus: Science and the Future, predicted that great benefits would come from applications of advanced sciences to human biology.
Generally speaking, biologist Julian Huxley is regarded as the founder of transhumanism, after he coined the term in Religion Without Revelation written in 1927. In 1965, the British mathematician Irving John Good discussed the possibility of machines that would one day surpass human intelligence. In 1982, science fiction writer Vernor Vinge first expressed the term “singularity” to describe Good’s idea of an “intelligence explosion.” Later in 1993, he popularized the idea in his essay, Technological Singularity, where he linked singularity to the impending emergence of artificial intelligence. The concepts of singularity were made main stream and discussed in detail by futurist Raymond Kurzweil in his books The Age of Spiritual Machines (2000) and The Singularity is Near (2006).
Generally speaking, biologist Julian Huxley is regarded as the founder of transhumanism, after he coined the term in Religion Without Revelation written in 1927. In 1965, the British mathematician Irving John Good discussed the possibility of machines that would one day surpass human intelligence. In 1982, science fiction writer Vernor Vinge first expressed the term “singularity” to describe Good’s idea of an “intelligence explosion.” Later in 1993, he popularized the idea in his essay, Technological Singularity, where he linked singularity to the impending emergence of artificial intelligence. The concepts of singularity were made main stream and discussed in detail by futurist Raymond Kurzweil in his books The Age of Spiritual Machines (2000) and The Singularity is Near (2006).
Past and Present Contributors To The Transhumanist Movement
J. B. S. Haldane 1892-1964
British naturalized Indian scientist. He was a polymath well known for his works in physiology, genetics and evolutionary biology. His 1929 article on "The origin of life" introduced a new hypothesis "primordial soup theory", now called abiogenesis. His 1923 essay, Daedalus: Science and the Future, predicted that great benefits would come from applications of advanced sciences to human biology. |
Sir Julian Huxley 1887-1975
Generally considered the father of Transhumanism. He coined the term Transhumanism in his 1927 Religion Without Revelation. An English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. A proponent of natural selection, and leading figure in the mid 20th century evolutionary synthesis. |
Irving John Good 1916-2009
British mathematician. Worked as a cryptologist with Alan Turing. Moved to U.S. served as a Professor at Virginia Tech. Credited for being the originator of the concept now known as "technological singularity”. |
Vernor Vinge 1944-
Retired CSUSD Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. In the 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity", he argues "Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended". |
FM-2030 1930-2000
FM-2030 was an author, teacher, transhumanist philosopher, futurist and consultant. He became notable as a transhumanist with the book Are You a Transhuman? Monitoring and Stimulating Your Personal Rate of Growth in a Rapidly Changing World, published in 1989. In addition, he wrote a number of works of fiction under his original name F.M. Esfandiary. |
Natasha Vita‑More 1950-
Founder and director of the Transhumanist Arts and Culture World Center, and president of the Extropy Institute. American designer and theorist. She is the designer and author of "Primo Posthuman," a future whole body prototype. An instructor at the for-profit University of Advancing Technology, and a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. She is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Humanity+. a proponent of morphological freedom and enhancing human biology. |
Nick Bostrom 1973-
Swedish philosopher at St. Cross College, University of Oxford known for his work on existential risk, the anthropic principle, human enhancement ethics, super intelligence risks, the reversal test, and consequentialism. He is the founding director of both The Future of Humanity Institute and the Oxford Martin Program on the Impacts of Future Technology. He also co-founded the World Transhumanist Association, now known as humanity+. |
David Pearce
British philosopher. His internet manifesto The Hedonistic Imperative outlines how technologies such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology, pharmacology, and neurosurgery could potentially converge to eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience among human and non-human animals, replacing suffering with gradients of well-being, a project he refers to as "paradise engineering”. He co-founded Humanity+, then known as the World Transhumanist Association, and is a prominent figure in the transhumanism movement, inspiring a strain of transhumanism based on paradise engineering and ending suffering |
Max More 1964-
A Strategic philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on advanced decision-making about emerging technologies. Born in Bristol, England, More has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St Anne's College, Oxford. Author of the Proactionary Principle and the philosophy of Extropy and Transhumanism. |
Richard Seed 1928-
An American physicist and entrepreneur best known for forcing a national debate on human cloning in the late 1990s. Avid transhumanist, believes technology will lead to immortality. |
Peter Thiel 1967-
Co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, and a multi-million dollar donor to transhumanist causes. Those causes include Technological Singularity, Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and the Methuselah Foundation to name a few |
Robert Ettinger 1918-2011
He was considered "The Father of Cryonics", a designation given him in large part due to the surprising impact of his 1962 book The Prospect of Immortality. His 1972 book Man into Superman, led many others to consider him to be a pioneer in transhumanism. He founded the Cryonics Institute and the related Immortalist Society, and served as the groups' president until 2003. |
Aubrey De Grey 1963-
English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology. Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, and founder of Methuselah Foundation, a pioneer in the science of fighting aging. He is also served as the editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research. 
James Clement
Served as C.O.O. of the Maximum Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to accelerate research into anti-aging and life- extension (2006-2007). Member of the board of directors for Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Executive Director of the World Transhumanist Association, now known as Humanity+ (2007-2008). |
Ralph Merkle 1952–
A pioneer in cryptography, he is one of the inventors of public key cryptography, and the inventor of cryptographic hashing. He is now a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics. He is also on the Board of Directors of the cryonics organization Alcor Life Extension Foundation. 
Raymond Kurzweil 1948-
American author, computer scientist, inventor, futurist, and director of engineering at Google. He has received 20 honorary doctorates, and honors from three U.S. presidents. Kurzweil has authored 7 books, 5 of which have been national bestsellers. Most recognized bestsellers include, The Age of Spiritual Machines, which has been translated into 9 languages, The Singularity Is Near, and How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed. He is a staunch public advocate for the futurist and transhumanist movements. |
James J. Hughes
Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Dr. Hughes is a bioethicist and sociologist at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future. A former Buddhist monk and attenuated Buddho-Unitarian, he is working on a second book titled Cyborg Buddha: Using Neurotechnology to Become Better People. Dr. Hughes is a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of Humanity+, the Neuroethics Society, the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities and the Working Group on Ethics and Technology at Yale University. |
Zoltan Istvan 1973 –
An American writer, futurist, philosopher, and transhumanist. He is founder of the Transhumanist Party and is its 2016 US Presidential candidate. He is the author of The Transhumanist Wager, a philosophical science fiction novel that was a #1 bestseller in Philosophy on Amazon. The novel introduces Istvan's concept of making a Transhumanist Wager, his Three Laws of Transhumanism, and his philosophy Teleological Egocentric Functionalism (TEF). His novel has helped popularize transhumanism. |
Here are some additional videos that are
both informative and entertaining
both informative and entertaining
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Based on the information above, what’s not to like about transhumanism? How can we object to improving the human condition? What is wrong with attempting to improve on man’s physical, intellectual and psychological well-being? If, through technology, we can give sight to someone who was born blind or lost their sight, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? Providing natural looking and functioning prosthetic arms or legs which provides the amputee the ability to function normally would be a miraculous thing. To be able to insert nanotechnologies into one’s brain who is suffering from a mental debilitating disease and bring clarity and mental wholeness, would relieve suffering for millions of people around the world. Would anyone object to living 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years longer than we do today? Would having the ability to employ certain biotech in order to upload information which would dramatically increase our intelligence and knowledge be such a moral or spiritual crime? So again I ask you, what’s not to like about transhumanism?
Transhumanism - Another Perspective
So what should the Christian think about all this? I mean the information provided is at times a bit creepy, but is it really a bad thing? Is it an evil movement that we should both shun and warn others about? After all, curing disease, extending life and increasing knowledge can't be bad; right? Transhumanism is the kind of topic that many Christians immediately toss into the "are you out of your mind", science fiction bin; not necessarily because it is untrue, but because it make us feel uneasy. We don't even want to think about the possibility of it being a reality, much less having to deal with it. Therefore Christians can either discard it as a fanciful dream of some wild eyed subculture, or consider, with serious elaboration, all the facts, eschatological and biblical aspects and ramifications of this real and progressing science and ideology.