Post- and Trans-humanism are really cool concepts, with a lot of fairly realistic possibilities theorised. Plus, it creates some really interesting fiction!
I think it's really a gradual thing that's already happening. I'm pretty sure any sort of 'singularity' in which things happen suddenly and explosively would require some pretty unique circumstances, and probability suggests things are just going to continue progressing gradually. Certain scientific advancements could have major sudden social impacts. Then there's also the artificial limitations currently imposed by money - anything that suddenly makes stuff cheap and/or easily attainable removes opportunities for business. So we're being technologically and medicinally held back in a lot of ways to protect business. Anyone who argues against it is threatening societal collapse. "Do you want people to lose jobs? Do you want the economy to crash?" That always comes up when you talk about these advances we could make right now.
As for what's already happening, and what's likely...we've already pointed out prosthetics. Which are advancing definitely, that *does* make money, and is a recognized medical need.
Also look at tatoos, piercings, and other body mods. Looked down upon by a lot of people, but still popular. Then there's the few people, like Stalking Cat, who take body modding further for a personal purpose.
Then there's the argument that even external, non-invasive aids like glasses are post-human. And there's all sorts of similar technology that could take it further. You could make adjustable glasses and not need to get a new perscription, but again with money, as well as the real argument that someone could damage their vision further by not adjusting their eyewear properly. Then again, people do such damage anyways with old pairs of glasses, not wearing glasses when they should, or not going to the eye doctor often enough. This would be the same, only with more personal control - and less financial expendature.
And then, computers. And smartphones. On one end, we're seeking increasing immersion through 3D and VR overlays, though it's still difficult to make this more than a cool gimmick right now. On the other, we're going for increased portability, and having the same instant-access on the go that we have at home. Memory enhancement, updates on far away events, many encyclopedias worth of knowledge, distant communication with audio *and* video. (Though videophoning isn't quite as popular as it was forecasted to be a la the jetsons, it's still there - more cool gimmickery.)
Basically, we have a lot more capability than we're using, but what we are doing is growing for both entertainment and real need, seperately. What's popular gets more attention.
When adding more animalistic features to yourself is easy enough, and the popular image is running out of other directions to go, it'll show up more commonly. In small ways at first, and then the more drastic examples. Stalking Cat and the Lizard Man (for two completely different reasons) are very early adopters, and a lot of people stil think it's totally wrong for them to even be *able* to get those modifications - like there's something morally wrong with it. Eventually, it'll probably be just the latest punk thing. And no doubt furries will still go further with it than the average punk - while still not being very punk themselves.
What do I expect to happen?
1) Prosthetics will continue to improve, including organs, limbs, and sensory organs - along side lab-grown naturals.
2) Life-extention techniques will become more viable, at the same time as we have to battle increasingly volatile diseases.
3) Genetic experimentation on humans will continue to be treated as morally dubious, but when somebody goes and does something illegal that has some benefit, they'll be punished, yet the benifits will be used medically. Look at nazi germany. This will continue to slowly advance us, and slippery-slope us into being more willing to do such things in the future.
4) Body-mods for entertainment purposes will become slowly more outlandish. I can't wait until we find in the news that somebody replaced their real working limb with a prosthetic just for kicks - and the moral and legal battles that ensue. Similar for added limbs - although a working tail would just be considered freakish, probably not as scandalous as someone *removing* limbs in favor of machinery.
5) Technology that we can actually make now will slowly be released as the *true* problem is solved - how to milk as much money out of it as possible. Make it rely on some re-fill, break down after awhile, or otherwise be expensive and difficult. How to add legal trouble to modding it or making it yourself for cheap.
6) Eventually we'll collapse anyways, have more wars, and new countries, and who knows what that'll do to technology. Improve it in some ways, regress it in others. Regardless, the rest still applies, just its speed and focus changes with massive political-economic changes.
I personally believe genetically manufactured people, full-body transplants, full I/O brain-computer interfaces, and other dangerous/morally challenged (by society, not neccessarily me) technologies are still quite far off, with a lot of smaller changes, and probably some big global changes too, before they come near.
I'm guessing cryogenics will be improved before any of that stuff is. I think BCIs have the best chance, and still, they'll get problems and become restricted.
In the mean time, we just slowly build off what we have, and oversell each small step we make.
Until we fall apart, or unless someone succeeds at changing everything without collapse.
Topic: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future (Read 5551 times)