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Author Topic: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future  (Read 5549 times)

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Offline [Sov]

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #15 on: October 12, 2011, 09:40:28 PM »
How would the transfer of the circulatory system work? If you transfer the brain and spinal cord, which are both full of veins with your body's specific blood type in it, and then transplant it into say- an animal's body- AI or whatever what is the blood supply that will keep the brain and spinal cord alive? Also, transplanting a human brain into an animal's body is essentially killing the animal, unless the animals body is completely AI or animatronic....in which case it could be like the matrix up in this planet.
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Offline Halfheart

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #16 on: October 12, 2011, 09:41:07 PM »
I don't have an interest in being anything other than human, and the idea of becoming "more" than human just doesn't appeal to me. Even if the option were available, I wouldn't take it. I'm comfortable in my human body, and although I love animals, I'd never be one or want to look like one.


Although it'd be cool for people who feel trapped in their current bodies, it's just not something I'd personally want to do. And honestly, if I met some sort of "trans-species" human-animal, I would avoid them. It creeps me out. So...I mean, I'm not against it or anything, but it's too out there for me, since I'm comfy just pretending to be a squid or porcupine on the internet.


If I may ask though....how exactly would one get into the body of an extinct animal within this lifetime?

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #17 on: October 14, 2011, 06:48:12 PM »
A thread I like.
I believe we should extend the capabilities of us humans.
Imagine the possibilities, being able to carry large things with precision, storing all the human languages in your head, becoming more intelligent, More precise, not needing to sleep, becoming practically immortal and so on.


What this, your kidneys stopped working? We'll swap them with a better artificial one that cleans the body better!
Binoculars and night vision? Haha, Eye implants.Driving in the dark.
Accidents caused by people being drunk or tired behind the wheel? Always awake and being sober by pressing a button.


It all sounds crazy, but one day enhancements like this will be possible.


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Offline ZombiezuRFER

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2011, 12:46:57 AM »
It's practically begun to start already.  Artificial limbs are almost to the quality (minus synthflesh) of Star Wars cybernetics.  Luckily, ours won't inhibit our force sensitivity.


Ultimately, however, its going to be the organic limbs that are better, as they are just as mechanical as any cyborg, with the added ability of self repair, and Germ Line control (passing on your modifications)
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Offline maggintons

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #19 on: October 15, 2011, 05:40:06 AM »
A thread I like.
I believe we should extend the capabilities of us humans.
Imagine the possibilities, being able to carry large things with precision, storing all the human languages in your head, becoming more intelligent, More precise, not needing to sleep, becoming practically immortal and so on.


What this, your kidneys stopped working? We'll swap them with a better artificial one that cleans the body better!
Binoculars and night vision? Haha, Eye implants.Driving in the dark.
Accidents caused by people being drunk or tired behind the wheel? Always awake and being sober by pressing a button.


It all sounds crazy, but one day enhancements like this will be possible.


Interactive Bionic Vision
It's slowly beginning.


You should play deux ex:human revolution
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Offline teru

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #20 on: October 21, 2011, 05:11:02 PM »
what a fun little topic.

this is just one of those topics that people kinda see happening just not fully until it hits them smack in the face. for example i think our "expected" life exptency is about to jump to around 100..of course thats saying the tech is open to everyone and afforadable

the real issue is not so much transhumanism but the idea of being post human.  post human is exactly what it sounds like, if we ever reach this stage we wont be the human race we are today or once where in the past(respectivly).  we will be something entirely diffrent for better or worse...im hoping for better :)

Offline ZombiezuRFER

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #21 on: October 22, 2011, 01:03:25 AM »
Well, if you become transhuman enough, and everybody follows the same route, wouldn't we end up in a post human time?  It may in fact be possible to become a posthuman even after being a human once.
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Offline maggintons

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #22 on: October 22, 2011, 05:24:22 AM »
one problem with moving into a different spiecies body is the fact they don't live as long as humans one day we will see that when we mix cat DNA with human DNA the person born with it sometimes has a shorter life span basically we will have to cure death by old age first.
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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #23 on: October 23, 2011, 01:00:38 AM »
Old age doesn't really cause death, tissue degeneration does.  Telomeres regulate cellular lifetimes, and that translates to the lifetime of the whole animal as well.  So, telomere regulation using proteins (I forget their name right now) prevents telomere degeneration, and can even extend those telomeres.  The problem with it currently, is that telomeres are also the cause for cancer (Telomeres stop degenerating and cell become stuck in its multiplication stage)  So, that problem can be dealt with, and furthermore, if a body becomes too old, the magic of being able to transfer into the new one is simply re-used!  So, constant body swapping and upkeep of the nervous system is a way to live forever!  How exciting!
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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #24 on: October 23, 2011, 06:13:56 AM »
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.

Offline maggintons

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #25 on: October 23, 2011, 06:20:05 AM »
Old age doesn't really cause death, tissue degeneration does.  Telomeres regulate cellular lifetimes, and that translates to the lifetime of the whole animal as well.  So, telomere regulation using proteins (I forget their name right now) prevents telomere degeneration, and can even extend those telomeres.  The problem with it currently, is that telomeres are also the cause for cancer (Telomeres stop degenerating and cell become stuck in its multiplication stage)  So, that problem can be dealt with, and furthermore, if a body becomes too old, the magic of being able to transfer into the new one is simply re-used!  So, constant body swapping and upkeep of the nervous system is a way to live forever!  How exciting!
hehe i like that highlander style revalation (its a movie about a Scottish immortal guy)
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Offline ZombiezuRFER

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #26 on: October 30, 2011, 02:35:17 AM »
 hehe i like that highlander style revalation (its a movie about a Scottish immortal guy)


Heh, I was typing it out while thinking... Deadly combo, no?


Also, I found out what the furry transhumanists who wish to become RL Furries are called: Biofurs.  Woot for biofurs!
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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #27 on: October 30, 2011, 02:44:52 AM »
 hehe i like that highlander style revalation (its a movie about a Scottish immortal guy)


Heh, I was typing it out while thinking... Deadly combo, no?


Also, I found out what the furry transhumanists who wish to become RL Furries are called: Biofurs.  Woot for biofurs!
there was a scam a few years ago where some troll established the "Biofur Institute" that would make you a RL fur through...well he never really said...tons of people lost money that way
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Offline ZombiezuRFER

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Re: Transhumanism and Posthumanism: The future
« Reply #28 on: October 30, 2011, 03:39:04 AM »
I know there was Furnetics as well, although I gotta say it looks freaking amazing compared to the single webpage it originally was.
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