Text by CLOT Magazine
Transhumanism is a global scientific and philosophical movement whose followers seek to enhance humanity’s physical and intellectual capacities radically and strive to significantly improve the average human life expectancy, paving the way for us to one day attain immortality. The term Transhumanism in its contemporary sense was coined and popularised by British biologist and philosopher Julian Huxley in his book of essays New Bottles for New Wine.
Today the world of the future – populated by radically enhanced humans and run by greater-than-human artificial intelligence – has ceased to be the stuff of science fiction. Scientists are seriously discussing such prospects of human development as brain-computer integration, memory transfer, and mind uploading. Philosophers and anthropologists warn about the risks likely to arise after deploying such technology, ranging from wide-ranging control over human behaviour to complete manipulation of people’s thoughts and wishes and the disappearance of traditional human values.
Manege Central Exhibition Hall continues its series of discussions as part of the NEW NOW programme. On December 16 at 8 p.m. (UTC +3), they present the discussion Transhumanism: Beyond the Human Frontier? With speakers Timothy Morton, James “J.” Hughes PhD and Eric Schwitzgebel, moderated by Anna Kirikova.
Topics such as the latest technology that has either already become a reality or is currently in development and the ethical aspects of the consequences that ensue will be discussed. They will also attempt to identify the “human frontier”, beyond which the era of posthumanism awaits.
One of the featured presenters, British thinker and literary historian Timothy Morton, is widely known for their concepts of the Anthropocene Crisis, the “more-than-human world”, and the end of the world as we know it.
