Monday, April 12, 2010

Post-humanism

More than scientific reality, the ethical implications of a post-human culture are frightful. Will we all end up like Ted Williams? Frozen in hope for an indestructible apparatus to carry our mind. That suggests a Cartesian understanding of physiology, which may be dreadfully wrong. Without an end, or one that extends well into the future, how do we find meaning? Definition requires an end. A period marked by elapsed time.

As biological creatures we have a fundamental relationship to the natural world. How would a transhuman reality shift that relationship? Is it an inevitable enhancement, like improving one's home or car? Unless broadly accessible, which seems unlikely in a capitalistic economy, the impending social situation between the "haves" and the "have nots" would be potentially disasterous. Communities would become segregated between the enhanced and natural, leading to segregation. Would this reverse the democratization process? Baseball has recently dealt with a similar problem. It's now apparent that the last fifteen years have been marred with illegal steroid and HGH use, tainting the accomplishments of an entire generation. The implicated players will likely not be a part of the hall of fame, their achievements must judged differently.

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