Transhumanism is the idea of using technology to transform humans into more advanced, long-living beings, is the simple definition. The idea is to merge humanity with technology.

Er... this site is the only thing closest to 'informative' about the subject. Otherwise many environmentalists and the religious are against the idea of transhumanism.
http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/index/

It is up to you to give an (whatever) opinion about this. I am on the 'pro' side. I'd totally want to live indefinately, and I'd sure as hell have superpowers.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 16 2008, 10:45 pm by BeDazed.

I love reading about transhumanism, but when you start out your serious discussion cursing at me, using cap lock, and telling me what I can and can not talk about, I don't feel very inclined to join you in a discussion.

Not to mention you haven't anything close to a thesis or hypothesis. You just copy paste 2 links you find and tell us you like super powers. It's like when someone posts a picture of a DeerWhale and says, "Discuss"

Anyone who wants to participate in a debate may use whatever sources they wish. Their choice, their consequence.

Anyway... I'm all for it, as long as its accessible to me. One of my fantasies involves being transferred into a supercomputer, controlling a bunch of robots and taking over the world . Even less then that is fine for me. As to whether everyone should get it? No. People are too stupid in general. Dis n33dz 2 B 4 Da Gift3D. Assuming I'm in that category.

If we really think about it though, forever is a long time. Not sure I would want to live that long... It'd just get plain boring.
I'm guessing that I would be on the 'against' catagory for this. I believe our bodies are fine the way they are.

I wouldn't want doctors messing around with my body and putting machines in it to do stuff for me, when we don't even know everything about ourselves.

The managed to put a rat brain in a robot, who's to say humans aren't next?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7559150.stm

I stumbleUpon led me to this really good dumed down site that really lays it out quite nice. The problem is it was one of the first sites I stumbled and I can't find it again.

well it's good and bad, i think using technology to increase the experiences of life are good, but living indefinately isnt what we are meant to do,if we were to live indefinately our numbers would never increase, in a matter of years we'd have to choose who lives and who dies just to have a sustainable population.

Did the Bible say this?

I don't see how putting a rat brain in a human would be that cool.

Personally, I think people live too long as it is, sure maybe if we made Einstein live forever it would be beneficial, but certainly not average joe who sits on the couch and wastes space. There are not many general benefits to populations living longer, same thing goes for why people generally don't use Atari's anymore. Sure the old people could "see the world" or something, but honestly, your given a life you could be doing that with already.
Knowing you have a death coming puts a great perspective on things, gives people goals. The guy that could live forever would be the biggest waste of space of all.

On the other side, I think physical enhancements, such as flying, would be awesome. Yet at the same time, I'm not sure if I'd want to be freakish.
I'd really want to be able to see beyond the spectrum of visible colors.

Last time I asked an average joe if he wanted to live forever...
Average Joe: 'Yo, fux that man how do you live that long without bein bored man. you gotz to enjoyyy for a short time.'

Something technology will definately be able to open up.

Thats exactly what i was thinking. More than half of the reason i'm motivated to accomplish things is because of time and its correlation to when i die. If I were in a never-ending state, can you say PROCRASTINATE? haha "Learning? Pfft, I can do that in 5000 years!"

Also, wouldn't no aging mean everyone would stay the age they were when the entered the "apparatus"? So like a someone could be 5 their whole never-ending life??

I sincerely hope you read transhumanism.

Living too long leads to problems:

- Some people WANT to die (eventually...)
- Some people find it unethical
- Overpopulation is not cool, nor benifical (anti-aging is another thing however...)
- Brain Cells die off, eventually the guy is dead anyways

Thats good. Since death is a choice rather than not being a choice. Must fairer.
After they die off, it wouldn't really a problem would it.
Theres no guarrenty that every one will stay on Earth as per talking about this radical technology. I think you didn't read about it either.
Why would you need brain cells but not a computer thats better than a brain?

dazed, they really aren't getting it and are pooping all over your topic.

Give them specif links to where to talks about the singularity, and how incredible their consciousness would be enhanced through brain neuron optimization(you now, like how 1 second would become tens of thousands of years).

If you're freak'd out about the sun going boom, our galaxy colliding with andromeda, Earth's magnetic field winding down, and all the other in inescapable DO NOT WANT that's coming millions of years ahead of us, transhumanism is some really out-of-the-box hope. Instead of finding some impossible way to create an impossible wormhole to get around the impossible speed of light and find another impossibly rare planet like our somewhere in the universe to migrate to, you simply make the millions of years we have left on Earth feel more like 1000000000000000000000000000000000 years.

The problem with replacing your brain with a super computer is that a super computer for then next few years (at least) is way to big. Also, I don't exactly believe in Artificial Intelligence. A computer is set up to have an action, and a response, input/output. If you replace your brain with a computer you'll lose your ability to think. To me, this would be the worse doom of all.

Also, if your replace your brain, then it won't be your brain anymore. It'll just be a super smart, yet ultimatly stupid, computer.

Just because you perceive and intake so faster doesn't make you move faster.

That would be the most boring tens of thousands of years possible- waiting for your eyeball or your hand to move.

I wish I could find the site I Stumbled. It deals with that by saying you would basically have the mental capacity to start lucid dreaming^10 to make all that extra time bearable(and really more enjoyable than reality). You see, there are 2 dimensions to the brain enhancement. The first being the speed-up; to use a second in time like it was years. The second is enhancing your brain's pattern recognition. You really need both. Like if you did only the first to a dog, it would never be smarter than a human no matter how many millenia he pondered how best to chew his bone. Now if rewire him to think in more ways then you will have something suited to rule the world. I wish I could explain the second part better, and how they propose to do it.

About the brain part, they suggest on using nanites (look them up if you don't know). So as your brain cells die out- you just replace them one by one. And it wouldn't be the computer in the conventional sense. It would have to use same brain procedures such as feedback loops with synapses. It would just be a continuum. Brain cells dying, but being replaced constantly. Your brain wouldn't be cut out of your skull and be replaced by a computer.
Find something better to do. Or, play Starcraft inside your mind.