Sent to me by mendori:

[wolven7]

First Annual Colloquium of the Law of Transhuman Persons.

Tom Waits - [Crossroads]--- Now, honestly, I don't like the term "transhuman." I think it's stupid, as we are, and always will be, because we are Human. Humanity-- in its own collective mind, at least-- is defined by far more than simple biology. Humanity is defined by the way it thinks, moves, acts, advances, agressively adapts, explores, changes, works, creates, destroys, and fights. Humanity is, in a sense, defined by the very idea that it could become "TransHuman."

Now, that said, i really dig the transhumanist movement. (Ego Likeness - [The Breach]). If you hadn't guessed that about me, read more closely, in the future. I like the idea of accepting all of those things, listed above, and using them to adapt, change, understand ourselves, and become something that is at once more than and the essence of human. I like that a lot.

But it's not Transhuman. It's human.

Comments

[mendori.livejournal.com]

I think the real problem with the term transhuman is that it confuses the nature of species with the nature of humanity. On the one hand, yes, at some point we are going to have to come to terms with the fact that some of us are homo sapien, and some of us have evolved into a new speices which is significantly different enough to warrent a new nomenclature. This will be a HUGE problem, and its something we should start worrying about.
On the other hand, being Human is something which is not species dependant. There was a wonderful short story a while ago which had a character who was very clearly alien, but was human by his species definition because he had been born on earth. Thus, he thought, acted, and tried his best to be human. Humanity is quite a different thing than your species - humanity is a state of being, of mind, of existence. Chimps can behave in almost human ways if raised around people, dolphins can become so adapted to human contact that they can no longer interact with other dolphins properly. They have, in essence, become human. They arent the same speices, but they are human. And yes, this allows for someone to be homo sapien and NOT be human. It's very easy, all it requires is a significant deviation from the human behavioral patterns, either positively or negativly.

But, I'm glad you liked the link. I thought you would enjoy it.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Exactly. When I think the term, they are separate, but in extricable. You can be one without the other, but you will alwayx be one, if you are one, no matter biology.

I did enjoy it. I thik it's an important thing to realise, to move t a place wher biotechnological advancements aren't feared, but arte explored to their full consequences. Fear doesn't allow for full exploration, only a drive to understand, in my experience.

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

I hate how things like this are so insular...

And I don't understand what the big deal is, really. Why it requires discussion. Genes, chromosomes, determine species, but we really can't define what makes humanity. People have been arguing about it since who kows when.

Even if a consciousness is not recognizable, for a program mind would be far different from ours, we offer protection and some level of kinship to things like cats, dogs, and pretty much all animals. Why not something that may or may not be as aware as us, in different ways?

[wolven.livejournal.com]

It seems there will always be a need for people to put themselves into special groups, and that's all well and good. If annoying.

People have ideas of concepts, and they don't like to see them change. the world changes, when that happens, and that scares the shit out of most people.