Beyond biological evolution: what is transhumanism

The concept of transhumanism appeared at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. What it is and what are its prospects in our country and the world – in the material of Trends

First reflections on how to curb aging and death

The term “transhumanism” in its modern meaning was one of the first to be used and popularized by the evolutionary biologist, the first Director General of UNESCO and the brother of the writer Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley in 1957 in his work “New Bottles for New Wine”.

In it, he wrote: “The human species can, if it wishes, transcend itself—not only sporadically (one individual in one way, another individual in another), but as humanity as a whole. We need to [think of] a name for this new belief. Perhaps transhumanism is suitable: a person remains a person, but transcends himself, realizing new opportunities for his human nature.

Today it is customary to define transhumanism as a philosophical and scientific movement that seeks to understand how to go beyond human biological evolution. To do this, the possibilities and consequences of the use of technologies, the dangers and advantages of their use are studied, including the ideas of merging biological, information, cognitive and nanotechnologies. In other words, transhumanists propose to improve the human body and mind with the help of technology.

Transhumanism is not monolithic and consists of various currents, but all of them see victory over aging and death as their main goal. The main idea of ​​this philosophy is the endless improvement of capabilities and abilities in all areas of human life.

In addition, artificial intelligence occupies a special place in transhumanism. Many followers believe that continuously accelerating technological progress will create a superhuman who will be fundamentally different from today’s people. Genetic engineering, molecular nanotechnology, the creation of neuroprostheses or direct brain-computer interfaces should especially help in this.

Ideas of transhumanism

Some of the main goals of the movement were described in 2017 by the French philosopher, physician and theologian Jean Boboc in his book Transhumanism Deciphered.

In addition, there are a number of areas that consider methods for achieving the goals of the movement. One of them is the development of nanotechnologies, nanomachines. According to the ideas of transhumanists, someday nanomachines will be able to perform many different tasks and at the same time they will have such accuracy that they will no longer need human intervention, and a person will finally be able to do other equally important things.

The next direction is the development of cryonics. This is the practice of preserving the body of a deceased person or its parts (head, brain) at ultra-low temperatures, with the expectation that in many years science will go far ahead, and technologies will appear to revive and cure it. Adepts of cryonics consider the situation when the patient dies in the presence of the personnel of the cryonics company, who immediately after the declaration of legal death begin the process of cryonics, to be ideal conditions.

At the same time, it can be assumed that the idea of ​​cryonics originates in the philosophy of Russian cosmism by Nikolai Fedorov (other well-known representatives are scientists Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Vladimir Vernadsky, Alexander Chizhevsky). Fedorov was convinced that death was not some inevitable fate: man was created for eternal life, and we must remake the world and defeat death. He considered this goal quite achievable and believed that the development of science would lead to the possibility of the resurrection of the dead.

Another direction is the concept of “smart dust”: an advanced technology that stands at the intersection of robotics and nanotechnology. It is supposed to create a certain microscopic grid, electromechanical systems, interconnected devices that will receive data from the environment, have their own sensors, communication and power, and will be able to perform absolutely any task – from diagnosing the body to controlling the weather.

Transhumanism in our country and abroad

In our country, transhumanism is not considered an independent philosophical movement – it is rather perceived as an ideological movement. However, historically, in Russian philosophical thought, there is a theory close to transhumanism. immortalism. Its key idea is to improve and maximize the extension of human life.

Some adherents of modern transhumanism believe that Alexander Radishchev’s work “On Man, on His Mortality and Immortality,” written in exile back in the 1790s, became a kind of prototype for all transhumanist philosophy. In addition, they appeal to the work of Karl Marx, who believed that automation and new technologies would allow a person to never work again. Without needing anything, he will be able to devote time to his own development.

The most famous association of transhumanists Humanity + was founded in 1997 by Oxford professor Nick Bostrom and his colleague David Pierce, a supporter of the so-called “hedonistic transhumanism” (calls for ridding the world of suffering by constructing a paradise on Earth with the help of medicines, biotechnology and genetic engineering). Until 2008, the organization was called the World Transhumanist Association (WTA).

Humanity+ has more than 6 participants from 100 countries and sets itself the following goals:

• support and develop public dialogue about new technologies;
• calculate and propose solutions for the negative consequences of their development;
• protect the right of individuals to apply improvement techniques;
• encourage the development of technologies with high potential.

There are communities and platforms in our country that are directly or indirectly engaged in the ideas of transhumanism. These are, for example, the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Philosophical Society. On its basis, the Russian Transhumanist Movement (RTD) was formed, which is considered the second largest organization in the world after the WTA. RTD originates from the site Bessmertie.ru, created by Dmitry Ryazanov at the end of 2000.

Supporters of the RTD are focused on immortality, and the key task is defined as follows: “With the help of science and modern technologies, to develop the personality without limits, going beyond the limits of human capabilities now considered natural.”

In addition, in 2011, entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov founded the strategic social movement Our Country 2045. It included experts in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems for the development of cybernetic immortality technologies, with the main idea – to transfer individual consciousness to a non-biological carrier, to a new non-biological body. True, the project was curtailed in March 2018 due to insufficient research funding.

Igor Artyukhov, a leading expert at the Institute for the Biology of Aging, notes that in our country, most people do not have information about transhumanism or perceive this philosophical concept as a conspiracy of mad scientists who want to replace people with robots.

Olya Osokina, founder of the health-tech company AIBY, thinks differently: “The attitude towards transhumanism in our country and abroad has no fundamental differences. our country, like other countries, continues to raise issues of regulating the relationship between humans and robots. The European Union has actively taken up the regulation of artificial intelligence. At the same time, the United States manages to collect a stock of knowledge from all over the world due to the technological Valley.”

“Transhumanism is more of a worldview. There is no division between the Western view and ours. The only detail: you can see that in the Russian intellectual discourse, transhumanist ideas cause a little more problems than in the West,” adds Ekaterina Gres, philosopher, teacher at the School of Critical Thinking and popularizer of philosophy.

Another chord is criticism from a political point of view, since, according to Russian opponents of transhumanism, the latter creates false ideals and new ideologies, as well as philosophy, religion and value systems. And they allegedly undermine the correct centralized management of the state, and also increase the likelihood of a possible manipulation of public consciousness.

Philosophy finds the greatest understanding among young people with higher education – natural science, technical, IT specialists.

Regarding the prospects for movement in our country, Oleg Dolgitsky, a social philosopher, says this: “our country is lucky with a huge number of titanium deposits, which means that we will seriously move towards endoprosthetics, which is already included in the CHI of citizens of our country. Biotechnologies in the Russian Federation will also develop, this was clearly shown by the situation with the pandemic, where we were among the first to develop a vaccine against coronavirus. Our difference from the United States is that we are more focused on mass development for everyone, while America is working on unique orders for the treatment of rare diseases.”

Meanwhile, supporters of immortality and intellectualization, scientists and philosophers, are united not only by the general ideas of transhumanism, but also by various useful projects. But, as experts note, mankind is not yet ready for the same cryonics, despite the fact that individual elements such as stem cells, blood, sperm are already frozen and are actively used in modern medicine. The development of all these areas and projects requires a powerful impetus, a technological breakthrough, as well as the opportunity to convey to the general public data on the viability of the ideas of transhumanism.

Developments bringing transhumanism closer

One of the directions of transhumanism is the study of DNA, and the international project “Human Genome” is one of the most advanced in this area. Determining the structure of human genes is one of the most important stages for developments in the field of pharmaceuticals, medicine, etc. But the study and understanding of genetic information are only the first steps on the way to a perfect person.

We now have the technology to allow scientists to modify the genome with unprecedented precision. A striking example is the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering system, which will help cure hereditary diseases.

Back in 2016, Chinese scientists were the first in the world to modify genes to treat cancer. In our country, research is also being conducted in the field of genome editing and the treatment of genetic diseases, including on the basis of medical universities.

In general, genome editing technologies for human improvement are now at the forefront of science: for example, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 was awarded to scientists Emmanuel Charpentier and Jennifer Dowdne precisely for developing a genome editing method.

However, this line of research is not always encouraged by the scientific community – there are cases of experiments that go beyond the scope of bioethics. An example is the birth in 2018 in China of genetically modified twins Lulu and Nana, allegedly not susceptible to HIV. Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui, who conducted this experiment, was sentenced in China to three years in prison and a fine of 3 million yuan.

At the same time, the issue of replacing organs, diseases of which most often cause death, is being actively discussed. In this area, there are already developments and even very successful cases. An example is a robotic heart.

Another direction is the cultivation of artificial tissues and organs by using cell technologies. This is one of the most important directions in the development of biotechnology, which can lead to a revolution in transplantology.

“For a long time it was believed that the future will be in biomechanical increments that will allow a person to change lost limbs and individual organs to artificial and synthetic ones. However, it is now obvious that biology will take the place of cybernetics. The rate of development of biotechnology is significantly ahead of all other areas. At the moment, it’s easier to figure out how to grow a new organ than to make its artificial analogue,” Oleg Dolgitsky draws attention.

Developments in the field of transhumanism around the world are also financed by private companies. For example, many people know Elon Musk’s Neuralink project: a startup engaged in neurotechnologies and establishing a “brain-computer” connection. The entrepreneur presented a device made of flexible threads with a thickness of 4 to 6 microns, inside which dozens of electrodes are located. They manage to read brain impulses and transmit them to a special implant placed behind a person’s ear. The idea is to translate the signals from the human brain into a language that a machine can understand. Elon Musk has described the technology as “neural lace”.

Another example is mass chipping of people. Its ideologist Amal Graafstra believes that chips are the next step in human evolution. There are three basic technologies here today:

• RFID – mainly used to control access control systems;
• NFC – used to make payments, unlock devices (Android, Apple, Windows), supports RFID;
• MIFARE is one of the most promising technologies for access control systems, travel documents, visas, etc.

Manufacturers, such as Dangerous Things, a pioneer in this area, make whole sets of chips, which, once implanted, can use a whole range of different technologies. Chips from Implant-Chip, Great Creativity, and others are also now available. However, none of these devices has been certified in our country for use on humans.

Arguments for transhumanism

Since transhumanism as an intellectual trend is partly a continuation of the idea of ​​humanism, it is clear that the most obvious argument “for” all supporters of transhumanism is philanthropy. They continue the thought of the humanists of the past, who spoke about the importance of the individual, that even an imperfect person should strive to improve the state of things, promote rationalization, increase freedom, tolerance, democracy, and build a welfare society.

In support of transhumanism, the progress of science speaks directly. Scientists all over the world are trying to understand how to give a person immortality, to learn how to treat diseases, both physiological and psychological.

Victoria Ustimenko, director of business development at Transdisciplinary Agora for Future Discussions (TAFFD’s), notes that the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, parkinsonism, senile dementia, cancer, HIV infection, diabetes mellitus are the primary tasks of transhumanists. It is no secret that at the present time there is a phenomenon of “silver tsunami” – this is how the aging of the planet’s population is called. Transhumanists are just thinking how to solve this problem. It was they who came to the WHO with a proposal to recognize old age as a disease, and not as a normal state of the body.

“A person wants to live happily ever after, to control all aspects related to his body: aging, childbirth, health, sexual activity. Transhumanism gives a person hope for an eternal happy life on Earth without suffering and disease,” adds Olga Vinogradova, philosopher, lecturer, assistant at the Department of Humanities at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.

Who criticizes transhumanism

Opponents of transhumanism are no less, and perhaps even more, than its followers. Criticism consists of a practical aspect (namely, the achievability of the goals of transhumanism) and an ethical one (at the level of moral values). Among the arguments against are the following:

Whose publications and research in the field of transhumanism are worth following

Nick Bostrom – Swedish philosopher, professor at Oxford University, known for his work on the anthropic principle;

Stefan Lorenz Zorgner – German philosopher, post- and transhumanist, researcher of Nietzsche, philosopher of music and expert in the field of ethics of new technologies;

David Pearce – a British utilitarian philosopher who promotes the idea of ​​eliminating all forms of human and animal suffering through technology (genetic engineering, nanotechnology, pharmacology and neurosurgery);

Natasha Vita-Mor – American media artist, designer, is the creative director of the H + Lab, engaged in a combination of science and design. Known for designing Primo Posthuman, a prototype of the future human, which includes the latest advances in biotechnology, robotics, information and nanotechnology, cognitive and neurological research to improve human life and radically extend life;

Aubrey De Grey – British biogerontologist, computer scientist and mathematician, developer of the SENS concept – “strategies to achieve negligible aging by engineering methods”;

Elizabeth Parrish – American entrepreneur and one of the leaders of the scientific and medical company BioViva, one of the most famous preachers of anti-aging medicine;

Ben Herzel – Chief Scientist at Aidyia Holdings, Financial Forecasting Specialist, Chairman of Novamente LLC, a private AI software company, and Biomind LLC, a bioinformatics company that provides AI for bioinformatics data analysis;

Ira Pastor – Executive Director of Bioquark, engaged in the revitalization of the human brain;

Max More — Philosopher and futurist, publicist, lectures on the prospects and impact of new technologies.

12 books about transhumanism, technologies, their prospects and consequences

Trends has compiled a selection of useful books on the history, development and modernity of the ideas of transhumanism. Many of them have already been mentioned in this article: