To be honest, I never considered taking this course because as I consider myself a ‘digital native‘ I did not think there was much more to learn about digital cultures. Boy, was I wrong! In the past, the exploration of themes such as transhumanism, posthumanism and what it means to be human has subtly been introduced to me via the media I consume. Now I get to explore these themes a little bit more through the course.
Transhumanism involves the advancement or enhancement of the human race through the assimilation of technology. It brings with it increases in intelligence and longevity of human beings. In many of the readings and research I have done into the topic I notice the symbiotic relationship man and machine have. The are co-dependent on each other. Man made machine and machine aides man.
Fig 1: Man and machine – brothers in arms.
Ray Kurweil has said that through a singularity movement (singularitarianism), in the future computers and machines will share the same level of intelligence as human beings. In the computer’s case this is an artificial intelligence. An artificial intelligence that would double its capability exponentially. Thus far surpassing that of humans. So this begs the question, is the transhumanism event leading to human preservation and transcendence or ultimately human obsolescence? A world without the need for humans. Cybertron anyone?
Fig. 2 Cybertron: The fictional machine world of the Transformers
I clearly watch too many science fiction movies and this week has just let my imagination run wild. Transcendence. Cyborgs. Artifical Intelligence. Transhumanism is making start to sound more like science non-fiction. Can’t wait for week 2.
“Is the transhumanism event leading to human preservation and transcendence or ultimately human obsolescence? ” Interesting question Emlyn, and I’m not really sure what my answer is yet.
Also looking forward to week 2!
Hi Emlyn,
This is good summary of transhumanism, and it’s great to see you raise these ideas of what it means to ‘be human’ this week. I like your use of images here too, good stuff!
The question you pose about human obsolescence , which Clare highlights too, is great – I wonder what the implications for education might be here? Are we ultimately limiting ourselves by viewing implants and enhancements as ‘unnatural’?
For future lifestream summaries, it would be great to include reflections on your lifestream feeds and posts, rather than just a review of the weekly themes. What we’re looking for here is some commentary on *why* you’ve added particular content from Twitter, YouTube, or any other feed, how the course themes and readings have influenced those choices, and the ways your lifestream content might be influencing your understandings of course topics.
Great start here though Emlyn, keep it up!