“There’s no time for us,
There’s no place for us,
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us”
There’s no place for us,
What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us”
– Who wants to live forever by Queen
Survival. Longevity. Endurance. Immortality? The idea of transhumanism as the next stage of human evolution is an idea that would cause Darwin to turn over in his grave. Charles Darwin proposed an idea of species evolving through Natural Selection. This process involves organisms adapting and changing due to selection pressures imposed upon them from their surrounding environment. When I look strictly at the human species and its selection pressures, I realized that there aren’t any that we would have seen hundreds of thousands of years ago. Perhaps these pressures are more modern day social pressures, such as job and financial security, education or class. These are just a few determining factors that, once attained, will improve quality of life and wellbeing. If transhumanism is considered in the same breathe as evolution then this phenomenon is progressing at a much faster rate than what Darwin could ever have postulated. Could it get out of control? and what impact is this placing on our environment?
Human beings are already living a lot longer than they were at the start of the 20th century. This is due in part to advancements in health care and better quality of life. Aging, with the help of technology, can be reversed. Replacements organs can be created from 3D printers to replace and repair damaged tissues (Wejbrandt, 2014). These techniques bring us into the cyborg spectrum, that amalgamation of organic and inorganic (Miller, 2011).
So people living longer sounds amazing, however the increase in our species’ population will lead to even greater demand for resources from our planet. Our world is already overpopulated. In fact we are already three times over the sustainable level. Not only would we see an increase demand for resources but with an increasing aging population, this would increase the number of people who are not working and living off government pensions, which can be a heavy burden on a country’s economy.
I realize that I should be focusing my attention on education and digital cultures or transhumanism in the educational spectrum, but perhaps it is the chaos theorist in me who worries about pressing issues like the one discussed. Transhumanism is inevitable but we should just be aware of the alarming progression it is taking and that there could be irreparable repercussion.
References
- Miller, V. (2011) Chapter 9: The Body and Information Technology, in Understanding Digital Culture. London: Sage.
- Wejbrandt, A. 2014. Defining aging in cyborgs: A bio-techno-social definition of aging. Journal of Aging Studies 31: pp 104 – 109