This is a quick response to Django’s thoughtful piece. I’m not entirely sure what you’re saying in it but I did want to comment on transhumanism. I actually am kind of a virtual card carrying transhumanist. I used to write columns for Better Humans and participated in their short lived blog “Cyborg Democracy”, even though Ken Macleod and Charlie Stross never contributed much. I guess they were too “busy” writing world class science fiction novels. Tranhumanism, to me anyway, is kind of a Leftist approach to science. For example, I want to go to Mars not just because its there, but because I want a new constitution that enshrines privacy rights, guarantees my vote and is based on some form of Direct Democracy. This is a movement that is separate from, say, the eugenics movement or God Help us the Transtopians (I actually was the first person to describe them as “The Magneto side of the Transhumanist equation” and they took it as a mantra. I mean, those are your future one color jump suited Bond villains…)…

But here’s the best definition of what Transhumanists want that I’ve seen. I don’t find it all threatening. I just want to get better with science. If you don’t want to evolve, then hey that’s cool. Khan was just, you know, misunderstood.

Here’s that transhumanist statement or prayer, written by Michael Anissimov:

I have seen a world where death and disease have been defeated by science…
where food, shelter, and clothing is manufactured quickly, and without waste…
where transparency makes violent crime impossible, and authorities accountable…
where people walk on other planets and in endless virtual worlds…
where intelligence and empathy are magnified far beyond present levels…
where the diversity of sentient beings has expanded to unimaginable proportions…
where the risk of human extinction has been reduced to near zero.

I will endeavor to take the fastest safe route to such a future, and direct my present-day energies towards its realization. I will be polite and understanding to skeptics and naysayers. I will thoroughly enjoy my daily life while simultaneously working for a better future. I will work towards that future for the good of all, not just myself, and try my best to maintain an altruistic point of view at all times.

Sounds good to me. What bothers you about that?