Our next evolution (part 3) : Brave New World.

“As long as man has roamed this world, we’ve sought and invented new means to augment our minds and bodies. Evolution is painstakingly slow, but in our DNA is writ of imagination and the will to be smarter, better, faster, stronger. Man has learned to define its own evolution by building. And the most elemental of the things we build are our tools.” – Quote from article ‘We Are What We Use’ by Ryan Block.

Man’s long standing relationship with technology has been an attempt to transform not only our lives but ourselves – our very being. Way back in black and white times, we envied the birds, so we built machines to help us fly. Soon after, we broke the sound barrier, and then entered the void of space.

And way before we get to stars, let’s not forget the super awesomeness of the human body itself, which is a remarkable work of natural engineering.

But for all its grace and sophistication, like all things, the body decays with time, and through the trials and tribulations of life, it can be broken. However, with a mix of medical and technological advancements, a great change is most probably, just around the corner.

Human enhancement refers to any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means. The term is sometimes applied to the use of technological means to select or alter human characteristics and capacities, whether or not the alteration results in characteristics and capacities that lie beyond the existing human range. So, pretty exciting stuff.

Human Augmentation is already here, and the future of what is possible with the human body is almost limitless.

As it happens, most of us have been alive to witness the single greatest revolution and expansion of individual capabilities man has ever known. Not even twenty years ago it was still unclear the role technology would play in our personal lives — or if it would play one at all. After all, the “personal” in your personal computer was in reference to the fact that it didn’t need to be housed in a university’s mainframe complex. Otherwise there was simply nothing personal or individual about it. Everything has changed, and it continues to change in the most subtle of ways.

Transhumanism

At some point within our lifetimes, it is theorized that we will cause our next evolutionary leap. Psyched?

current reality

future potential

Transhumanism (abbreviated as H+ or h+), is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

On the other hand, what Transhumanism heralds is the point at which the current model of humanity becomes obsolete. Not so awesome? This Brave new world poses problems; chiefly those we leave behind. Unfortunately, access to technology has always been a case of wealth disparity. For those who are in the working class section of society, these technologies will be a barrier to entry into our new society. These technological augmentations will make those on the upper strata of society physically faster, stronger, smarter and more mentally agile. This would lead to an ever greater stratification of wealth as these advantages will make it, so those who can not afford these augmentations can not compete with those who do.

Even in today’s world, technology is already creating a gap and that gap is growing. Those who have access to computers at a young age surrounded by the wares and devices are granted an edge in today’s tech and I.T focused world.

Into the great unknown…

Humans are physiologically well-adapted to life on Earth. Consequently, space-flight has many negative effects on the body. The most significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness are muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton (space-flight osteopenia). Other significant effects include a slowing of cardiovascular system functions, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include fluid redistribution (causing the “moon-face” appearance typical in pictures of astronauts experiencing weightlessness), loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, and excess flatulence. Most of these effects begin to reverse quickly upon return to Earth.

The engineering problems associated with leaving Earth and developing space propulsion systems have been examined for over a century, and millions of man-hours of research have been spent on them.

What Transhumanism does give us as a species, is the ability to venture deeper into the deepest recesses of space.

The vast distances of our cosmos have not only limited our aspirations in terms of speed, but its effects on our current fragile bodies.

A new kind of human could however, have the capacity to endure the immense distances and gruelling void of interstellar travel. Our newly designed bodies will have nothing to fear from the bone degradating effects of zero-gravity or the harmful radiation of nearby stars. This could be one giant step in our final frontier.

The Human Revolution.

Any why not? For the first time in our history we will be the force driving our own evolution. After all, we have become more connected than ever before in our lives as the power and the ubiquity of internet has freed us from the binds of information restrictions. We have used the net to connect to our external tools and made it part of us. And finally in the logical next step, we change our bodies to better incorporate these technologies. There will be obstacles and gulfs to bridge, but this progress would bring us endless possibilities.

We can change positively, what it means to be human.