sjefTue, Jun 24, 2008 I'm not sure that there aren't the resources to 'upgrade' everyone, there probably are. We've had the resources to feed & educte the entire population of the planet for almost 50 years, but we haven't. It's probably more a matter of distribution than actual shortage.
The questionnaire is interesting though, so I'll have a crack at answering it.
Note that I don't really consider myself a transhumanist, I just like to think that I have accepted augmentation as a reality that will manifest itself within our lifetimes, and I'll go with the flow (or against it, if need be), taking it as it comes.
What do we do with the weak? Or the strong for that matter, in their personal endeavors outside and beyond the common good?
This is kind of hard cause it's just too broad. My guess would be that we pretty much do the same that we do now. If you choose to operate in a manner that goes against what is accepted in your society, you'll be shunned or hunted. Don't really see that changing anywhere short of a hard singularity that removes the power from us to make decisions about that kind of thing
What will the weak do to the strong if they are excluded from upgrades?
In a hard scenario I reckon they won't do shit. If they can, then the strong obviously didn't get strong enough quick enough.
If you mean more a kind of uprising of the disenfranchised masses, then again, I think the same thing will happen as it does in several places on the planet already. Revolts / resistance / underhanded politics / repression / etc
What is to stop an individual/group from becoming so powerful they can achieve their goal of world domination via manipulation, control or physical dominance once people have computer chips in their brains or they have strength/invincibility super powers?
Other individuals & groups, that's it. Note however that this too is no different than it has always been, and considering the fact that the world has been on the brink of destruction for about 50 years now as well, it's not that scary.
Will human 2.0 be a superior being? Racism/Bigotry with scientific support sounds terribly dangerous to me...
Yes, but people but have a total bitchfest about the true meaning of superiority and argue against you till you get absolutely sick of it & just give up. Just like people do now who say we aren't superior to animals.
Who should make these decisions? And who will?
Hopefully a bunch of smart people. Democracy sucks at getting to the best solutions in anything.
If life is in essence entirely without objective purpose - what's the point?
Woah, tangent. The meaning of life is 42, look it up. Or possibly to eat melons. Or to taste every last flavour of instant noodles known to man, and then transcending to taste those unknown to man.
If our desire for something more is human in nature, won't we possibly kill this and then negate the entire premise of upgrading?
Yup. Makes the whole game slightly more intersting huh? Maybe the upgraded transhumanist crowd will find some other purpose, incomprehensible to regular humans, but completely valid to them as a reason for existence. Only one way to find out really. :-)
So there's my rubbish answers, hopefully that spurs someone else on to take a more detailed view. To be very general, I think that if no hard singularity occurs, everything will pretty much just carry on as it does now, but with more complicated & invasive gadgets.
I'm not sure that there aren't the resources to 'upgrade' everyone, there probably are. We've had the resources to feed & educte the entire population of the planet for almost 50 years, but we haven't. It's probably more a matter of distribution than actual shortage.
The questionnaire is interesting though, so I'll have a crack at answering it.
Note that I don't really consider myself a transhumanist, I just like to think that I have accepted augmentation as a reality that will manifest itself within our lifetimes, and I'll go with the flow (or against it, if need be), taking it as it comes.
This is kind of hard cause it's just too broad. My guess would be that we pretty much do the same that we do now. If you choose to operate in a manner that goes against what is accepted in your society, you'll be shunned or hunted. Don't really see that changing anywhere short of a hard singularity that removes the power from us to make decisions about that kind of thing
In a hard scenario I reckon they won't do shit. If they can, then the strong obviously didn't get strong enough quick enough.
If you mean more a kind of uprising of the disenfranchised masses, then again, I think the same thing will happen as it does in several places on the planet already. Revolts / resistance / underhanded politics / repression / etc
Other individuals & groups, that's it. Note however that this too is no different than it has always been, and considering the fact that the world has been on the brink of destruction for about 50 years now as well, it's not that scary.
Yes, but people but have a total bitchfest about the true meaning of superiority and argue against you till you get absolutely sick of it & just give up. Just like people do now who say we aren't superior to animals.
Hopefully a bunch of smart people. Democracy sucks at getting to the best solutions in anything.
Woah, tangent. The meaning of life is 42, look it up. Or possibly to eat melons. Or to taste every last flavour of instant noodles known to man, and then transcending to taste those unknown to man.
Yup. Makes the whole game slightly more intersting huh? Maybe the upgraded transhumanist crowd will find some other purpose, incomprehensible to regular humans, but completely valid to them as a reason for existence. Only one way to find out really. :-)
So there's my rubbish answers, hopefully that spurs someone else on to take a more detailed view. To be very general, I think that if no hard singularity occurs, everything will pretty much just carry on as it does now, but with more complicated & invasive gadgets.