(no subject)

[beetiger]

Although I really enjoy hanging out and dreaming with people who are, I'm definitely not a transhumanist.

I think one of the reasons probably overlaps with one of the reasons that I'm not a Christian. I'm wary of any philosophy that focuses on the "next world" while not paying enough attention to this one. I'm afraid of feeling disconnected from the things that are right in front of me. I love the warmth of sun and the stars in the sky and the smell of ozone from rain on pavement and the sound of human voices singing, not just because of my experience of them, but because of the mundane conceptual background that tells me that they are there, and real. From this spot in my life, I like the reality that now matters, because we don't have forever. I still really think this is one of the things that drives us to do the work that does, in fact, move our world into the future.

This pregnancy makes me feel very biological. It's draining, in some ways, and I certainly am not happy about the temporary loss of the ability to think as critically as usual, but essentially it's a marvel. There's a groundedness about knowing that my body knows how to make a person, a person who is currently squirming and kicking and is going to do something that I've never dreamed of, in a world I'm never going to see. Check in with me in a few decades and ask again, but right now, I think I'm going to be ready to give the world to him to do that.

Maybe I'm not a transhumanist because I don’t think I'm likely to be as smart as the people who come after me, if I'm willing to step aside and leave them the world to play in. Maybe I'm not a transhumanist because I want to love this life to its fullest, and I really don't believe we are ready to succeed in time for me to realize those dream, and that fills me with frustration, rather than anticipation. Maybe I'm just lucky enough to be living in a body that mostly works. Maybe I'm just not very ambitious.

But I don't see much of a point in living forever if we haven't even figured out yet how to fully live right here, right now.

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

What do you mean by transhumanist? Is this similar to were or otherkin?


*curious mouse*

[tygermoonfoxx.livejournal.com]

I'm not a transhumanist either, possibly for the same reasons you listed. One of my biggest beefs with the Christian church was the practice of denying oneself the pleasures of this world because it would all be there for you in the next.

I'm a sensual person and so I'd rather experience everything totally on a day-to-day basis. THus I end up treating every day as though it were possibly the last.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

I want to live forever precisely because it's such a big job to figure out how to live right here, right now. Why waste the effort by dying before you have time to make any real progress?

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

I think I am too deeply influenced by early reading of the FULL Gulliver's Travels (J. Swift) to ever want to live forever.

[mister-wolf.livejournal.com]

I myself don't think hope for the future is incompatible with enjoying the here and now, with regard to transhumanism or Christianity.

[werellama.livejournal.com]

I don't want to live in this body forever...and I don't want any mechanical enhancements to keep me alive...but I do want to come back and try again if I don't find enlightenment in this life time. I agree with you about the importance of living life in the now. I think too many people get caught up in fantasies about their future. Nothing is perminent, and even the best laid plans can be knocked off course by even the littlest things. If you put all your hope in the future, how can you enjoy the now?...and if your plans for the future are forced to change, how can you bend with those changes instead of break?

Here and Now

[runnerwolf.livejournal.com]

:) That's one of the things I like about my tradition. It is very pragmatic and very rooted in the here and now. There are traditions to it, but they are fluid and there is more concern for where we are than where we will be.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Quakers (sorta Christian, depending which ones you talk to) don't really consider the afterlife, and are concerned about making the world a better place.

Having kids changes so much of your world view. I wont say you will think like me, but you will think differently. It's weird.

as it seemed applicable.

[hbergeronx.livejournal.com]

"We are like water creatures looking up at the land and air and wondering how we can survive in that alien medium... Yes sir, the fish said, I'm just going to shove a little aquarium up onto the land there, got everything I need in it."

--William Burroughs, The Place of Dead Roads, special thanks to lapis_lazuli for finding that.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I think one of the reasons probably overlaps with one of the reasons that I'm not a Christian. I'm wary of any philosophy that focuses on the "next world" while not paying enough attention to this one. I'm afraid of feeling disconnected from the things that are right in front of me. I love the warmth of sun and the stars in the sky and the smell of ozone from rain on pavement and the sound of human voices singing, not just because of my experience of them, but because of the mundane conceptual background that tells me that they are there, and real. From this spot in my life, I like the reality that now matters, because we don't have forever. I still really think this is one of the things that drives us to do the work that does, in fact, move our world into the future.

But I don't see much of a point in living forever if we haven't even figured out yet how to fully live right here, right now

OTOH, I am a transhumanist for exactly this reason. I love the sensations of the world and being in it. I in no way wish to give that up. What I want (in order of preference) is:

1) Physical immortality, so I will have time to watch redwoods grow and (f possible) stars age and time to experience all the wonder there is in this world. Naturally, vastly enhanced healing, immunity to all diseases and suchlike would be included in this.

2) A perfect memory, so I will never forget any of these wonders and so that I can forever hang onto everything that I have learned.

3) Increased intelligence so that I can understand myself, the world, and other sentient beings better.

4) Dramatically enhanced senses so that I can experience more of the world.

Other techno-fripperies like neural jacks would be nice, but are not terribly high priorities for me.

In part the difference between us may be that while I firmly believe in reincarnation, it is also completely irrelevant to me on any sort of personal or emotional level. Clearly, memory either does not survive or survives at most in small and disconnected fragments. Therefore by all of my definitions, I end with my death and whatever continues on is in no way me. I am not willing to accept that and instead wish to be immortal so that I can keep being, learning, understanding, and caring.

Transhumanism (and a more general belief that "natural" in no way necessarily means better) is another reason (in addition to issues with the way Wicca privileges gender duality) that I no longer consider myself to be Wiccan.

In any case, I'm not living my life for the future, I'm simply hoping that it continues in the future and looking into reasonable options that may make that happen. In what way might this disconnect me from the world?

[schitzie.livejournal.com]

In the words of Freddy Mercury... "Who dares to live forever?"

Personally, I'm scared schitless as to what'll happen when the time comes for this life to be over... but I can obscess over that, or just realize that this is my life right now, assume that there is no afterward, that it is just a concept created by older generations to comfort themselves in their living troubles... and that this may be my only attempt at whatever this life is.

... and if it's my only chance... why not just live it.

As for my religious background... Christian, but my own version of it, spliced a bit with taoism, and a good helping of hedonism...

Cut and paste religion... prayer-ware for the modern age... gotta love the implications.

[lediva.livejournal.com]

Personally, death is an incredibly scary thing for me. I like being alive and all that comes with it. If given the chance to extend that, I'd take it without a second thought.

I'm admittedly confused by some of the parallels you draw between Christianity and transhumanism, though... I think of transhumanism as more of a way of improving the here and now, rather than some "next world". I mean, where do you think all the cyborgs and such are going to be living? Right here on Earth, presumably. :)