Transhumanization

According to the dictionary transhumanization is to make more than human, to purify, or to elevate above humanity. Emerson, Nietzsche, Bergson, and Kubrick speak on this topic in their works. It seems to me to be a controversial topic because so many people look at it in different aspects and believe different things. Nietzsche believes we are incomplete and are in need of higher education and need to be taught in order to become superhuman. I partially agree with his views. We as humans are not incomplete in my eyes, but we do need higher education in order to continue to advance as a species. According to Bergson, humanity is an incomplete species, requiring higher education in the form of biotechnological transhumanization, in order to actualize the natural function of the universe. His views are partially correct in my eyes. Because we have made ourselves so dependent on technology, we do need it to advance to a certain extent. I do not think we need it one hundred percent. Kubrick’s view was a little to unrealistic. He seems to think that education by aliens was the way to achieve superhumanity. Since I do not believe in extraterrestrial life forms, it’s hard for me to even half way believe his point of view. From all the readings, I really agree with the works of Emerson. He believes that every individual possess a unique genius that they work their entire life to develop the gift they are given. “Everyone is potentially superhuman because we possess gifts which can never be absolutely actualized. Throughout life there are “godlike” men that come along and create masterpieces. The masterpiece completes a circle and we move on to develop the next.
We are always developing toward super humanity, but we will never make it because there is always something to learn.”

Throughout history, we as humans have continuously learned new things and found ways to better ourselves. If I believed in transhumanization, I would say humans work towards achieving this goal each and every day. We come up with new ideas continuously and correct the ideas we already have. And we are always looking for ways to come back from a setback. It is a part of our human nature to better these ideas and make them better whether it’s by trial and error, or by corrective criticism from our peers. When we make one mistake we go back to see what we did wrong and what we can do better the next time around. We also seek higher education in order to better ourselves and our state of mind to be able to contribute more to society. When we seek higher education, we learn how to do and know about things from different perspectives, which makes us better thinkers. Because of this we are always learning something new to better ourselves as individuals and as a species. All these attributes we possess as a species show that we are always working towards transhumanization. We are wired to do these things which make it natural. We are an intelligent species and have learned and done a lot in a short period of time.

Something that Emerson said that really stuck with me was that we all are given a gift that we work to develop our entire lives but we will never be able to absolutely actualize it. I believe this because there is always something out there for us to learn. We will never know everything about anything. There are things that are around us that we know nothing about because we don’t know of its existence. There is so much knowledge out there in the world that there is no way possible anyone other than God can know about its existence or know completely everything about something. If we were able to achieve transhumanization, there would be no point for life anymore. We would know everything, nothing would be a surprise, and life would be boring because there’s nothing to do or learn anymore. We would never have anything to work towards or look forward to. When he speaks about godlike individuals, I think that those people are put here for a reason. I wouldn’t say that are godlike but they are almost geniuses if not a genius. In the twenty first century, people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are those “godlike” individuals. They have helped helps us develop technologically to help now and in the future. Even though what they created may not be a necessity to some they’ve made a huge impact on the world. The both of them, and others like them, have completed a “circle” and paved the way for someone else to complete one.

Transhumanization is discontinuous with human nature because it is a part of our human nature to continuously learn. From what I perceive from all the readings, once you reach transhumanization you know everything. Because of who we are and how we wired, transhumanization would not allow that to happen. As I stated before, there would be not point for us to exist anymore because we would know everything and there would be nothing else for us to work towards achieving.

Emerson, Nietzsche, Bergson, and Kubrick are very interesting philosophes and they were fascinating to read about. But, I do not feel humans can achieve superhumanity. Education is continuous and there is too much for us to learn and too much we have no idea about. If we could achieve it, it would be millions and millions of years from now. Even achieving it then, is still farfetched.