Are You a Transhumanist?

5696 Views 71 Replies 24 Participants Last post by Grv, May 21, 2005

Boltzmann

Discussion Starter · May 10, 2005

The World Transhumanist Association has recently published a test to determine whether you're a 'transhumanist' or not.

The official version can be found here: http://transhumanism.org/resources/TenQuestions.pdf

I'll put the questions here, so you can answer them (all in a yes/no fashion) and vote on the poll. It's fairly quick to answer.

Here're the questions:

1. Do you believe that people have a right to use technology to extend their mental and physical (including reproductive) capacities and to improve their control over their own lives?

2. Do you think that by being generally open and embracing of new technology we have a better chance of turning it to our advantage than if we try to ban or prohibit it?

3. Do you expect human progress to result from human accomplishment rather than divine intervention, grace, or redemption?

4. Do you think it would be a good thing if people could become many times more intelligent than they currently are?

5. Do you DISAGREE with the idea that human genetic engineering is always wrong because it is "playing God"?

6. Does your ethical code advocate the well-being of all sentient beings, whether in artificial intellects, humans, posthumans, or non-human animals?

7. Do you believe women should have the right to terminate their pregnancies?

8. Do you think it would be a good thing if people could live for hundreds of years or longer?

9. Would you consider having your mind uploaded to computers if it was the only way you could continue as a conscious person?

10. Should parents be able to have children through cloning once the technology is safe?

Results:

How many statements did you agree with:

7-10: You are a transhumanist. Go forth and share the memes.
5-6: You are probably a transhumanist.
2-4: You have some (trans)humanist tendencies. See transhumanism.org to nurture them.
0-1: You are not a transhumanist yet. But we can help.

Just for the record, I answered "yes" to all 10 questions

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1 - 20 of 72 Posts

Proto

· #2 · May 10, 2005

I answered YES to all of them as well, but I still consider myself more of an AI advocate than a transhumanist

... now the only thing we can hope is for the optimistic 50 years to become true, so we can be able to actually see the last big revolution of humanity as we know it

_E_

· #3 · May 10, 2005

Yes for two of 'em only (....how suprising

)

Yours,
-Elly

Dogmaan

· #4 · May 10, 2005 (Edited)

has anyone ever heard of ray kurzweil, he predicts all kinds of stuff about this,he reckons in 2030 there will be a singularity in science, were our technology is doubling at such an expononential rate, that we will be discovering things faster than we can understand them at our present level of intelligence.

DarkAurora

· #5 · May 10, 2005

I'm kinda against this because if everyone lives a lot longer, we will use up earth's resources a lot quicker. We already have an energy problem in the world.

Esturk

· #6 · May 10, 2005

I agreed with 7 of the 10 questions. I'm a transhumanist.

I believe with our increasing technologicalknowledge and intellect, alternate energy sources will become available.

The Captain

· #7 · May 10, 2005

I'm a transhumanist. Yah! Bring forth the revolution!

DarkAurora

· #8 · May 10, 2005

Esturk said:
I agreed with 7 of the 10 questions. I'm a transhumanist. I believe with our increasing technologicalknowledge and intellect, alternate energy sources will become available.

There are other reasons besides the energy crisis why I'm kind of against this but I don't feel like posting them at the moment.

GryphonKlaw

· #9 · May 10, 2005

I have considered myself a transhumanist and this quiz verifies it. 10 out of 10. But I need to read the literature so I'm not a stupid transhumanist.

Player-X

· #10 · May 10, 2005

Yes to 9 of the questions

Seta-San

· #11 · May 10, 2005

yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
no
no
maybe
probably not

Boltzmann

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 10, 2005 (Edited)

Proto said:
I answered YES to all of them as well, but I still consider myself more of an AI advocate than a transhumanist

... now the only thing we can hope is for the optimistic 50 years to become true, so we can be able to actually see the last big revolution of humanity as we know it

The only difference between you and me (as far as transhumanism goes, of course), is in the value we attach to humanity.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you seem to be happy enough to see it wiped out by a superintelligence. I, on the other hand, think that the superintelligence should guide mankind towards an augmented state. Our thinking regarding futurism matches in almost every other respect.

BTW, the Singularity Institute wants to create an Artificial General Intelligence within the next 10 years. At this point, we can only hope for the best

DarkAurora said:
I'm kinda against this because if everyone lives a lot longer, we will use up earth's resources a lot quicker. We already have an energy problem in the world.

This is a very poor reason for objecting extended lifespans. The fact that we’ll need lots of resources is a very compelling argument for the need of radical scientific developments.

Science has proved time and again that it can generate an exponential growth in the available resources. Just think what will happen when we build a space elevator, mine asteroids, harness the HUGE energy output of the sun… the possibilities are endless (and this is just what we, plain humans, can think about; imagine what would more advanced beings come up with).

Besides, there’s a lot more to transhumanism other than radical life extension. So you shouldn’t count yourself out so quickly.

You should read some of the articles by the transhumanist writer Dale Carrico. He’s a gay man, and since transhumanism is an essentially progressive movement he sees great possibilities of mutual help for the gay rights/women rights/transhumanist movement. His column http://www.betterhumans.com/Features/Columns/Progressive_Futures/column.aspx?articleID=2004-01-05-2 Technology's Making Queers of Us All is a good example.

Dogmaan said:
has anyone ever heard of ray kurzweil, he predicts all kinds of stuff about this,he reckons in 2030 there will be a singularity in science, were our technology is doubling at such an expononential rate, that we will be discovering things faster than we can understand them at our present level of intelligence.

Ray Kurzweil is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Singularity Institute (see the banner in my sig), so I’m well acquainted with his writings.

As for the Singularity, the fact is that once superintelligence enters the picture, we won’t be able to predict future trends. Unless you’re a superintelligence yourself, you cannot predict what a superintelligence will do.

Check out the Singularity Institute website for lots of material concerning artificial intelligence (and Friendly AI) and the Singularity.

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Dogmaan

· #13 · May 10, 2005

hey boltzmann im glad to find someone on ngemu who knows about this stuff, what do you picture after the singularity, if you dont mind me asking?

Boltzmann

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 10, 2005

Dogmaan said:
hey boltzmann im glad to find someone on ngemu who knows about this stuff, what do you picture after the singularity, if you dont mind me asking?

Of course I don't mind you asking, but the best answer I can give you is a personal guess which is more likely than not wrong

See http://www.singinst.org/what-singularity.html for more detailed reasons

Anyway, I think that after the Singularity there'll be no more death, and we'll see the end of all material needs. Nanotechnology will provide us with everything we need for free, and we'll harvest all the energy we need from the sun (perhaps even building some kind of Dyson Sphere or Niven Ring ).

And we'll be able to redesign ourselves at will, enhancing our own intelligence and emotions, not to mention having complete control over our bodies.

If everything goes alright, we'll be like the Powers, from Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep .

Hmm, perhaps I've been reading too much from Diaspora :lol:

But I do expect something along these lines to happen (provided someone doesn't mess up the creation of the first AI and it proceeds to wipe mankind ot).

GryphonKlaw said:
I have considered myself a transhumanist and this quiz verifies it. 10 out of 10. But I need to read the literature so I'm not a stupid transhumanist.

Go to BetterHumans.com and start reading up the free material contained there. It'll give you a solid basis, and will point you to even more extensive literature.

The Transhumanist FAQ is also a good starting place

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DarkAurora

· #15 · May 10, 2005

You show me that article Boltzmann everytime I disagree with you.

Cid Highwind

· #16 · May 10, 2005

Wasn't promoting religion against the rules someway boltz?

Anyway, I voted a clear no only on the last, and I doubted at one. At other questions I all voted yes, but only because I am allowed to only answer yes/no , otherwise my answers would've been more complicated, cause I can't say I agree with all of them without a certain limit. But since it's yes/no I have 8 times yes at least.

Demigod

· #17 · May 10, 2005

I pretty much agree on all points. I guess I would be a transhumanist as well

.

Boltzmann

Discussion Starter · #18 · May 10, 2005 (Edited)

DarkAurora said:
You show me that article Boltzmann everytime I disagree with you.

Sorry for my bad memory

But have you read it?

BTW, you forgot to reply to arguments

Cid Highwind said:
Wasn't promoting religion against the rules someway boltz?

Transhumanism is not a religion by any standard (specially considering that according to the latest survey, 80% of the WTA members are atheists).

Transhumanism has no leaders, no gods, no metaphysical beliefs, and no creation myths. How can this be considered a religion?

The Raelians, even though they don’t believe in god, at least have their own creation myth (aliens created us), a charismatic leader (Rael, a crazy French guy), metaphysical beliefs (sexual liberation as a way to cure diseases and improving your life; the return of the Elohim)… And speaking of the Raelians, they’ve been officially banned from the World Transhumanist Association. Scientists don’t want crackpots around

Cid Highwind said:
Anyway, I voted a clear no only on the last, and I doubted at one. At other questions I all voted yes, but only because I am allowed to only answer yes/no , otherwise my answers would've been more complicated, cause I can't say I agree with all of them without a certain limit. But since it's yes/no I have 8 times yes at least.

Well, most Transhumanists also say that there must be limits. But the point is accepting those things at least to some extent. The religious right, for instance, has zero tolerance for most of those questions.

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Mr. Killjoy

· #19 · May 10, 2005

IIRC there was a topic about already and you were the author

Anyways, I'm in the 7-10 group

Boltzmann

Discussion Starter · #20 · May 10, 2005

Mr. Killjoy said:
IIRC there was a topic about already and you were the author

Anyways, I'm in the 7-10 group

Nope, it was about the TransVision 2004 conference

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