How you ever thought about how it would be to live through the evolution of our own species? A natural selection, this biological process is what gave birth to every species that walks our planet today. Typically, the process that changes one species into another takes centuries, if not more.
What if we could skip this biological process entirely? Well, it may be possible soon as technology significantly upgrades human life and behavior. The concept that allows us to skip the process of evolution is being dubbed as ‘transhumanism’. This is a movement that aims to use advanced technologies to change humanity forever.
Understanding Transhumanism
A way of thinking about the future, the concept of transhumanism states that we are not at the end of human development. Instead, we are at a relatively early phase in our development and evolution. The original definition of transhumanism was given by Max More in 1990 who defines the concept as follows:
“Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values[1]”
The concept of using technology/tools to modify or augment the human body is nothing new. In fact, the idea to take humanity beyond its biological constraints has existed ever since humans developed the first tools and understood how to harness fire.
Every evolution that the human race went through made it more intelligent; intelligence is what has allowed the human race to not only survive but also thrive despite many biological shortcomings. This is where the inspiration for transhumanism comes from; the concept not only emphasizes using technology to impact the world around us, but it also floats the idea of replacing human biology with technology.
The corrective lens has fixed the problem of poor eyesight, braces allow us to have that perfect smile, and there many more examples of how technology or sophisticated inventions have allowed us to alter our bodies for the better. Now, transhumanism wants to take this a step further and replace the entire existing senses in a human body with technology; the idea is to enable our body to accomplish many things that it has not been built for.
The person who uses this concept to alter or modify their body is referred to as a transhuman; this is a person who chooses to upgrade their body with technology to fix a deficiency to accomplish more than what is biologically possible.
How Transhumanism Will Impact the Future of Mankind
Now that you understand what transhumanism is and why it is getting more and more popular by the day, you may want to know what impact the concept will have on the future of humanity or mankind. Well, you’re in luck! Below are 3 ways in which transhumanism can potentially change humanity in the future.
1. Augmented Bodies
In the coming years, we will witness the birth of several body augmentation capabilities that will make humans stronger, smarter, and more resilient than today. From the increased use of implants such as microchips for the brain and RFID chips insertable into humans, we will witness a wave of technology that advances human capabilities.
While these technological developments will be important, the most important type of development that will take place in the coming years that could potentially change the face of humanity is biological augmentation; this body augmentation will be enabled by advances in IVF technology and deeper insight into our genomes. The combination of these two things will help us select the most intelligent embryos and highly sophisticated CRISPR gene-editing technology that can potentially eliminate all diseases that are inherited.
With these body augmentation capabilities, humans will become stronger, more intelligent, and increasingly resilient. Additionally, it will be possible to monitor and analyze the human body in the same way we monitor and analyze connected machines today. Imagine the impact this will have on the job market and how athletes are selected to participate in the different sporting competitions.
2. Faster and More Transferrable Thought Processes
The likes of DARPA, Facebook, and Neuralink has initiated projects to development wearable as well as implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). With the development of these devices, the way in which humans communicate and interact with each other, as well as with connected devices, will be significantly altered. For instance, the BMI will allow you to full emotional and sensory holiday experience with your family and friends.
3. Increased Human Productivity Due to Gamification and Behavioral Science
A combination of AI, gamification, and behavioral science is already being harnessed by some innovative companies today. The first name that comes to mind here is Uber, the ridesharing services with operations in over 750 cities worldwide.
The behavioral science techniques of the ridesharing company include lining up the next ride as the default option without revealing how much would be made of that ride but still giving drivers an incentive of ‘going beyond’ their target to trigger the release of dopamine.
On the other hand, the gamification techniques employed by Uber include a graphical interface that gives the entire traveling experience a video game-like quality. It also prompts goals that are always a little bit out of reach; the purpose of this is to encourage continued pursuit.
In addition to the above, some of the other ways in which transhumanism will impact the future of mankind are by making humans more empathetic, enabling extreme customization and personalization, and significantly shifting business practices. Keep following us to stay updated with all the latest developments in the field of transhumanism.
[1]https://whatistranshumanism.org/
by Bobby J Davidson
We love our company and we love what we do. Check out the ‘Why Percento‘ page to learn more: Love of Technology and Business! As the President of Percento Technologies International, I provide day-to-day leadership to the company’s senior management and I am personally involved in the strategy, business development and sales activities of the firm.
The company was founded in 1999 with the purpose of providing a one call source for organizations in need of Enterprise IT Consulting and Management. We also provide a line of products in the boutique Cloud Server space with a touch of high-end website strategy consulting and design services. We personalizes the IT Service experience with a team approach, working with clients from diverse sectors of industry, including energy services, financial, legal, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, retail and general and/or corporate business. percentotech.com/contact