Ted's Timely Take’s Post

Transcript

Oke. My task is to ask the first question. Is transhumanism a new religious movement? And then after I answer that, then I've got a couple more issues to raise. What might theological issues be and what might ethical issues be? So one of the reasons why I'm starting this morning is I want to provide some of the ABC's of transhumanism and then think about a theological response. I. Have interest for two reasons. One, I grew up in a technological home. My dad was an automotive engineer and my mother used to always say I like new things. And so every year we all were always trying to anticipate what General Motors would bringing be bringing out of the new design. And so that's a part of my background. And then there was a futurist for a while. Really concerned about climate change and all of those kinds of things back in the 1970s. And then Ronald Reagan got elected, took away our future. And so now I'm a recovering futurist. But what's nice about the transhumanist is that they bring the future back again. Well, just to summarize the items in the transhumanist portfolio I'd like to look at, and that is the future orientation based upon the concept of. Evolution. The convergence of biology, especially genetics, with nanotechnology and related technologies. Human enhancement, with special attention given to human intelligence. The overcoming of death There are at least two different types of overcoming death within the transhumanist portfolio. The anticipation of the Singularity. Are you going to plot? OK, good. Alright. And then finally the posthuman species and how we might think about that. So that's where we're going and that's where I'll take you in the next few minutes. As Hank mentioned, I come from Berkeley and I love Berkeley. I love the interdisciplinarity, the fact that we've got more scientists at the University of California than Orange County. Has oranges. It's wonderful. Have an interdenominational setting and interreligious setting. For me, it's a great place to think about religious and theological matters. And we have a research group called the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences, and you can see on our journal. The Golden Gate Bridge not yet completed. We would like to see a bridge between science and religion in which the traffic goes both ways. My framework for today is to think in terms of this triangle of religion. Science and culture. It's not just religion and science, but it's the cultural framework. And as theology, as the intellectual reflection upon religious matters specifically, I want to deal with the mind mindset of the transhumanist amongst us within the framework. Of our larger culture and our cultural dispositions. So let's start now and take a look at the transhumanist agenda and some of the key concerns. And it is future oriented. And the approach to the future is aid to recognize the long story of evolution and then B. For the current generation to take control of our evolutionary future. You don't have to read everything I've put up here, but I want to take a look at this key paragraph from the World Transhumanist Association and draw out its implications. Humanity will be radically changed by technology in the future now. Pause for a minute about that. If Nick Bostrom, transhumanist voice were here, he would say one of the problems with common sense and with traditional religion as we think that human nature is fixed. But it's not. Human nature or the human condition could be very different in the future and the way we're gonna make it different. Is through technology. I have to think about that. Technology really does change things, there's no doubt about that. Does technology change the fundamental human condition or not? That's that's an important question that we need to pose. We know what the transhumanist answer is. The question is, is it realistic or not? We foresee the feasibility of redesigning the human condition, including such parameters as the inevitability of aging. Limitations on human and artificial intellects. Unchosen psychology if you don't like. Negative emotions, Wouldn't it be nice to take a pill so you didn't have to experience them? Suffering and our confinement to the planet Earth, could we or our descendants fill space with our consciousness? Now. My question remember is. Transhumanism and new religious movement or not? And there are some transhumanist voices we want to say. We've got the Cadillac of intellectual ideologies. It's the full, full thing. And some will call it Simon Young calls it a totalized philosophical system with three basic divisions first. At the metaphysical cosmological level, the world is quote. A process of evolutionary complexification toward ever more complex structures, forms, and operations. So this is a metaphysical commitment. What is reality? The answer is, reality is evolution. Evolution is progressive. It has a direction. It goes from the simple to the complex. And although you don't see it in this statement, what is considered the most complex of all is intelligence. Alright, reality is fundamentally evolutionary in character and its future is aimed at intelligence, OK? At the psychological level, you're in my individual level, we human beings. Are imbued with an innate will to evolve. Any philosopher, anything a little gem has got to have an anthropology. What is the essence of making a human a human? The transhumanist answer is the will to evolve. So you got up this morning and you went for your first cup of coffee. Did you think about your will to evolve? That's that's question well. Transhumanists would say, whether you think about it or not, it's there and it is operative. But note the. Intrinsic connection The cosmos has a will to evolve. You and I have a will to evolve. Then move to ethics. What are the ethical or social implications of the cosmological and psychological commitments? We should seek to foster our innate will to evolve, All right. If that's our nature, we have a will to evolve. Then we have a moral responsibility to do so. How? By continually striving to expand our abilities throughout life. By acting in harmony with the essential nature of the evolutionary process. No two things going on here. One, this is a naturalistic ethic. A naturalistic ethic starts with a description of what's going on in nature and moves to a prescription of what we ought to do. And in this case, nature is defined as evolution, ergo. You and I have a moral responsibility to increase evolution. Simon Young is right. This is a totalized metaphysical. Anthropological and ethical system. I want to say a few things about the work of Ted Chu. I've got a lot of print up there. Byron Ballistas, who will be speaking later, introduced me to Ted. He's got this new, new book and I don't want.