Here Come the Morlocks!
Take this story with a huge grain of salt: Apparently a professor has warned that due to transhumanist-like modifications and eugenic mating decisions (my words), the human race will split into two branches, one beautiful, intelligent, and lithe, the other ugly, short, and brutish. From the story in the not-always so-journalistic Daily Mail:
The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist.
100,000 years into the future, sexual selection could mean that two distinct breeds of human will have developed.
The alarming prediction comes from evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry from the London School of Economics, who says that the human race will have reached its physical peak by the year 3000. These humans will be between 6ft and 7ft tall and they will live up to 120 years.
"Physical features will be driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility that men and women have evolved to look for in potential mates," says the report, which suggests that advances in cosmetic surgery and other body modifying techniques will effectively homogenise our appearance.
He goes on to describe more personal parts of men and women that you can read in the story if you are interested.
He's right that transhumanism would probably result in stultifying sameness rather than the wild differences for which most adherents yearn. But H.G. Wells warned about this a long time ago in his book The Time Machine--one of my favorite movies as a youngster. Hey, do you think the Morlocks were the inspiration for Tolkien's orcs? As I recall the novel, they were made via genetically altering elfs, right?
Besides, if we are going to seize control over our own evolution, shouldn't we be making ourselves more diminutive rather than taller? Think of the environment people! Shorter people means fewer resource raping of the planet and cooler temperatures!
Labels: Transhumanism Fantasies
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 5:49 AM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
Wesley, general uniformity and general degradation of humans are only two of many possible futures. No Transhumanist with which I am acquainted is in favor of either. To the contrary, many of us acknowledge such possibilities as real risks to be mitigated. In my estimation, this is more admirable than simply hoping that such futures are not possible.
Where you and I differ on this matter, it seems, is in our beliefs on how to go about mitigating the risks. As I understand you, you believe we can best mitigate the risks by attempting to avoid the technologies that would make them possible. I believe we can best mitigate the risks by attempting to direct use of the technologies toward enabling better worlds, and by attempting to use them to secure against worse worlds. I disagree with what I understand your approach to be for two reasons: (1) I think it impossible to prevent the acquisition and use of these technologies; and (2) I think it immoral to work against the acquisition and use of these technologies to reduce suffering and extend capabilities (to the extent the capabilities are not used oppressively).
As I look at my life, I sometimes feel a tension between the kind of person I am and the kind I would like to be. I often enjoy the present, and I often look to the future with hope. I value both. I remember feeling similarly when I was a child, both happy that I did not have the responsibilities of adults and sometimes wishing for the opportunities of adults. I am a Transhumanist for the same reasons I once embraced the signs that I was becoming an adult. I am trying to recognize both the responsibilities and the opportunities, even while aware that some neohumans (like some adults) will be increasingly empowered for evil.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/17/nfuture17.xml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6057734.stm
So this is published elsewhere...
Does this guy have any evidence that this will happen.
Slightly off-topic, though Wesley did bring it up:
As a Tolkien geek from way back, I'd have to say that his notion of the orcs being made by altering elves stems from his rather Catholic philosophy that evil cannot create, but only warp that which already exists. The unstated premise here is that creation is good, and messing around with it is bad. You can see something of a concomitant anti-technological strain in his work as well, what with the industrial horrors that Saruman visits on the Shire at the end of the book. Regardless of whether you think he's something of a Luddite, I think we can take to heart his notion that attempts to improve upon nature, while often founded on a genuine desire to do good, often lead to the exercise of power for its own sake. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," as Lord Acton put it.
HKR: It's little different than what Lee Silver wrote in Remaking Eden. Of course he is projecting out.
Gregory: Interesting about Tolkien. I think that in biotech there is a genuine desire to do good, and we do see some of that morphing into the exercise of power for its own sake. Science is devolving in too many instances into scientism.
Silver doesn't propose Remaking Eden; to me, eugenics is hell.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Wesley, do you want MORE ammunition against transhumanism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock
"BioShock takes place during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city[29] secretly built in 1946 on the mid-Atlantic seabed, entirely self-sufficient and powered by submarine volcanoes. Constructed by business magnate Andrew Ryan in response to what he saw as increasingly oppressive political and religious authority, Rapture was envisioned as the solution to that problem, and populated by those Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity; as revealed in an audio log, Ryan wanted to create "Eden", a concept furthered by the resources ADAM and EVE, which are named after the biblical inhabitants of Eden. During the early 1950s, Rapture's population peaked at several thousand, though ranks of elite emerged from the rest, discomforting many.[35]
The discovery of "ADAM," stem cells created from a species of sea slug, by Dr. Bridgette Tennenbaum further upset the social balance. ADAM's prevalence greatly accelerated genetic engineering research, creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to abilities like telekinesis, with non-passive types like the latter requiring a serum, "EVE." In order to improve ADAM yields, the "Little Sisters" were created, young girls with the slug embedded in their bodies. Although initially just ADAM "factories," during the war they were repurposed via mental conditioning to extract ADAM from the dead, and process it within themselves.[36] The "Big Daddies," armed and highly-enhanced humans in diving suits, were simultaneously created to defend the Little Sisters as they worked.[29]
For several years, Rapture was what Ryan originally intended it to be: a paradise of freedom and wealth. But ultimately, the very reason it was created—Ryan's paranoia of various world authorities—caused the city's downfall, and the ideals Ryan had envisaged were corrupted and lost. Strictly forbidding outside contact to keep Rapture a secret, a black market in smuggled goods arose, and former mobster Frank Fontaine came to dominate it. Unlike Ryan, Fontaine wanted more than wealth: he wanted control. And his wealth, combined with his monopoly on Tennenbaum's research, soon gained him enough power and followers to challenge Ryan for control of the city. In late 1958, Ryan lost patience with the conflict, and apparently had Fontaine killed—an action that proved useless. Another figure, Atlas, took Fontaine's place as the leader of his opposition. On New Year's Eve that same year, Atlas and his ADAM-augmented followers started a riot between the lower and upper classes.[37] This sparked a civil war between Ryan and Atlas that eventually spread to all of Rapture, crippling the city. As the war progressed, Ryan began to betray his ideals. The advocate of reason and self-determination began using torture and mind control in his battle with Atlas. Eventually, he became so unreasonable that a number of his supporters began attempting to assassinate him. By the time the player enters Rapture, only the "Splicers," citizens with severe mental and physical problems caused by excessive ADAM use, are left, forever scavenging throughout the city. The remaining non-mutated humans have managed to barricade themselves in the few remaining undamaged areas.[38]"
Tell me if that doesn't represent libertarian transhumanism?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home