Transhumanism and it's Presence in Civilization

Transhumanism is a philosophical movement, the proponents of which advocate the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies. These enhancements would be able to vastly improve various things such as longevity, mood and cognitive abilities. Most interpretations of transhumanism in the media seem to have a negative take on the philosophy, with themes like the loss of what makes us human or furthering the oppression of the lower class. While these beliefs aren’t completely unwarranted, transhumanism has always been a part of our society, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Humans have always been using technology to make our lives better. As cavemen, humans made numerous inventions to improve our lives, such as weapons to hunt larger game and Mesopotians inventing the wheel as a means of transport. While these aren’t examples of transhumanism, as it isn’t enhancing the human body itself, these technologies paved the way for future generations.

Prior to the 13th century, if a person damaged their retinas in some way, they would have to live with this disability for the rest of their life. However, eventually due to the evolution of technology, glasses were invented around this time period in order to help deal with this disability. This is a piece of technology that improves upon a human condition and helps overcome limitations. While glasses nowadays are seen as a common occurrence, at the time this was something that was thought impossible, and a prime example of transhumanism. While the most common interpretations of transhumanism, such as Gattaca, Robocop, and Altered Carbon usually depict a futuristic world where society has progressed to the point that with synthetic bodies that allows humans to remove any flaws. Is that really any different than modern humans using devices such as hearing aids and glasses to overcome their flaws?

Even though most of this essay has been defending transhumanism, it isn’t without problems. One of the main counterpoints to the philosophy of transhumanism is how humans will lose their “humanity”. This point doesn’t have any real basis, and seems to be rooted in fear of progression more than anything, but there is also no proof against it. Another point is how in the wrong hands, technologies that allow humans to surpass their limitations could be kept from the general public and only given to the rich. A modern example would be how insulin was a medicine developed to help people with diabetes surpass that limitation, but the fact it’s price is so expensive keeps it out of the hands of people without the same amount of wealth.

The humans of today are capable of feats that humans of one hundred years ago could not even fathom. In a way, the humans of today have already surpassed human limitations, and each day continue to surpass more. Seeing how civilization has progressed so far, transhumanism seems more like an inevitable truth than it does a philosophy.