Transhumanism or "Borg?, Where do i Sign Up"

[KirkPiard88]

Ive been looking around online about new technology, like Nanotech & genetic engineering. And while i was at it. I came across the small far out movement call Transhumanism. They believe one day we will hook people up computer and join a hive mind or singularity (aka Borg). They believe we should us these tech to become smarter and stronger (augments or khan). Plus the Transhumanist think only good thing can come these technologies. But who is to say that a "Eugenics War" or a "Wrath of Khan" scenario isnt possible. One of the best line on the matter in Trek is "superior ability breeds superior ambition". Personally i believe its true. Thought history people with unlimited power have always abused it. Alot of these transhumanist believe that if you where clothing or having laptop that your already transhuman. Sorry what there talking about is changing what it is to be a human being. I could only imagine if these technology where every realised that they would be heavily regulated. Its one thing to use medicine to cure disease. Its another want to be selfish and try to play god or screwing mother nature. Which ever you perfer. I think its outlaw in Trek is because of the socially havoc it would cause. I just wondering am i the only one who think this is insane. Would you really want to give up your humanity to be apart of a hive mind or anyother of these insane ideas.

 

[Timo]

Trying to keep humans "unchanged" is probably a completely futile endeavor. We've changed a lot already thanks to inventions such as writing, printing press, telephone, television and now internet; implant-based telepathy is just another step along that route. We've also changed a lot thanks to the introduction of body-enhancing technologies such as the shovel, the horse carriage, the assault rifle and the Moon rocket; direct body modification will merely be another step along that route.

Really, I can't see technology having much of an effect on the hierarchy of humans, apart from what effect it is already having on that. People with body modifications that make them smarter, faster or stronger may get top positions in the society - but people with computers, cars and guns already get those anyway. Implanting the empowering technologies, or alternatively "explanting" the humanity into machinery, is just a minor technicality in that respect.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Myasishchev]

One of Trek's biggest flaws is its conservatism. I know that sounds like a funny description, since Trek also gave us a socialist world government, but it's true.

The bigotry against the genetically engineered is so against the ethos that in DS9 and Enterprise, and so over-the-top, it almost looked like they were going to satirize the notion. But no--in Enterprise's case, they must have felt that genetically engineered supervillains were much more interesting than any thoughtful science fiction. Then again, if my entire people had been butchered by a bunch of jealous, hateful humans, I'd probably become a supervillain too.

I'll give DS9 credit for at least having a genetically engineered fellow (well, sort of--the procedure as described isn't germline genetic engineering, at least) who wasn't a complete asshole. Indeed, in Bashir's and the mutants' case, I'd say superior ability bred superior pansiness, inasmuch as they wanted to surrender instead of fight a hopeless war ala Khan was apparently ready to do when he tried to take over the Enterprise and later took over the Reliant.

Maybe what bothers me most of all about the 23d and 24th century attitudes towards the Eugenics War is that there isn't any hint of apology. An entire subspecies of sapient life was obliterated--and even bringing them into existence was outlawed--and everyone blames it on the victims, as if by nature they were simply bound to do... what exactly is never really stated, but it was apparently quite awful.

 

[Timo]

What's wrong with that? Gangster families get slaughtered by the police every now and then, and it isn't as if they'd be deserving of our sympathy. And I doubt there'd be much outrage now if, say, the Soviets in 1945 had decided that every person of German descent should be executed by the year's end; we'd just think that they either were guilty, or didn't stop those who were. Genocide had been established as the norm, so it would be a matter of reaping what was sown.

The missing piece here is whether the likes of Khan sowed what they reaped. We know that "whole populations were being bombed out of existence". Did that refer to the Augment populations only? Or was that the norm of the day, perhaps the doing of the Augments, thus making them fair game for like treatment? It's difficult to tell which part of humanity Spock is describing with that statement; since he's arguing that Earth was "on the verge of dark ages", he may well be saying that even the good guys were genocidal. But that sort of suggests that the bad guys were worse...

The thing is, TOS was always a military show first and foremost. TNG certainly continued a military tradition, even if there were softening touches. Why would "conservative" thinking be out of place there?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[You_Guyz]

We've changed a lot already thanks to inventions such as writing, printing press, telephone, television and now internet; implant-based telepathy is just another step along that route.

Erm， no it isn't?

 

[Chaos Descending]

We've changed a lot already thanks to inventions such as writing, printing press, telephone, television and now internet; implant-based telepathy is just another step along that route.

Erm， no it isn't?

Well, gee, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[MikeS]

Seems like a logical next step in Human evolution to me.

 

[SilentP]

I don't know about being directly linked a la Borg style, but I'd be happy to try out some tech implants, if they needed a guinea pig.