Jotain jokaiselle

Mitä yhteistä on teknologian käyttöä kannattavalla transhumanismilla ja Henry David Thoreaun kannattamalla, yksinkertaisiin oloihin palaavalla transsendentalismilla? Sitä pohditaan tekstissä Transhumanism & The Modern Day Transcendentalists

Transhumanists understand that people are limited in society, and in their bodies; as long as people lack the means to provide for their needs themselves, they are dependent on whoever else can help them, and subsequently are not truly free, as they are vulnerable. Instead of harvesting the power of nature as Henry David Thoreau advocates, however, Transhumanists embrace the power of technology. They argue that every effort must be made to advance scientific progress until human beings, harvesting technology, are no longer reliant upon anybody else. Through technology, they gain ultimate freedom. Once this is achieved, transhumanists explain, society will no longer be necessary; and because of this, the scourges of war, crime, terror, pestilence, hunger, economic inequality, and social inequality, will disappear, as each "transhuman" is able to withdraw from society and rely on sufficiently advanced technology for ther individual needs. The individual is empowered with ultimate control over his or her life, and can focus on a life worth living.

Täysin erossa yhteiskunnasta en henkilökohtaisesti haluaisi elää, mutta pointtihan on tietysti se, että kaikilla halukkailla pitäisi olla mahdollisuus valita yhteiskunnasta erossa eläminen. Sen lisäksi, että ihmisistä tulisi yksilöinä vapaampia, se olisi myös koko ihmiskunnan selviämisen kannalta turvallisin vaihtoehto: vaikka yhteiskunta tuhoutuisi, jokainen ihminen voisi aloittaa uuden yhteiskunnan rakentamisen kotikonstein.


Ensimmäisenä kommenttina juttuun oli hyvä lainaus Greg Eganin kirjasta Distress.

" -- What's the most intellectually lazy way you can think of, to try to win an argument?"
"You're going to have to spell it out for me. I'm no good at riddles."
"You say that your opponent lacks humanity."