Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
boosterism, have inspired a number of small but highly visible organi-
zations that demand the rapid augmentation of humans and/or their
replacement by superior, well-fabricated beings. Several international
organizations of this stripe are affiliates of the World Transhumanist
Association, whose statement of purpose explains, “Humanity will be
radically changed by technology in the future. We foresee the feasibility
of redesigning the human condition, including such parameters as the
inevitability of ageing, limitations on human and artificial intellects,
unchosen psychology, suffering, and our confinement to the planet
Earth.”
17
The association's electronic, peer-reviewed
Journal of Tran-
shumanism
includes articles by leading figures in transhumanist research,
including Moravec.
For the time being, the posthumanist, transhumanist movement is
fairly small—a few hundred to a few thousand internationally at most—
comprised of colorful, publicity-seeking artists and visionaries and their
followers who have had good luck winning the attention of journalists
and radio talk show hosts. In Marina del Mar, California, the Extropy
Institute, headed by Max More and Natasha Vita-More, regularly organ-
izes conferences and workshops to promote the Extropian vision. “We're
at the early transhuman stage now,” Vita-More told a reporter for
L. A.
Weekly
. “Then we'll get to the mid-transhuman stage, where we start
shedding more and more of our biology, start interfacing more and more
with machines, prosthetics, implants, and transplants. It's a process, and
it's becoming more rapid all the time.”
18
Perhaps an extreme reflection of the California desire to remain forever
young in the sun, the Extropians are obsessed with the quest for per-
petual beauty, longevity, and the avoidance of death. As Max More
observes, “I think people will look back on the twentieth century and
think, 'Why didn't more people see that there was a possibility now of
actually doing something about aging and death, and why didn't people
do something.”
19
His wife is even more explicit about the elements of
transhumanism that derive from upper-middle-class consumerism and
hedonism. “I love fashion,” Vita-More asserts. “Our bodies will be the
next fashion statement; we will design them in all sorts of interesting
combinations of texture, colors, tones, and luminosity.”
20
The Mores draw inspiration from an earlier prophet of transhuman-
ism, F. M. Esfandiary, renamed FM-2030 to highlight his belief that
