Philosophy and Society
Here’s Why Transhumanism Has Nothing to Do with Sexuality.
It is a philosophical movement to take humanity above and beyond existing capabilities.
Context
I answered some hard questions about transhumanism asked by Alejandro Betancourt yesterday in an article. I am pleased it created some interest. To this end, a discerning reader got astonished by the concept, so he searched the platform to learn more. Interestingly, he found a confusing piece of content about transhumanism. He sent me what he found to confirm whether the content relates to my transhumanism leadership on this platform.
The link he provided was titled “Did you know that there’s a blog on Medium based on “transhumanism leadership?” Ironically, the link displayed that the author blocked me from seeing her content. I requested the reader to send me content if possible. He gratefully did. It was a short-form story referring to the previous name of my publication which was Transhumanism Leadership.
Here is the bizarre content that the reader sent to me in summary:
“What the ever-lovin’ F is that? Transhumanism leadership. Is that a leader who’s only partly human? Does it relate to sexuality? Is it the manifestation of the most extreme narcissist to ever pollute this platform? This particular individual is our very own Norm Crosby. Too bad Mr. Transhumanism Leadership doesn’t have his class or his style. He is, however, an ass-clown.”
Of course, I don’t know the intention of the author in writing this condemnation of my publication and personality. I assume that she does not understand what transhumanism is, and she is itching to learn more about it by projecting her psychological state. It is a fair postulation right now.
However, I wonder why a writer writes about another writer and blocks him by hiding public content. It is not a big deal for me as I embrace both positive and negative criticism respecting people’s intellectual aspirations. I shared the value and innovative use of negative criticism in this article.
So, I decided to answer the questions to clarify my vision, goals, and objectives for my audience interested in transhumanism. However, of course, my readers and I already know that I am not an “ass-clown”, so rest assured, no insult is taken. No one has ever used the term to describe me and my content, and I didn’t even know the meaning of the word “ass-clown.”
Some of you cannot find Transhumanism Leadership publications on this platform anymore because I changed the name to Euphoria. I had a few reasons for this decision.
Firstly, transhumanism is a philosophical idea reflecting various communities’ thoughts, of which some aspects resonate with me and some do not. However, euphoria is a mental, emotional, and spiritual state that I use to improve the quality of my life. Therefore, I see transhumanism as a theoretical idea to spark euphoria in humanity by investing in their mental health.
I want my content to inform my readers and inspire them to manifest and taste euphoria. Therefore, I share my research, lifestyle ideas, and perspectives in my articles so that we all can experience exhilaration using our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical capabilities.
Another reason I changed the name of the publication is that transhumanism confuses people who don’t understand its real meaning. Some associate the prefix “trans” with sexuality, particularly “transsexual” or “transgender.”
However, as far as I know, transhumanism has nothing to do directly with sexuality or gender, even though it might include transgender in the philosophy from a developmental standpoint. Furthermore, I haven’t seen any reference to the term “transsexual” or “transgender” in the content I have consumed related to transhumanism philosophy.
Exploring the Real Meaning of Transhumanism
Trans is a prefix meaning across. For example, transform (to move from one form across to another), transfer (to carry across), transparent (light going across), and transatlantic (crossing the ocean). There are many such words in English.
Oxford dictionary defines transhumanism as “the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology.” Merriam-Webster defines it as transcending human limits and uses the term superhuman as a substitute. Transcend means “to rise above and go beyond the limits” or “to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects in life”.
Britannica offers a broader definition of transhumanism, “a social and philosophical movement devoted to promoting the research and development of robust human-enhancement technologies. Such technologies would augment or increase human sensory reception, emotive ability, or cognitive capacity and radically improve human health and extend human life spans. Such modifications resulting from the addition of biological or physical technologies would be more or less permanent and integrated into the human body.”
The keywords in Britannica's definition are improving and enhancing “human sensory reception,” “emotive ability,” or “cognitive capacity,” “human health,” and “ human life spans.” There is no mention of sexuality. However, human health, of course, covers sexuality.
Transhumanism is perceived as evil and unethical by those who don’t understand the real meaning. However, what is malicious about enhancing our sensory reception, emotive ability, cognitive capacity, health, and life spans? Aren’t these legitimate and ethical human desires?
More importantly, transhumanism research also focuses on protecting humanity against existential risks that could damage human well-being on a global scale, such as nuclear wars and asteroid collisions.
In my opinion, transhumanism is a pathway of humanism leveraging the power of technology and science. Humanity evolved using technology from primitive days. For example, fire, the wheel, the printing press, electricity, the phone, and the Internet are all examples of technology that helped humanity evolve. These technological constructs help us cross geographical boundaries and connect us better with others.
Technology and science have been contributing to the improvement of our health and longevity. Thus, transhumanism has been happening for a long time, even though the concept has recently become pervasive in philosophy communities. We transcended our limits by flying from one country to another, cooking our meals for better digestion, and talking with people across the globe.
The term superhuman frightens people as they associate it with cyborgs. Superhuman is not necessarily a biologically changed form of a human but an evolved human condition from a capability perspective. For example, people in this century live longer than people in the previous century — a few hundred years ago, average adults didn’t live to see their 40th birthday. Moreover, our mental abilities significantly improved. We invented more tools to increase our quality of life. If we compared a person a thousand years ago and the 21st century, we can realize superiority from a cognitive perspective.
According to Britannica, “the term transhumanism was coined by the English biologist and philosopher Julian Huxley in his 1957 essay of the same name. Huxley referred to improving the human condition through social and cultural change, but the essay and the name have been adopted as seminal by the transhumanist movement, which emphasizes material technology. Huxley held that, although humanity had naturally evolved, it was now possible for social institutions to supplant evolution in refining and improving the species.”
Even though Huxley coined the term, no one owns transhumanism. It is not a proprietary asset. Transhumanist communities interpret the philosophy based on their point of view. Accordingly, my point is no one can stop society from redefining the original concept that suits our needs best. Mind you, transhumanism is not a technology and science. It is a philosophy similar to modernism, empiricism, existentialism, positivism, objectivism, or stoicism.
Conclusions and Takeaways
The transhumanism crusade has already been happening as we evolve with the contribution of science and technology. This philosophy is part of our lives, but some of us are not aware of the umbrella term transhumanism about going above and beyond. Therefore, I create awareness and add clarity to the perspectives of the movement within my capacity and capability.
I am optimistic that technology and science will bring more capabilities to humanity if we leverage them ethically and lawfully. Ethics and law can play a critical role in leveraging transhumanistic ideas for our progression.
As I mentioned in my previous article, wouldn’t it be great to give vision to a blind person, hearing to a deaf person, functioning limbs to disabled patients, and cure deadly diseases like cancer and heart attack? Wouldn’t it be great to reduce the number of accidents and prevent dying from them? What are ethical concerns about extending the capabilities of disabled people and underdeveloped conditions? We all desire quality and joyful lives.
My unique contribution to the transhumanism philosophy is adding spirituality to the equation. Our spiritual experiences donate to the development of science and technology and help us leverage transhumanism value proposition meaningfully in our lives. Besides, spiritually mature people are more connective, collaborative, empathic, and compassionate in my observations.
Thank you for reading my perspectives.
Here are the links in case you missed these recent stories:
5 Practical Tips to Remain Calm & Composed in Challenging Times
How Misuse of Technology Damages Our Physical and Mental Health
What I Learned About Cognitive Flexibility & Emotional Intelligence
Can Digisexuality Be Part of the Rainbow of Human Sexual & Emotional Experience?
Artificial Intelligence Does Not Concern Me, but Artificial Super-Intelligence Frightens Me
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I also write about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
About the Author
I am a technologist, postdoctoral researcher, author of several books, editor, and digital marketing strategist with four decades of industry experience.
I write articles on Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal Media. On Medium, I established ILLUMINATION, ILLUMINATION-Curated, ILLUMINATION’ S MIRROR, ILLUMINATION Book Chapters, Technology Hits, SYNERGY, and Readers Hope publications supporting 15,500 writers on Medium. You can join my publications requesting access here. You may subscribe to my account to be notified when I post on Medium. I share my health and well-being stories in my publication, Euphoria.
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