Transhumanism

[TLK Valentine]

Hi Crystal,

I'm a member of the Christian Transhumanist Association, so obviously, I think they go together great.

Science and technology are expressions of what it means to be made in the image of God, and God calls us to use them for his purposes—like in Noah's Ark, or the historic Christian efforts to advance medical care.

Happy to talk more.

Christian Transhumanist Association

Thanks for the link!

 

[AV1611VET]

Transhumanism is defined as "the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations,

So is Ambulocetus natans a joke too.

 

[FireDragon76]

Russian Cosmism was influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy to a degree, and Cosmism was at times interested in something like transhumanism. Especially the conquest of mortality through science. But other than that, I think the tendency is for Christians to view transhumanism with caution, recognizing the tendency of human beings to abuse technology and to have spiritual and moral shortsightedness and imperfection.

 

[AV1611VET]

Russian Cosmism was influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy to a degree, and Cosmism was at times interested in something like transhumanism. Especially the conquest of mortality through science. But other than that, I think the tendency is for Christians to view transhumanism with caution, recognizing the tendency of human beings to abuse technology and to have spiritual and moral shortsightedness and imperfection.

Aren't they the ones who took a couple of guys and had them breathe pure oxygen for awhile to filter out the nitrogen in their blood so they wouldn't get nitrogen narcosis?

 

[Radrook]

'We' already does control the technology...and that's the problem.

Technology in the service of fallen human nature can wreak havoc as WWI and WWII compellingly proved. Just before WWI optimism about a new world order blessed by technological progress was a very popular idea. Then suddenly pandemonium broke loose with the aid od technology in the service of slaughter.

We learned how to fly so why not drop bombs on each other? We learned how to make machines take us places so why not take cannons to the battle field? Why not improve on the Gatling Gun to make it more efficient in mowing us down?

Then suddenly we discovered how to harness the power of the atom! So why not use it to incinerate each other? The flaw isn't in the technology, it's in the human heart.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Technology in the service of fallen human nature can wreak havoc as WWI and WWII compellingly proved. Just before WWI optimism about a new world order blessed by technological progress was a very popular idea. Then suddenly pandemonium broke loose with the aid od technology in the service of slaughter.

We learned how to fly so why not drop bombs on each other? We learned how to make machines take us places so why not take cannons to the battle field? Why not improve on the Gatling Gun to make it more efficient in mowing us down?

Then suddenly we discovered how to harness the power of the atom! So why not use it to incinerate each other? The flaw isn't in the technology, it's in the human heart.

So blame the human heart, not technology. More importantly -- do something about it.

The fact remains that we're going to continue to invent things and develop technologies which can either be used to uplift the human condition or commit atrocities against it. What we need is the wisdom and moral guidance to use it for good, resist the temptation to misuse it, and lead by example.

 

[Radrook]

That's how we are all going to look in several hundred years.

 

[TLK Valentine]

That's how we are all going to look in several hundred years.

Hopefully sooner -- I can think of a lot of people looking forward to it.... such as Taylor Morris, a US Navy Veteran.

 

[Radrook]

So blame the human heart, not technology. More importantly -- do something about it.

The fact remains that we're going to continue to invent things and develop technologies which can either be used to uplift the human condition or commit atrocities against it. What we need is the wisdom and moral guidance to use it for good, resist the temptation to misuse it, and lead by example.

Blaming technology is like blaming the human hand because we use it to murder, steal, or injure unjustly. Tools are morally neutral. A rifle can be used to hunt for food. But it can also be used to murder. QA knife to chop mea and vegetable for supper but in the hands of a murderer it be comes a tool for sin. They can be used to read the Word of God but it can also be employed o ogle at pornography or to lust from another man's wife as David did for Bathsheba.

Nuclear power could have been restricted to production of electricity but was employed to incinerate fellow humans.

All because the human heart if flawed.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more treacherous than anything else, and is desperate who can know it.

Genesis 6:5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Matthew 15:19
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Blaming technology is like blaming the human hand because we use it to murder, steal, or injure unjustly. Tools are morally neutral. A rifle can be used to hunt for food. But it can also be used to murder. QA knife to chop mea and vegetable for supper but in the hands of a murderer it be comes a tool for sin. They can be used to read the Word of God but it can also be employed o ogle at pornography or to lust from another man's wife as David did for Bathsheba.

Nuclear power could have been restricted to production of electricity but was employed to incinerate fellow humans.

All because the human heart if flawed.

Yep, the heart is flawed. We can cry about it, or we can deal with it.

 

[Radrook]

Yep, the heart is flawed. We can cry about it, or we can deal with it.

The problem, is that we are forced to deal with it with flawed hearts. That is what causes failure and the constant regrets after effort after effort fails to fix society. So as long as the heart is flawed we are destined to both deal with it and to cry over it.

 

[TLK Valentine]

The problem, is that we are forced to deal with it with flawed hearts. That is what causes failure and the constant regrets after effort after effort fails to fix society. So as long as the heart is flawed we are destined to both deal with it and to cry over it.

Seems like a pretty even split to me, though -- some are doing something about it, others are wringing their hands form the sidelines.

 

[Ophiolite]

It goes waaay beyond programming...things turn for the worse...it's just how things go with technology in general (armament races etc.). So, it's clear that I cannot say I am an optimist on this one, I'm afraid.

Do you feel in any way hypocritical in using technology developed through hot and cold war endeavours? If not, why not?

 

[just a believing guy]

Spiritually, yes -- physically, he was just as frail and vulnerable as the rest of us. That's what it means to be fully human as well as fully divine.




Obviously technology and bionics can only lead to physical improvements -- spiritually and morally, we'd be the same as we ever were. This is true of any new invention or technology.



And I agree there is no such thing as perfect... which means there's always room for improvement. So why not try?

I wouldn't say that he was physically as frail and vulnerable as the rest of us ... remember His 40 days in the desert?

Technology is precariously dangerous. I believe that humans evolve, i.e. adapt to the environment in a human way (not the way animals do), so there is no need for bionics; I feel exhilarated when I learn about another person which paints or plays the piano with his or hers toes or teeth... and is happy because of his or hers accomplishments.

Why not try? It is time we tried to adapt to the world spiritually, and not technologically. Just look at Japan. Get my meaning?

 

[just a believing guy]

Do you feel in any way hypocritical in using technology developed through hot and cold war endeavours? If not, why not?

No, that technology was created to create fear, at least.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I wouldn't say that he was physically as frail and vulnerable as the rest of us ... remember His 40 days in the desert?

Remember his hunger, his thirst, his exhaustion, his pain, his death? As human as it gets.

Let's also remember that in Hebrew writing or speech, "40" is more often used as a figure of speech, the same way we would say "a thousand" or "a million": I've told you a million times...

So the point is that we don't know exactly how long Jesus was out in the desert, but it was a while.

Considering that less than a week in the desert without water will kill you, We have to assume that Jesus, being fully human, either came prepared or didn't stay out as long as commonly believed.

Technology is precariously dangerous. I believe that humans evolve, i.e. adapt to the environment in a human way (not the way animals do), so there is no need for bionics; I feel exhilarated when I learn about another person which paints or plays the piano with his or hers toes or teeth... and is happy because of his or hers accomplishments.

I'm still thinking of the soldier who loses both his arms and legs to an IED... given the choice between bionics and learning to play piano with his toes...

Why not try? It is time we tried to adapt to the world spiritually, and not technologically. Just look at Japan. Get my meaning?

Why not do both? I'm looking at Japan. It's always been a deeply spiritual society, blending native Shintoism, Chinese Taoism, and the Zen school of Buddhism, among other things... and they're not afraid of technology.

 

[just a believing guy]

No, that technology was created to create fear, at least.

To say that there is something paradoxical about all this matter would be putting it mildly. But, let us put it clearly: ''God does in mysterious ways.''

 

[CrystalDragon]

Hi Crystal,

I'm a member of the Christian Transhumanist Association, so obviously, I think they go together great.

Science and technology are expressions of what it means to be made in the image of God, and God calls us to use them for his purposes—like in Noah's Ark, or the historic Christian efforts to advance medical care.

Happy to talk more.

Christian Transhumanist Association

Forgot to respond to this, thanks so much for the link!

 

[just a believing guy]

Remember his hunger, his thirst, his exhaustion, his pain, his death? As human as it gets.

Remember his hunger, his thirst, his exhaustion, his pain, his death? As human as it gets.

Let's also remember that in Hebrew writing or speech, "40" is more often used as a figure of speech, the same way we would say "a thousand" or "a million": I've told you a million times...

So the point is that we don't know exactly how long Jesus was out in the desert, but it was a while.

Considering that less than a week in the desert without water will kill you, We have to assume that Jesus, being fully human, either came prepared or didn't stay out as long as commonly believed.



I'm still thinking of the soldier who loses both his arms and legs to an IED... given the choice between bionics and learning to play piano with his toes...



Why not do both? I'm looking at Japan. It's always been a deeply spiritual society, blending native Shintoism, Chinese Taoism, and the Zen school of Buddhism, among other things... and they're not afraid of technology.

Let's also remember that in Hebrew writing or speech, "40" is more often used as a figure of speech, the same way we would say "a thousand" or "a million": I've told you a million times...

So the point is that we don't know exactly how long Jesus was out in the desert, but it was a while.

Considering that less than a week in the desert without water will kill you, We have to assume that Jesus, being fully human, either came prepared or didn't stay out as long as commonly believed.



I'm still thinking of the soldier who loses both his arms and legs to an IED... given the choice between bionics and learning to play piano with his toes...



Why not do both? I'm looking at Japan. It's always been a deeply spiritual society, blending native Shintoism, Chinese Taoism, and the Zen school of Buddhism, among other things... and they're not afraid of technology.

 

[just a believing guy]

Remember his hunger, his thirst, his exhaustion, his pain, his death? As human as it gets.


Let's also remember that in Hebrew writing or speech, "40" is more often used as a figure of speech, the same way we would say "a thousand" or "a million": I've told you a million times...



So the point is that we don't know exactly how long Jesus was out in the desert, but it was a while.

Considering that less than a week in the desert without water will kill you, We have to assume that Jesus, being fully human, either came prepared or didn't stay out as long as commonly believed.



I'm still thinking of the soldier who loses both his arms and legs to an IED... given the choice between bionics and learning to play piano with his toes...



Why not do both? I'm looking at Japan. It's always been a deeply spiritual society, blending native Shintoism, Chinese Taoism, and the Zen school of Buddhism, among other things... and they're not afraid of technology.

He was always larger than life. That is His portrayal in the Bible. And, angels were tending to Him in the desert, remember? Do you know of any other biblical or not person to be given such an 'honor'?

Yet, it doesn't mean that ''40'' doesn't mean ''40'' ... logically, '40 days' seem more probable than 'a million days'.

As for Japan, a portion of its population believes that everything has a soul (I believe the Shintoists believe so). Ever been to down-town Tokio? Thinking of becoming a Shintoist?