I hope this is of interest… It's a little bit more nerdy than the stuff BME normally covers, but I really feel strongly that transhumanism and body modification are parallel journeys that face many of the same issues. Here is the first part of my Transvision 2004 coverage. Part two (a few days from now) is a long video interview with Stelarc.
PART ONE: A RAMBLING OVERVIEW OF TV2004
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“Transhumanism is a way of thinking about the future that is based on the premise that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development but rather a comparatively early phase.” - Prof. Nick Bostrom
Oxford University
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Transhumanism, at its simplest, is a way of thinking and being that embraces the idea that our experience as homo sapiens is just one small step in an ongoing evolution, and that we should take an active rather than passive role in “making ourselves better”. Transhumanists are a mix of philosophers, futurists, sci-fi buffs, and bona fide scientists advocating ideas such as uploading (the transfer of consciousness into computers), genetic enhancement, immortality, machine-human integration, and nanotechnology. Body modification culture lies on a related path and represents a real-world application of breaking the biological mold and transforming ourselves into something we perceive as “better” than what nature gave us.(more)
Anyway, I hope some of you enjoy this. I've only touched on the surface of what people were talking about, so if the general theme inspires you, do check out the links — whenever possible I've put in links to more information so you can explore transhumanism.
(Original forum unavailable, sorry)*
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