What does Veeky Forums think of Transhumanism?

I've never really read up much on transhumanism because I'm just sort of a pessimist agnostic, but I've heard about Kurzweil a lot. I thought he was younger, actually.

Giving a quick look at Nick Bostrom's wiki is interesting; I might look into some of his stuff.

This.
The private sector throws money at dumb shit all the time. Rich people with big egos are quite likely to get duped by a swindler talking big sciency words.
The only thing getting done in China is stuff like genetic editing on human embryos. Basic shit that the West can't do to the same degree because of the faggy religious masses.
It has nothing to do with transhumanism, really.

I don't think much of the moral objection comes from the religious, actually. At least, not socially. Perhaps politically. But socially a lot of "unethical" research gets slammed by liberals, who tend to be more agnostic/atheist than conservatives.

You're wrong, but also kind of right. One of the main reasons embryonic stem cell research is banned in the US is because a large part of the population LITERALLY believe that the soul enters the fetus at conception and that by harvest a small clump of cells you are actually committing "murder".
Liberals usually recognize that this is bullshit. The fact that they go ape-shit over GMOs is just as bad, but unrelated to this particular point.
In Europe it's much more even, that is both leftists and conservatives are scared of muh "unethical research".

Kurzweil seems to be stuck on repeat. Probably the least interesting thinker in the field simply because every speech he gives is the same.

It's amazing how dull he can make it all.

Ah, I suppose so. I can understand their objections when thinking about it from their point of view, even if I don't agree. I think it should be like abortion in that case, then, where stem cell research is legally protected but a cultural point of contention.

I'm not well read but I don't see the point of making humans "better" for its own sake. Things like improved senses and extreme longevity sound great to have but I doubt it will make people happier and if they don't what is the point?

>reduce depression
>increase happiness/improved mood

These are just as possible. Happiness is just a chemical reaction.

>pansexual
>priest
I thought priest were only allowed to fuck children

I don't think the unhappiness problem can be solved so artificially, even knowing feelings are manipulable just like that. Modern problems such as stress and overweight are best solved by changing one's mindset, not one's body. How far do you go before your aspirations are transhumanist anyway? I'm obviously not against antidepressants and painkillers when used properly, but chronic adminstration of happiness drugs sounds dystopian.
As you'll surely see I have little real knowledge so I'm happy to discuss this.

>I'm a pansexual priest with a math degree. The world ain't shit, but you can make it the shit.
This

Transhumanism can be very dangerous. Genetic modification is much safer and realistic.

t. Genetic Engineer

Kek
>t. Job Security.

Out of curiosity, how doe genetic engineering on mature specimens work? Is viral engineering a viable thing yet?

>worried
No. An a god bearing heathen like me understands that we need to evolve, why? That's the default (smarter/faster/xyz). My research in into the topics is an expression of my faith. All men* created can learn. As for an afterlife...idk, live forever at this age (23) sounds nice and our species can alter so much(diet/space/perceptions), why not even the reality of death?

Isn't cheating death sort of against the rules in Christianity, though? That whole original sin deal.

It'll never catch on because people are far too squeamish and afraid of invasive technology.

I dunno, that seems like it might be harder to get research guinea pigs, but people are typically fine with life-saving invasive surgeries.

What all does the private sector chuck cash at, anyway?

>Veeky Forums seems to be full of nihilists

No.

>Transhumanism

I always assumed Veeky Forums was a bunch of nihilists from the religous posts I see here getting shit. What would you say the majority of Veeky Forums is?

>Not being religious means you're a nihilist.

Nigga what?

Sorry, I probably just misused nihilist, then.

I meant that Veeky Forums tends to express atheist, possibly fatalist sort of beliefs? That there's not really much more to life than the odd fact that it happened, and that's all there is to it.

The board doesn't really seem to believe in any religion/afterlife/transhumanism and is okay with that. I mean, I don't expect them to considering those things can't be reliably proven.

There comes a point where in maths real numbers must always repeat.

There comes a point in physics when God himself must repeat.

The prime number.
The alpha. The omega.
The all.

Wat

>from the religous posts I see here getting shit

Creationists posts aren't religious, they're just trolls shit posting and the children that take them seriously are just as cancerous.

>I meant that Veeky Forums tends to express atheist, possibly fatalist sort of beliefs

No, that is reddit.

Ah, I guess I don't know Veeky Forums's religious/philosophical values, then. Please do enlighten me.

As far as transhumanism is concerned, I think I found another hurdle. The sorts of people most interested in it aren't very religious, for obvious reasons.

But that also leaves a lot of people that don't want to work on it unless they know for certain they can benefit from the technology. Certainly there are people who strive toward the goal regardless of their own ability to enjoy, but a lot of transhumanists don't want to know if it CAN be done or not, or even how far away we are from that supposed goal. They want to know it IS done and waiting on them, and they don't want to get involved in the actual research and development out of fear of learning it's too far away.

>You can make it the shit.

What did he mean by this?

I have treatment resistance depression so I may look into this

He sticks to his predictions, and his track record is decent.

Kurzweil is interesting because if his predictions are CORRECT most healthy individuals born around the turn of the millennium would effectively have a shot at being some of the first humans for which aging is not an issue.

But he isn't a politician, and his predictions assume a steady continuation in technological trends and a stable world political environment. I won't go /pol/ but neither of those things occur to be happening at the moment.

It's also interesting that his predictions, while occurring, are happening much further off than he predicted.

For example, a 20 PetaFLOP computer should cost $4,000 in 2019 according to his predictions. I'm going to assume this is in user retail cost.

But in 2017, getting 20 PetaFLOPS from AMD Vega gpu processors would cost $800,000.

Kurzweil seems to have some solid predictions but a timescale way too far off. There's just not enough money pumped into technological research to hit his goalposts.

I'm not a politician and can't argue for the validity of any fiscal plan, but Kurzweil may have been correct if the US spend, each year, the amount it spends on social security and unemployment (about 1 trillion dollars) on computational R&D.

What are some other individuals with claims like Kurzweil's?

but cs is for brainlets

why give so much money to brainlets to do brainlet things?

All of Kurzweil's predictions, from translators to immortality, depend on a consistent exponential advance in CS.

>All of Kurzweil's predictions, from translators to immortality, depend on a consistent exponential advance in CS.
So he's assuming constant growth rates and extrapolating years into the future, but trying to disguise it with mathematical jargon.

Yes.
At least, that's my understanding of it. We should have computational power at about one 200th the price it currently is now according to his own predictions.

To be fair, he said that should be the cost two years from now, but I can't think of any single paradigm shift technologically that has resulted in 200x cost efficiency in two years.

To clarify, this means either a 95% increase in efficiency of processing power or a 95% decrease in cost of production for that amount of processing power in 24-32 months to meet his next goalpost. And that's ignoring that we don't have true realtime translation (though you could argue current phone translating software is close enough, since true realtime translation isn't possible due to syntactic differences in language)

transhumanism is far from nihilism, its pure concentrated progress-worshipping futurism for people that dont like conventional religion

It seems like it's less effective than religion in that regard, though.

Hopefully it does you some good, user. I do, too, actually, but I'm hoping slowly making a few lifestyle changes and finding religion will help.

Idk, but I think of transgender-ism.

>Christianity
>
>Not even close

Am I wrong?

Bostrom iirc
I thought according to most Christians death is the original punishment for all sin? That's why you must repent and seek Christ for heaven afterwards?

Maybe that priest user can elaborate.

I identify as Transhuman
Veeky Forums should learn to respect our beliefs and check their privilege
Transhuman pride worldwide

Not on their faith. I'm not hip to their culture. Mine is of an open faith.
newfag

Not the guy you replied to, but an issue I've identified in transhumanistic advancements concerning direct alterations within the human brain. If technology were indeed able to easily manipulate the sensations felt by an individual, wouldn't vast amounts of people just resort to utilizing such operations for the sake of making themselves feel happy?
I am also hold the belief that true advancement of an individual comes with struggle and hardship. In my opinion, feeling pain is necessary for one to surpass themselves.
Assuming the above are true, would the greatness and creativity of humanity end with the mass-implementations of such technologies?
Personally, I feel that there ought to be some level of restriction regarding such a distribution of an administration of this type for the sake of preserving what makes humans unique, although if humanity is certain to advance it only seems inevitable that this will be the conclusion. Thoughts?

>true advancement of an individual comes with struggle and hardship.
And the serene calm thru it all.

ted.com/talks/jennifer_doudna_we_can_now_edit_our_dna_but_let_s_do_it_wisely

That's pretty interesting.

Are you the priest?

It's more in the order of biological necessity, we can't avoid that fate if we wish for the planet to still look like it does and maintain the biodiversity it has now.

If humanity goes full cyborg-tier, it'll reduce a lot of our current environmental issues anyway.

Because we wouldn't produce contamination fastest?

On what basis?

A lot of our current environmental destruction is currently for farming and housing.

Humans that don't need to eat no longer require farming at all, and people with no real need to establish their own personal home in which to store things like food don't need as large a housing arrangement.

It is a new age techno cult for brainlet faggots

>DUDE QUANTUMS LMAO
>DUDE BRAIN TRANSFER LMAO
>DUDE MUCH CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER TO A COMPUTER LMAO

They are fucking retards and I used to regularly go to the futurology subreddit and make fun of them for how fucking disconnected from actual science they were until I got banned for telling a mod he should ask his mother to medicate him for his delusions.

Hi Christian here.
Death in the literal sense is not the punishment for sin, but rather eternal damnation.

and to those who think they can escape this fate by downloading thei consciousness or any of that kind of shit know that there is a 50% chace that will only shorten your lifetime.

If transhumanist methods work, then you will not die physically, you will be living in hell on earth.

>That's why you must repent and seek Christ for heaven afterwards?
nope. "Christians" who say they accept Christ so that they can avoid hell are larpers. Having faith in Christ requires you to actively seek and want to be with Christ, and to walk with him everyday.
You will see a true christian when they exhibit the fruits of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Then you know the spirit is in them and that they walk with Christ.

If immortality or extended lifetime becomes a thing, and the fruit that it produces is good, then it is not objectionable to the christian faith. But if the fruit is rotten, prepare to lead yourself to your own destruction, as folly always does.

I'm fine with trans-humanism as long as the aspiration is not to become like God or better than him, then i know it is a movement of folly that will lead to annihilation. Know that all nations that act apart from God are doomed to fall, and every individual who rebels against God does not know him.
tl;dr - Christianity is not a death-cult like plebbit atheists will bullshit, and transhumanism may turn out to be hell on earth.

>Death in the literal sense is not the punishment for sin, but rather eternal damnation.
Mortality is literally punishment for the original sin.

I've stopped in on /r/futurology like twice and both times people shit on posters saying you can download consciousness

Christ took death's sting away.
Now what might that mean user?

Not that user but I thought that meant people who died before Christ did didn't get sent to any afterlife (exceptions being people so OG they got literally pulled into heaven while still alive) but Christ allowed humanity to go to heaven after death, which took the sting (absolutism) of death away.

I bet you think eternal torment is actually a thing supported by the Bible.

Transhumanism is a stupid meme. Medicine is the slowest progressing science.

Medicine operates slow periods between groundbreaking discovery.

Also transhumanism focuses primarily on CS progression and not medical.

>exceptions being people so OG they got literally pulled into heaven while still alive
no. I would argue that people like moses, aaron, joseph, and many insraelites who knew God still got entry to heaven. God set a temporary system in place until he could send Christ.
In the meantime they typically went to either heaven or hell (as always).

Don't jews believe in an afterlife that doesn't discriminate between heaven and hell?

I've never heard of transhumanist nihilism.

Yes but that is from years of the tainting of Judaism into a perverse Neo-Judaism.

>Liberals usually recognize that this is bullshit.
a bill banning experimentation on fetuses was passed by obama. it has little to do with ethics and everything to do with pharmaceutical interests.

>ITT: people who think in terms of decades and do not grasp the implications of genetic research
disappointed in Veeky Forums. transhumanism is the inevitable future of mankind.

disappointed in you, forgetting to think of ramifications to transhumanism

I'm in CS. It has nothing to do with biology. Fuck off to your meme subreddit, fag boy.

>muh morality
>muh humanity destroys itself
yawn

A lot it's nothing compared to the destruction caused by industralization.

I don't see cyborg humans that believe themselves above nature, slowing down the industralization.

The sort of transhumanists that believe in cybernetic augmentation 100% bank on Moore's Law (which is about to end says the industry for the 100th time) but might actually seriously be about to end this go around until a new method of computation is discovered.

Because increasing computational power has the highest possible return for solving other problems.

I'm assuming it's "nothing matters unless we overcome nothingness"

It's true to a point.

But I think humanity only "destroys itself" in a tribe-by-tribe basis historically. Transhumanism is a species-wide innovation.

>Transhumanism is a species-wide innovation.
how? if an isolated group of people alter themselves, are they not transhumanist?

They are.
I mean that, if that sort of technology becomes a thing, it'll most likely occur in nations with a capitalist economy. The price will drop as production becomes easier and become faster and faster to distribute.

>bourgeois rule tends towards post-scarcity conditions
user, I have some bad news.

What sort of political system do you propose? It's not perfect, but it's even harder to innovate in other systems.

Socialism is a sort of system that would be good post-scarcity but not really before.

Either de Garis is from another dimension or he needs to be kept sedated in an institution somewhere

I remember you saving this reaction image from that thread a few weeks ago

Kek

What was the thread about?

>inevitable
>assuming humanity might not just die before it

lol, futurism

>>/x/

Not /x/ depending on what you consider to be transhumanism. Reactive prosthetics are already a thing, for example.

>until I got banned for telling a mod he should ask his mother to medicate him for his delusions.
You're doing God's work user.

Yes.

How was Easter?

Define "Transhumanism" first.