Transhumanism

Transhumanism is an intellectual and cultural movement that advocates using existing, emerging, and speculative technologies to enhance humans beyond current natural limitations, particularly by extending longevity and improving cognition, health, and well-being. Drawing on developments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as longstanding themes in science fiction, transhumanism explores the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers associated with human enhancement technologies. Key areas of inquiry include nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC). Transhumanists envision that the convergence of advanced human enhancement technologies could eventually enable humans to become "posthumans", beings whose capacities exceed those of present-day humans. Some transhumanists focus on conceiving strategies for reducing existential risks to humanity, including those posed by artificial superintelligence, asteroid impacts, gray goo, nuclear warfare, pandemics, and societal collapse. Biologist Julian Huxley popularized the term "transhumanism" in a 1957 essay. He defined it as the idea that humanity can consciously transcend its limitations through reason, science, and technology, collectively realizing untapped human potential while remaining fundamentally human. Its contemporary meaning emerged during the late 20th century through the work of futurists and philosophers, including Fereidoun M. Esfandiary (FM-2030), who described a human who adopts technologies, lifestyles, and worldviews as "transhuman" in the sense of being "transitional" to posthumanity, and Max More, who formulated transhumanism as a class of philosophies beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, transhumanism has developed into an international intellectual and cultural movement encompassing a diverse range of philosophical perspectives and organizations. The movement has attracted both support and criticism from a wide range of philosophical, religious, ethical, and political perspectives. Some critics argue that transhumanism represents a revival of eugenic ideology under the banner of individual choice.