I'm not sure how I feel about this but I have a sense of something significant about this and that we should keep an eye on as concerned human beings and Christians. This is a good palce to start by the looks of it. "Democratic transhumanism stems from the assertion that human beings will generally be happier when they take rational control of the natural and social forces that control their lives." Muich of the article is an interview with the founding philosopher of 'Democratic Transhumanism' Dr. James Hughes.
One of the interesting and challenging things he says is: ""human dignity" are empty signifiers that have crept into our language as proxies for "soul," and progressives need to rethink their use of these categories.". And evben more interestingly and controversially , he goes on to say; "The transhumanist position is known in bioethics as "personhood theory": you can be a self-aware person and not be human (great apes for instance) and you can be "human" and not be a person (such as fetuses and the brain dead). Rights are for persons, not humans."
Whatever you think about the arguments around that I felt that this is worth taking on board in its argument against individualist libitarianism.
"Libertarian individualism is completely self-defeating for the human enhancement movement. You want to make yourself and your kids smarter? You can take a smart pill and do your mental gymnastics, but you still need good books, stimulating friends, a solid education, a free and independent press, and a stable, well-regulated economy so your PDA keeps beaming Google searches and email chat into your eyeball through that laser display. And it might be nice to have a strong, independent Food and Drug Administration to make sure that your smart pill doesn't cause dementia in five years, and that that laser display doesn't blind you."
Nicely said.
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: A Conversation with Dr. James Hughes (part 1 of 3):
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