34 min listen
Rationally Speaking #17 - Transhumanism
Rationally Speaking #17 - Transhumanism
ratings:
Length:
34 minutes
Released:
Sep 12, 2010
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
What's so great about being human, anyway? The transhumanist movement -- epitomized by organizations like Humanity+ and blogs like Accelerating Future -- advocate the pursuit of technologies to fundamentally change the human condition, tinkering with our brain, bodies and genomes to make ourselves smarter, stronger, happier, and longer-lived.
But many people worry that tampering with human nature could have dire consequences for individuals and society alike. In Our Posthuman Future, political theorist Francis Fukuyama sums up the position of the bioconservatives when he warns that new technologies may "in some way cause us to lose our humanity -- that is, some essential quality that has always underpinned our sense of who we are and where we are going," he writes. In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia ask, first, are the goals of transhumanism realistic, and second, are they desirable?
But many people worry that tampering with human nature could have dire consequences for individuals and society alike. In Our Posthuman Future, political theorist Francis Fukuyama sums up the position of the bioconservatives when he warns that new technologies may "in some way cause us to lose our humanity -- that is, some essential quality that has always underpinned our sense of who we are and where we are going," he writes. In this episode of Rationally Speaking, Massimo and Julia ask, first, are the goals of transhumanism realistic, and second, are they desirable?
Released:
Sep 12, 2010
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Rationally Speaking #5 - Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Need for a Space Program: Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the Need for a Space Program. Will we ever go back to the Moon or to Mars? Plus Dr. Tyson's surprising "un-pick": The movie Avatar by Rationally Speaking Podcast