We, somehow, endure life every day. Some people want a better career, or more money, or better health, etc., but life is not fair. This is as long as we play by the rules of life. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just break those rules and break the boundaries of a suppressive existence? Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University and co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association, believes we will someday overcome this oppression. Transhumanists believe that humans can use technology to not only alter the world that we live in, but to also alter ourselves, with the goal of enhancing human life. This is much more than taking a pill for ADHD. This is taking care of any need, any want, any inability, with the use of modern and future technologies.
This could soon be you (you wish you were Will Smith)
Hollywood eats this concept up. From iRobot, to Men in Black, to I Am Legend (yes, I like Will Smith), Hollywood loves to create an elaborate future with seemingly absurd technologies, but in reality, these movies all depict possible near-futures. Robots could do everything for us. In fact, we could lose the the word “robot” because everything in our world will be intelligently engineered. These are Transhumanist ideas.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes a less family movie approach to Transhumanism. In the movie, what looks like a medical practice is a company that specializes in removing extensive memories from people’s brains, even entire personal relationships. At first glance, this is a disturbing power. On a whim, someone can alter their brain’s ability to retain certain memories forever. However, there are so many ways that we do very similar things in our lives today. According to MEDermis clinic, the tattoo industry is a $1.65 Billion industry. 21% of Americans have tattoos and 11% plan on getting them removed. Is tattoo removal immoral? Is it wrong to alter your body artistically, whether publicly or privately, and then remove that alteration? One could say that memories are a private tattoo on your brain that you should have every right to remove. Body alterations don’t just have to be artistic expressions, they can be functional and useful, too. Maybe Eternal Sunshine is just as disturbing as real life.
Cochlear Implants are often called “bionic ears”. This has always been a technology that is near to my heart. Nothing more consistently earns tears from my eyes than videos of young children hearing their parent’s voices for the first time thanks to a Cochlear implant. I think technology is nothing to fear, as long as technology helps people who need help.
-Emilio Alvarez-
COMM 2302 (Spring 2013) 