[extropy-chat] Article: Who would not seize the chance to live to be 150?

[Neil H.]

Another article mentioning transhumanism, this time from the Financial
Times. I've quoted a bit below:

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/8230ef1a-9847-11da-816b-0000779e2340.html

But equally significant are the ripples of interest that Mr de Grey is
generating outside the scientific community. He has rapidly emerged as the
British figurehead of a new political movement, which has steadily been
gaining ground on both sides of the Atlantic. This movement is known as
transhumanism, and its central belief is that advances in science and
technology will liberate us from the constraints of illness and ageing and
enable us to live longer, healthier lives.

In its more modest form, trans­humanism advocates the embrace of new
technologies, such as smart drugs, cosmetic surgery and gene therapy, which
can enhance our physical and mental capabilities and make us "better than
well". At the more radical end of the spectrum, you find futurists such as
Ray Kurzweil, whose recent book *The Singularity is Near*, argues that:
"Ultimately we will merge with our technology . . . By the mid 2040s, the
non-biological portion of our intelligence will be billions of times more
capable than the biological portion."

Such predictions have provoked a fierce reaction, both from religious and
cultural conservatives, who see trans­humanism as an assault on human
nature, and from the liberal left, which sounds alarm bells about the
implications for equality and human rights. Francis Fukuyama, the US
academic, has described transhumanism as "the world's most dangerous idea".
...

The big question is who will bring human enhancement and life extension into
the mainstream. Politicians and business leaders, who are already struggling
to cope with rising pensions and healthcare costs, may be understandably
reluctant to speculate about a world in which we all live (and work?) well
into our second century.
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