[ExI] Posthumanism vs. Transhumanism

[Brent Allsop]

Samantha,

I'm really in your camp with what you are saying here.  This is all great!

So what is your favorite term for what you want to become?

(And I I hope others will more precisely specify what their favorite 
terms are.)

Is it Transhuman, Posthuman, or something else?

I think I'm still liking just the term Extropian.  I'm enjoying what I 
am now.  I'm infinitely thankful for all my ancestors did to freely 
create me, and for giving me way more than any of them had.  I'm working 
to preserve everything I have been, (just keeping the bad primitive 
stuff as a memory of what I've been, and enhancing all the good stuff) 
and looking forward to so much more of everything at an ever 
accelerating and more exciting pace.  And I'm hopping some day I can pay 
all my ancestors back for creating me by resurrecting them (including 
pre humans who are so deserving since they had so much less to work 
with, but still made things better).  Extropian, to me, just means more 
of all good (including perfect memory of the bad), no matter what or 
where it all came from.

Oh, and I don't like it when Giu1i0 talks about his future 
"computational superintelligence" because this apparently does not 
include the real phenomenal properties of consciousness, like red, 
green, warm....   Abstract (the type of representation is irrelevant) 
computation doesn't have that, and that very real phenomenal stuff we 
represent our knowledge and computation with is more important than 
anything!  We should never talk about giving phenomenal (or spiritual if 
you will) stuff up.  At least that is my POV.

Upward,

Brent



Samantha Atkins wrote:
> Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:
>   
>> What we want to become is clear to us: we want to remain more or less
>> ourselves but move to much better bodies and much smarter minds. But
>> for our opponents it is easy to construct "posthuman" as eliminating
>> tender and loving humans and replacing them with cold and heartless
>> machines.
>>   
>>     
>
> Do you think you can speak for all of us and what "we" want?  I don't 
> want to remain more or less myself in many respects.  I want to grow and 
> change and create the design that will replace slow evolution for 
> creatures such as me.   Humans are not altogether or even mainly tender 
> and loving.  Humans are wonderful in many respects but also horrid, 
> weak, of limited intelligence, and governed in large part by unconscious 
> processes.    I for one desire to help overcome some of these 
> limitations and make it possible for others to do the same.   I have no 
> need to retain the label "human" if it is defined as keeping many of 
> these things.   I think it would be very human to be hung up on this but 
> that is not necessarily a good thing.   
>
> Why would those who had gone beyond many human limitations and foibles 
> be necessarily cold and heartless?  This should be challenged.  That is 
> much more productive in my opinion than clinging to the label "human" in 
> response.
>
> - samantha
>
>
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