[ExI] Transhumanism defined, 1937.

[Damien Broderick]

At 09:52 AM 4/25/2008 -0600, Mike LaTorra wrote:

>PREFACE: I came across the (rather lengthy) definition of Transhumanism below

[partial quote:]
>The term 'human' would thus define a certain 
>range in the scale of consciousness—something 
>like an octave in the scale of electromagnetic 
>waves. In that case, the present system implies 
>that it is, in principle, possible for a 
>conscious being to shift his field of 
>consciousness up and down the scale. When such 
>an entity is focused within the human octave it 
>might be agreed to call him human, but something 
>other than human when focused in other octaves. 
>Logically, this is simply a matter of definition 
>of terms, and I am more than willing to regard 
>the human as merely a stage in consciousness, 
>provided it is not asserted dogmatically that it 
>is impossible for consciousness and 
>self-identity to flow from stage to stage. On 
>the basis of such a definition this philosophy 
>would not be a contribution to Humanism but to Transhumanism."
>
>-- Franklin Merrell-Wolff

This is not, IMO, a *definition* of >H (as 
understood here), but rather a mystical posit or 
allegation. It might be possible to retcon# this 
passage once a truly augmented consciousness 
arises on earth, but at the moment this claim 
strikes me as unadulterated twaddle. Colin Wilson 
would like it, usually a bad sign.

Damien Broderick
#Here I adapt and repurpose 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retcon < Retroactive 
continuity (or informally retcon) is the 
deliberate changing of previously established 
facts in a work of serial fiction. The change 
itself is informally referred to as a "retcon", 
and the act of writing and publishing a retcon is called "retconning". >