Full transcript
0:00The A to Z of -isms...
0:02transhumanism.
0:03Most of us would consider the end of the human race as a catastrophe.
0:09There are some however who would not only rejoice at it
0:12but want to hasten the day it arrives.
0:15Transhumanists look forward to a future in which Homo sapiens
0:19is superseded by a better, smarter, fitter model -
0:23humanity 2.0.
0:25Humans are in dire need of improvement.
0:28Any species that causes huge damage to our environment,
0:32can't feed itself even though it has enough food
0:35and fights countless wars costing millions of lives
0:38must surely benefit from an intelligence upgrade.
0:41Our lifespans are short,
0:43our final years usually characterised by diminishing health and vitality,
0:47often accompanied by a drop off in cognitive capacity.
0:50One in three people born in 2015 are expected to get dementia.
0:55Is this really the best we can hope for?
0:58Transhumanists think not.
1:00Ageing could be stopped and even reversed.
1:03Enhancements could dramatically raise our IQs
1:06and make us stronger and fitter.
1:10We might even be able to leave our fragile bodies behind
1:13and upload ourselves to computers, living forever in virtual worlds.
1:18Improving humanity through science and technology
1:21could radically change us.
1:22Such a new beginning would in effect be the end of humanity as we know it.
1:27Many transhumanists see this as not only desirable but inevitable.
1:32The scientist and futurist, Ray Kurzweil,
1:34believes we are approaching what he calls "the singularity" -
1:37the point at which computers become smart enough to learn for themselves,
1:41after which they will rapidly become smarter and smarter.
1:45The future belongs to artificial intelligence.
1:48The only way for humanity to survive is to embrace it
1:52and become wholly or partially artificial ourselves.
1:55The thought of being replaced by a new form of humanity
1:59is bound to be unsettling.
2:00But transhumanists think
2:02we would be wrong to lament the end of humanity as we know it
2:06when what replaces us would be so much better.
2:09It would be like wishing children never grew up
2:11or that Homo erectus never evolved into Homo sapiens.
2:15If the transhumanists are right,
2:17we could be one of the last generations of humans to roam the planet.
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