Directed evolution (transhumanism)
"Humanity until this point has been a story of evolution for the survival [of] genes [...] Now we are entering a new phase of human evolution—evolution under reason—where human beings are masters of their destiny. Power has been transferred from nature to science."
The term directed evolution is used chiefly within the transhumanist community to refer to the idea of applying the principles of directed evolution and experimental evolution to the control of human evolution.[2] The concept has been described as the Holy Grail of transhumanism.[2]
Paradigmatically here, UCLA biophysicist and entrepreneur Gregory Stock – otherwise known for his best-selling books, some of which are expansive arguments in favor of a kind of new, liberal eugenics[3][4] – notes:
The human species is moving out of its childhood. It is time to acknowledge our growing powers and begin to take responsibility for them. We have no choice in this, for we have begun to play god in so many intimate realms of life that we could not turn back if we tried. Some, of course, believe we should stop our audacious incursions into the very fabric of human biology – at least until we can summon up more wisdom. But the way to find wisdom about our newfound capabilities is not by trying to deny them (and thereby relegating their exploration to outlaw nations and scientific renegades), but by using them judiciously, by carefully feeling our way forward, and yes, by making mistakes and learning from them.[5] [b]
Stock even goes as far as positing that, in this spirit, "when we imagine Prometheus stealing fire from the [other] gods, we are not incredulous or shocked by his act. It is too characteristically human."[7]
Relevant to discussions over its ideological impartiality, Riccardo Campa of the IEET wrote that "self-directed evolution" can be coupled with many different political, philosophical, and religious views.[8]. As such, it is comparable to techno-progressivism.
Criticism of the term[edit]
Andrew Askland from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law claims that referring to transhumanism as directed evolution is problematic because evolution is ateleological and transhumanism is teleological.[9]
Related concepts[edit]
Participant evolution[edit]
Participant evolution is an alternative term that refers to the process of deliberately redesigning the human body and brain using technological means, rather than through the natural processes of mutation and natural selection, with the goal of removing "biological limitations" and human enhancement.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The idea of participant evolution was first put forward by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline in the 1960s in their article Cyborgs and Space,[24] where they argued that the human species was already on a path of participant evolution. Science fiction writers have speculated what the next stage of such participant evolution will be.
Whilst Clynes and Kline saw participant evolution as the process of creating cyborgs, the idea has been adopted and propounded by transhumanists who argue that individuals should have the choice of using human enhancement technologies on themselves and their children, to progressively become transhuman and ultimately posthuman, as part of a voluntary regimen of participant evolution.
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ On the same page he elaborates:
We are lucky to have our biology. If evolution had gone another way, rational beings might not be. But we should not engage in biology worship. Our biology is not sacrosanct. We should change it to make our lives longer and better.
- ^ in a different place, he notes similarly:
Humanity is leaving its childhood and moving into its adolescence as its powers infuse into realms hitherto beyond our reach.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ Savulescu, Julian (2003). "Human-Animal Transgenesis and Chimeras Might Be an Expression of Our Humanity". Journal of Bioethics. 3 (3): 22–25. doi:10.1162/15265160360706462. PMID 14594475. S2CID 6914160.
- ^ a b Maxwell, Mehlman. "Will Directed Evolution Destroy Humanity, and If So, What Can We Do About It?" (PDF). 3 St. Louis U.J. Health L. & Pol'y 93, 96-97 (2009]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-10.
- ^ Stock, Gregory (1993). Metaman: The Making of Humans and Machines into a Global Superorganism. New York: Simon and Schuster.
- ^ Stock, Gregory; Campbell, John (2000). Engineering the human germline: an exploration of the science and ethics of altering the genes we pass to our children. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN:13978-0195133028
- ^ Stock, Gregory (1999). Humans: Objects of conscious design. BBC.
- ^ Stock, Gregory (2005). "Germinal Choice Technology and the Human Future". Ethics L. & Moral Phil. Reprod. Biomedicine. 10: 27–34. doi:10.1016/s1472-6483(10)62201-8. PMID 15820004.
- ^ Stock, Gregory (2002). Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p.2
- ^ Campa, Riccardo. "Toward a transhumanist politics". Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ Askland, Andrew (2011). "The Misnomer of Transhumanism as Directed Evolution" (PDF). International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society. 9 (1): 71–78. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-27.
- ^ Sharon, Tamar (11 October 2013). Human Nature in an Age of Biotechnology: The Case for Mediated Posthumanism. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9789400775541 – via Google Books.
- ^ Clarke, Adele E.; Mamo, Laura; Fosket, Jennifer Ruth; Fishman, Jennifer R.; Shim, Janet K. (1 January 2009). Biomedicalization: Technoscience, Health, and Illness in the U.S. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0822391258 – via Google Books.
- ^ Kline, Ronald R. (25 June 2015). The Cybernetics Moment: Or Why We Call Our Age the Information Age. JHU Press. ISBN 9781421416724 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gurd, Sean Alexander (1 January 2005). Iphigenias at Aulis: Textual Multiplicity, Radical Philology. Cornell University Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780801443299 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Orr, Jackie (8 February 2006). Panic Diaries: A Genealogy of Panic Disorder. Duke University Press. p. 169 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Mazan, Tobiasz (17 April 2015). "Transcend the Flesh: Transhumanism debate". Tobiasz Mazan – via Google Books.
- ^ Blake, Charlie; Molloy, Claire; Shakespeare, Steven (15 March 2012). Beyond Human: From Animality to Transhumanism. A&C Black. ISBN 9781441150110 – via Google Books.
- ^ Riha, Daniel (28 December 2016). Frontiers of Cyberspace. Rodopi. ISBN 978-9401208581 – via Google Books.
- ^ Collard, Andrée; Contrucci, Joyce (1 January 1989). Rape of the Wild: Man's Violence Against Animals and the Earth. Indiana University Press. p. 125 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Wolf, Milton T. (1 January 1997). Shaw and Science Fiction. Penn State Press. ISBN 0271016817 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Drugs, Space, and Cybernetics: Evolution to Cyborgs" (PDF). 1961. Archived from the original on 2016-02-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Manfred Clynes and the Cyborg". by Chris Hables Gray. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved June 12, 2005.
which in turn cites an interview with Manfred E. Clynes in
Gray, Mentor, and Figueroa-Sarriera (1995). The Cyborg Handbook. New York: Routledge.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
pages 29–34, which in turn cites
Clynes, Manfred E. & Nathan S. Kline (1960). "Cyborgs and Space" (PDF). Astronautics. September: 26–27 and 74–75. - ^ "Cyborg Systems". ISTF Brochures. Retrieved June 12, 2005.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Transhumanism". Futurist Transhuman Think Tank. Archived from the original on 2003-02-23. Retrieved June 12, 2005.
- ^ Clynes, Manfred E. & Nathan S. Kline (1960). "Cyborgs and Space" (PDF). Astronautics. September.
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