Should we be afraid of the future?
Victory over death
Semyon Mirsky, Radio Liberty
A book was published in France, which immediately caused widespread controversy – from enthusiastic "pros" to categorical "cons". The book is called "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?".
Its author– Beatrice Jousset-Couturier, a doctor, doctor of pharmacology, specialist in bioethics, posed a "question of questions": is aging, illness and death an inevitable fate of a person? This is the central theme of transhumanism.
Some scientists claim that the creator of the term is Dante Alighieri, not excluding that the concept dates back to even more ancient times. But regardless of who first uttered or wrote this word, "transhumanism" is a refutation of the sacred concept of man as the biblical "crown of creation." Not being the last link of evolution, a person can improve indefinitely.
How can I not remember Hamlet 's monologue from the second act of the tragedy:
"What a masterful creation – a man! How noble of mind! How unlimited in his abilities, appearances and movements! How precise and wonderful in action! How like an angel he is in deep comprehension! How he looks like a certain god! The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living things!"
And immediately this high assessment of a person is countered by Hamlet's unexpected conclusion: "And what is this quintessence of dust for me? I am not happy with any of the people..."
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the idea of dissatisfaction with man in his earthly guise is the basis of scientific research in the field of transhumanism, the science of the real possibilities of improving this "crown of all living things".
Beatrice Jusse-Couturier in her book "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?" does not quote either Dante or Shakespeare, but quite seriously, with scientific thoroughness, considers the possibility of curing hereditary diseases with the help of genetic engineering, transplanting most or even all organs of the human body, including the brain, replacing diseased tissues with synthetic tissues and, finally, radically prolonging human life – up to immortality.
Dr. Jousset-Couturier asked the philosopher Luc Ferry, the former Minister of Education of France (and author of the book "Transhumanist Revolution"), to write a preface to her work. Luke Ferry does not hush up any of the objections of a religious, ethical and biological nature that refute not only the ethical, but also the scientific basis of transhumanism, which sees in the human body a machine, albeit a very improved one, but still a machine far from perfect. Luke Ferry writes:
Beatrice Jousset-Couturier begins with a quite rhetorical question: "Isn't the desire to overcome obstacles an immanent quality of humanity and a single person?!" If we answer this question in the affirmative, then let's listen to what an American futurist, our contemporary named Raymond (Ray) Kurzweil, whose name is it is mentioned more often than any other in the book "Transhumanism".
Ray Kurzweil, born in 1948, is the technical director in the field of machine learning and natural language processing at Google, the author of books that laid the foundation for modern transhumanism: "The Age of Thinking machines", "How to create a Mind", "Overcoming: nine steps leading to eternal life".
Anticipating categorical objections of an ethical nature and quite appropriate skepticism ("as, they say, so is an immortal person. Is this not the limit of the absurd?!"), Beatrice Jusse-Couturier writes:
Transhumanism shares many values of traditional humanism, among which should be mentioned respect for human, as well as "transhumanized", that is, "transhuman" personality. The features that distinguish transhumanism from humanism are the ability of transhumanism to recognize and anticipate radical changes taking place in people's lives as a result of scientific and technological discoveries.
Speaking about the "changes taking place in people's lives as a result of scientific and technological discoveries, the author of the book points to an obvious paradox: an artificial heart, or, using scientific terminology, a "bionic implant replacing the heart," not to mention countless examples of prosthetics of most organs of the human body, have become normal phenomena of medical practice in all highly developed countries, but the attitude of most people to implants changes dramatically at the moment when it comes to implants concerning the human brain...
But how do you want to be, asks the author of the book, following in the footsteps of Ray Kurzweil and other Silicon Valley employees, how do you want to be in the face of such immutable facts of our reality as supercomputers beating world chess champions, as robots capable of performing the most difficult work, as human eye implants that restore vision to the blind, artificial hands and legs, – examples can be multiplied indefinitely.
Author of the book "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?" does not count himself among the unconditional supporters of the experiment without borders on the human body, including the human brain.
Beatrice Jusse-Couturier sets herself a different, much more interesting task, namely: to give people an incentive, forcing them to think about the indisputability of the postulates considered indisputable, the first of which (man as the crown of creation) has already been named. Well, it goes without saying that here we return to the "basis of the foundations", which are the words about the creation of the Old Testament Adam by God, who created man "in His own image and likeness."
The author of the book suggests recalling the Renaissance, from which European humanism and its values are counted.
The Renaissance era brings with it the ideal of a perfect man, a man of science and culture, capable of revealing the secrets of nature. Renaissance humanism encourages people not to trust the clergy, but to rely on their own observations and the power of reason.
Pico della Mirandola, an Italian thinker of the Renaissance, a representative of early humanism, who lived in the 15th century, believed that "a person should be a sculptor of his own sculpture," relying on the teachings of the ancient philosopher Plotinus, who urged a person: "Finally see your own beauty, and if you don't see it yet, then act like a sculptor who has decided to create a perfect sculpture, skillfully removing everything superfluous, giving the image the shape that corresponds to your ideas.
In Plotinus' text, man appears as an incomplete and imperfect being, but at the same time endowed with a desire for bodily and spiritual autonomy. What could be more modern than the text of the philosopher Plotinus, written in the third century AD? The dam has secured a place in the Pantheon of Transhumanism.
The metaphor of a person acting as a sculptor of his own "I", not only in a spiritual, but also in a completely material, bodily sense, leads very far from the concepts and ideas familiar to us. So, the author of the book "Transhumanism" tells about the works of two American doctors developing methods of therapy not for so-called "senile diseases", but for the aging process itself. The director of the program is Nir Barzilai. Professor Barzilai heads the Institute of Endocrinology and Research of Aging Mechanisms at the Albert Einstein Center in New York, and one of the project participants, Dr. Stuart Olshansky, explains the essence of the super task in a very accessible form:
When we have managed to greatly reduce the chances of a patient getting sick with any of the cardiovascular diseases, it often happens that this patient lives long enough to get cancer, and if, in turn, we have reduced his probability of cancer, then our patient lives for himself and lives until he falls ill with the disease Alzheimer's...
We believe that it is time to treat people from ALL diseases, putting the aging process itself at the center of our efforts!
But the scientific project of Professor Barzilai and Dr. Olshansky is only the penultimate stage of a grandiose project aimed not at curing senile diseases, but at immortality, no matter how strange and even wild it sounds...
The author of the book "Transhumanism" talks about the "Immortality Project", initiated by Dmitry Itskov, a native of Russia, born in 1980 in Bryansk, who now lives in America.
Beatrice Jousset-Couturier writes:
On June 15 and 16, 2013, the most important of all the events related to the transhumanism movement held to this day took place in New York, namely the Second Congress of transhumanists, participants of the Global Future-2045 project, which set itself the goal of defeating death by this year.
Some scientists claim that the creator of the term is Dante Alighieri, not excluding that the concept dates back to even more ancient times. But regardless of who first uttered or wrote this word, "transhumanism" is a refutation of the sacred concept of man as the biblical "crown of creation." Not being the last link of evolution, a person can improve indefinitely.
How can I not remember Hamlet 's monologue from the second act of the tragedy:
"What a masterful creation – a man! How noble of mind! How limitless in his abilities, appearances and movements! How precise and wonderful in action! How like an angel he is in deep comprehension! How he looks like a certain god! The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living things!"
And immediately this high assessment of a person is countered by Hamlet's unexpected conclusion: "And what is this quintessence of dust for me? I am not happy with any of the people..."
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the idea of dissatisfaction with man in his earthly guise is the basis of scientific research in the field of transhumanism, the science of the real possibilities of improving this "crown of all living things".
Beatrice Jusse-Couturier in her book "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?" does not quote either Dante or Shakespeare, but quite seriously, with scientific thoroughness, considers the possibility of curing hereditary diseases with the help of genetic engineering, transplanting most or even all organs of the human body, including the brain, replacing diseased tissues with synthetic tissues and, finally, radically prolonging human life – up to immortality.
Dr. Jousset-Couturier asked the philosopher Luc Ferry, the former Minister of Education of France (and author of the book "Transhumanist Revolution"), to write a preface to her work. Luke Ferry does not hush up any of the objections of a religious, ethical and biological nature that refute not only the ethical, but also the scientific basis of transhumanism, which sees in the human body a machine, albeit a very improved one, but still a machine far from perfect. Luke Ferry writes:
Beatrice Jousset-Couturier begins with a quite rhetorical question: "Isn't the desire to overcome obstacles an immanent quality of humanity and a single person?!" If we answer this question in the affirmative, then let's listen to what an American futurist, our contemporary named Raymond (Ray) Kurzweil, whose name is it is mentioned most often in the book "Transhumanism".
Ray Kurzweil, born in 1948, is the technical director in the field of machine learning and natural language processing at Google, the author of books that laid the foundation for modern transhumanism: "The Age of Thinking machines", "How to create a Mind", "Overcoming: nine steps leading to eternal life".
Anticipating categorical objections of an ethical nature and quite appropriate skepticism ("as, they say, so is an immortal person. Is this not the limit of the absurd?!"), Beatrice Jusse-Couturier writes:
Transhumanism shares many values of traditional humanism, among which should be mentioned respect for human, as well as "transhumanized", that is, "transhuman" personality. The features that distinguish transhumanism from humanism are the ability of transhumanism to recognize and anticipate radical changes taking place in people's lives as a result of scientific and technological discoveries.
Speaking about the "changes taking place in people's lives as a result of scientific and technological discoveries, the author of the book points to an obvious paradox: an artificial heart, or, using scientific terminology, a "bionic implant replacing the heart," not to mention countless examples of prosthetics of most organs of the human body, have become normal phenomena of medical practice in all highly developed countries, but the attitude of most people to implants changes dramatically at the moment when it comes to implants concerning the human brain...
But how do you want to be, asks the author of the book, following in the footsteps of Ray Kurzweil and other Silicon Valley employees, how do you want to be in the face of such immutable facts of our reality as supercomputers beating world chess champions, as robots capable of performing the most difficult work, as human eye implants that restore vision to the blind, artificial hands and legs, – examples can be multiplied indefinitely.
Author of the book "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?" does not count himself among the unconditional supporters of the experiment without borders on the human body, including the human brain.
Beatrice Jusse-Couturier sets herself a different, much more interesting task, namely: to give people an incentive, forcing them to think about the indisputability of the postulates considered indisputable, the first of which (man as the crown of creation) has already been named. Well, it goes without saying that here we return to the "basis of the foundations", which are the words about the creation of the Old Testament Adam by God, who created man "in His own image and likeness."
The author of the book suggests recalling the Renaissance, from which European humanism and its values are counted.
The Renaissance brings with it the ideal of a perfect man, a man of science and culture, capable of revealing the secrets of nature. Renaissance humanism encourages people not to trust the clergy, but to rely on their own observations and the power of reason.
Pico della Mirandola, an Italian thinker of the Renaissance, a representative of early humanism, who lived in the 15th century, believed that "a person should be a sculptor of his own sculpture," relying on the teachings of the ancient philosopher Plotinus, who urged a person: "Finally see your own beauty, and if you don't see it yet, then act like a sculptor who has decided to create a perfect sculpture, skillfully removing everything superfluous, giving the image the shape that corresponds to your ideas.
In Plotinus' text, man appears as an incomplete and imperfect being, but at the same time endowed with a desire for bodily and spiritual autonomy. What could be more modern than the text of the philosopher Plotinus, written in the third century AD? The dam has secured a place in the Pantheon of Transhumanism.
The metaphor of a person acting as a sculptor of his own "I", not only in a spiritual, but also in a completely material, bodily sense, leads very far from the concepts and ideas familiar to us. So, the author of the book "Transhumanism" tells about the works of two American doctors developing methods of therapy not for so-called "senile diseases", but for the aging process itself. The director of the program is Nir Barzilai. Professor Barzilai heads the Institute of Endocrinology and Research of Aging Mechanisms at the Albert Einstein Center in New York, and one of the project participants, Dr. Stuart Olshansky, explains the essence of the super task in a very accessible form:
When we have managed to greatly reduce the chances of a patient getting sick with any of the cardiovascular diseases, it often happens that this patient lives long enough to get cancer, and if, in turn, we have reduced his probability of cancer, then our patient lives for himself and lives until he falls ill with the disease Alzheimer's...
We believe that it is time to treat people from ALL diseases, putting the aging process itself at the center of our efforts!
But the scientific project of Professor Barzilai and Dr. Olshansky is only the penultimate stage of a grandiose project aimed not at curing senile diseases, but at immortality, no matter how strange and even wild it sounds...
The author of the book "Transhumanism" talks about the "Immortality Project", initiated by Dmitry Itskov, a native of Russia, born in 1980 in Bryansk, who now lives in America.
Beatrice Jousset-Couturier writes:
On June 15 and 16, 2013, the most important of all the events related to the transhumanism movement held to this day took place in New York, namely the Second Congress of transhumanists, participants of the Global Future-2045 project, which set itself the goal of defeating death by this year.
Dmitry Itskov speaks in New York at the Global Future 2045 Congress
Calling the project, headed by Dmitry Itskov, "crazy", Beatrice Jusse-Couturier notes, however, that 23 leading scientists and specialists in the field of high technology are involved in the project.
Reading the book "Transhumanism", I drew attention to the involvement in the project of a number of immigrants from Russia, among whom Sergey Brin, born in Moscow in 1973, who founded Google together with Larry Page, the largest and most influential commercial firm in the world, is not the least. (Sergey Brin's personal capital is estimated at $35 billion.)
This is how the author of the book "Transhumanism" describes the role of the Alphabet company created by Brin, working on the project of victory over aging and death:
Alphabet and NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnics, Computer Science, Science), established in 2015, are gaining unprecedented influence and power. Following in the wake of these companies, all firms involved to one degree or another in the work on modifications of the biology of the human body, thanks to the mechanisms of artificial intelligence, will carry out projects to create new robot systems and deepen our knowledge concerning the structure of the human brain. This is how we will truly enter the 21st century.
Beatrice Jusse-Couturier states an obvious fact: at present, the ideas of transhumanism are the lot of a very narrow stratum of people, representatives of the scientific and financial elite. But, the author reminds, it has always been so. How many homes had electricity, let alone a telephone, at the end of the 19th century? And personal cars, and the Internet and mobile phones? We are witnesses of the beginning of the process, but the future in a sense has already come. Scientific and technological progress becomes a reality at the moment when its fruits are enjoyed by the widest possible stratum of people.
Today, transhumanist parties already exist in the United States and in most European countries, and congresses are held regularly. Russia did not stay away from the process either. In 2005, the Russian Transhumanist Movement held the first Interdisciplinary Seminar on Transhumanism and Immortalism in Moscow. I don't know if there is a need to explain that "immortalism" means "immortality".
In the book "Transhumanism. Is it necessary to be afraid of the future?" the name of the person who formulated most of the ideas that now underlie transhumanism more than a century and a half ago is not mentioned. We are talking, of course, about Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, a religious thinker and futurist, who was the first to utter the phrase "death is optional"! Nikolai Fedorov's involvement in transhumanism is obvious, although he went to the idea of human immortality in a different way. In his understanding, it was not about the endless prolongation of human life, but about the resurrection of the dead, and this project went down in history under the name "Philosophy of the Common Cause".
Today, this "common cause" is being handled by completely different people equipped with technologies that the futurist, religious thinker, "Russian Socrates" Nikolai Fedorov, who believed, like the poet, that "death can be overcome by the strength of Sunday," did not even dream of.
Despite all the differences, the continuity of the idea is evident, as can be seen by reading the book by Beatrice Jusse-Couturier "Transhumanism. Should we be afraid of the future?".
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02.09.2016