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 A Realistic Future?

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Longevity in the 2.0 World: Would Centenarians Become Commonplace?

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Near Field Optics and Nanoscopy

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 A Realistic Future?

Jean-Pierre Fillard

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 Published by
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TRANSHUMANISM
A Realistic Future?
Copyright © 2020 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Contents
About Jean-Pierre Fillardvii
Introductionix

Part I Where Does Transhumanism Come From? 1

Chapter One The Origins and Further 3
Chapter Two The Theories 23
Chapter Three New Ways of Life  43
Chapter Four Favorite Goals of Transhumanists 61

Part II Possible Pledges 79

Chapter Five Present Achievements and Transhumanism 81
Chapter Six Information, Communication, and Artificial
Intelligence 99
Chapter Seven Energy and Civilizations 121

Part III Problems to be Solved 137

Chapter Eight  an and Men, Issues To Be Faced
M 139
Chapter Nine Robots & Co. 155
Chapter Ten What About Space and the Post-Human Realm?  173

Conclusion189

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

About Jean-Pierre Fillard

I came from the University of Algiers when Algeria
was a full French territory. I initially specialized in
nuclear physics but soon turned to the study of solid
state electronics. At that time the “transistor effect”
had just been discovered and the buzz was about
understanding the electronic mechanisms inside mat-
ter. One of the topics was to understand the key issues
of the atomic defects lying in the starting semicon-
ductor crystals. This was the field which motivated
for me three decades of research.
Now that activity has turned to pure technology, following an endless
Moore’s law. So I tell people that I was, scientifically, born with the tran-
sistor and I died with it! Incidentally, I was elected a fellow of the British
Institute of Physics in 1978 and belonged to a flurry of international sci-
entific associations.
In 1967, I obtained a full thesis from the University of Montpellier in
France where I was soon upgraded to a full Professor and launched a
research laboratory in the field of solid state physics. I am the author or
co-author of some 300 publications, communications or collective books
and a personal book — Near Field Optics and Nanoscopy (World
Scientific, 1996). In 1985 I initiated a series of international conferences
DRIP (Defect Recognition and Image Processing) which continue around
the world every two years.

vii

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viii Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

During these three decades of intense research work, I had the

opportunity to visit many places in Europe, the US, Israel, Japan, and
even stay in China as invited lecturer. I retired in 1998, as a Professor
Emeritus, after winning a cancer episode and I, then, became interested
in the evolution and the new prospects opened up by Science and
Technology 2.0. This was an opportunity for me to write some books in
collaboration with World Scientific and Transhumanism: A Realistic
Future? is the fourth one.

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Introduction
“Transhumanism is an international philosophical movement that advocates for the
transformation of the human condition by developing and making widely available
sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellect and physiology.”1

This is the broad definition of transhumanism that can be found on the

internet.2 This “philosophy” especially deals with the benefits (and dan-
gers) we could currently expect from the extrapolation of technologies
already available which can deeply change our human nature along with
the corresponding environment. Such a thesis is not a new one but one that
has resulted from a process of maturation by philosophers. It is not to be
confused with science fiction.
From Gilgamesh to the Ubermensch of Friedrich Nietzsche, a recur-
rent dream has been access to a different (better) being, and how this can
be done. This mainstream thinking converged in the search for ways and
means to bring an end to old curses like ageing and death. But are we now
facing a philosophical or a science prospect, or both?
Transhumanism can be considered a culmination of continuous evolu-
tion from the Big Bang. Darwin theory says that genetic evolution occurs
with the millenaries, aimed at making the species more closely adapted to
the requirements of the environment. This is the universal rule Nature

1
“A history of transhumanist thought”, Nick Boström, Journal of Evolution and
Technology, February 21, 2006. Available at https://nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf
2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

ix

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x Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

(some say God) has arranged. However, taking into account the consider-
able development of our scientific knowledge, would the theory now have
to be reversed by adapting the surrounding to the Trans-human will or
even a Post-human one? How soon will such a change come about?
At present, the fantastic take off of knowledge in every domain of
Science, stimulated by a powerful technology, triggered the imagination
of a realistic possible future well beyond the Darwinian expectations of
evolution. Some even evoke the imminent coming of a “Singularity”3,4
which would bluntly change the existing order of our lives. A dedicated
university, the Singularity University, has even been set up in California
to develop research and teaching in this field. International meetings have
also been held worldwide to coordinate discussions on transhumanism,
with the last one in London.5
The leading players on the Internet such as GAFAM6 or NATU in the
United States (U.S.),7 and BATX8 in China developed practical transhu-
manist approaches with renewed scientific research axes. In this effort,
they have benefitted, for some years, from the vast financial means and
huge databases fed by their own social networks.
In that aim two different research trails may be followed: the first one
is concerned with biology (brain, genomics, stem cells, and so on) while
the second one is “mineral”, with computers (software, electronics, robot-
ics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the like). Which one will be the first to
decisively “improve” Man? No one can yet say but it would take only a
good technical trigger to launch the process. Perhaps a mix of both; the
computer has begun to know so many things about our body and mental
constitution that it might be able to draw pertinent conclusions!
Would the difficult issue of energy be solved for a peaceful future?
Since the beginning, new kinds of energy were the trigger for implementa-

3
The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, Ray Kurzweil, Penguin
Books, 2006.
4
Singularity, in mathematical language, denotes a sharp rupture in a continuous evolution
curve.
5
TransVision Conference, July 2019.
6
Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft.
7
Netflix, AirBnb, Tesla, Uber.
8
Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent.

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Introduction xi

tion of new civilizations: from the discovery of fire to nuclear energy,

many ages have succeeded with vapor power, electricity, and others. The
2.0 civilization we have entered could announce the future of transhuman-
ism but no new kind of energy appeared to motivate this change. Robots
require energy, not to mention the data centers that run them.
Some have outright suggested9 the alternative of the creation of an
artificial intelligent animal (man or machine, or a mix) which could over-
come the native limits of the human species. The natural evolution would
then be replaced by an intended transformation. What happens to those
who will not be able to follow or reject such collaboration? Would they be
considered as a sub-species of sub-humans, like chimpanzees of the
future, doomed to disappear because of their worthlessness?
There is no doubt that our global knowledge progresses as never
before. Would that mean we can get the power of God to change humanity
or create a new one? Human longevity has risen notably to the point where
it could be possible to reverse the process of ageing with the possibility of
a rejuvenescence that could benefit transhumans. We also imagine being
able to create life from scratch. All of this sounds quite crazy but it is so.
Therefore, it can be said that transhumanism is in no way a piece of
science fiction to come in a remote future, as the seed has already been
sown in our daily life with the occurrence of new behaviors especially
attracting the younger generations.
However, this does not come for free, nor does it afford some serious
unintended drawbacks. What could be expected in the near future for
transhumanism? How would Man be able to collaborate with machines
for a better destiny? These questions will be addressed in this book.
Finally, transhumanism takes the form of a pseudo-religion and the
question is how compatible this “realistic philosophy” is with established
religions. Would these have to mute drastically to adapt to the new tran-
shumanist paradigm or merely disappear under the battering of the tech-
nological realities? Some of them are flexible enough not to be appreciably
affected, others will require an uneasy adaptation and in some ways a

9
“When will computer hardware match the human brain?”, Hans Moravec, Journal of
Evolution and Technology. Vol. 1, 1998.

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xii Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

defamation of the old rules, but the last ones are rigid enough to already
enter into a last chance fight.
The aim of this book is to update readers about the possible future
that can be expected from such a projected evolution; after years of daz-
zling excitement surrounding this topic, time has come for an appeasing
discussion.
The book will be structured in three parts:

1. Where does transhumanism come from?

2. What can be expected in the near future?
3. What could be the likely issues to overcome or undergo?

You will note that each part, like the title of the book, includes a ques-
tion mark at the end.

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Part I
Where Does Transhumanism
Come From?

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Chapter One
The Origins and Further
It was a long, slow process of maturation which prompted us, Nature and
man, to our present state. Let me explain how this happened and where
our fates have led us, from the prime times of our mortal destinies.
Our current civilization is the outcome of many small elements disor-
derly accumulated but also several decisive steps that definitively changed
our way of life. They resulted in milestones that punctuate our history and
irrevocably “changed Man” in his way of life, his behavior, his beliefs
thereby affecting his progeny. These changes etched themselves in our
habits, irretrievably.
Let us now look at some of these milestones that have brought us
unquestionable welfare benefits.

1. From Cro-Magnon to 2.0 World

Undeniably, the first historical step in the evolution of man was the mas-
tering of fire some 450,000 years ago which launched the scientific
machine. The progress was clear and present. Then occurred the seden-
tarization and agriculture appeared after 400,000 years of maturation;
after that came the emergence of writing after 8,000 years, followed by
the invention of scientific thinking by the Greeks 2,500 years ago.
Subsequently also came printing, vapor machines, electricity, nuclear
power, and so on. It repeatedly became apparent that the time lapse
between each step of progression got shorter and shorter along our human
timescale.

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4 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

This is tentatively sketched in Table 1.1 where are reported the cor-
responding evolutions of the mean life expectation and the world popula-
tion. The trigger for each of the new steps in civilizations was the
successive discoveries of a new kind of available energy which brought
about a new level of comfort and security. However, if the previous civili-
zations were all preceded and induced by a new form of energy, this is no
longer true today where the digital age 2.0 did not arise from a new energy
form but from a scientific discovery that upset everything: the transistor
effect, giving rise to our current digital world. Could this indicate that we
have entered for the first time a new way of doing?
Along this extended path, well before the established transhumanists
arrived, the idea of improving our being has long been addressed. The
great epic of Gilgamesh may be the first historical evocation of a
“Superman” (a dream obviously inspired by the Gods) who benefited
from an extension of the mean human status. Then there were numerous
searches for a recipe to reach immortality: the fountain of youth, the elixir
of long life, and any kinds of effort to prevent ageing and death but noth-
ing worked.
The transhumanist philosophy found its roots in the French Renaissance
(15th century) with the philosophy of the Enlightenment1 when Pic de la
Mirandole invited Man “to sculpt his own statue”. Later Marquis de
Condorcet and Benjamin Franklin were speculating about a possible
application of the (young) medical science to the extension of human life.
Finally Darwin said that “it becomes probable that Humanity, as we know
it now, would not still reached its final state of evolution but more likely
a phase of beginning”. 2
Julian Huxley3 (a brother of Aldous) was the first to use the word
“Transhuman” (in 1957) to describe “a man who remains a man but transcends

1
Discours de la dignité de l’homme, Pic de la Mirandole — 1486, Trad. Yves Hersant,
Paris, 1993.
2
“A history of transhumanist thought”, Nick Boström, Journal of Evolution and
Technology, 14(1), 1–25, 2005.
3
“Transhumanism”, Julian Huxley, 1957. See: http://sniadecki.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/
huxley-transhumanisme/ (in French)

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

The Origins and Further 5

Table 1.1. Schematic evolution map of humanity.

himself by deploying new possibles to and for his human nature”. In his mind
that means to improve the performance of individuals through eugenics.
The current meaning of the word originated in 1980 when American
futurologists began to give a structure to the transhumanist movement.
They emphasized hybridized humans that would be given such capacities
as to be qualified as posthumans.2

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6 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Finally the current definition of transhumanism was given by Max

More4 as follows:

· Human condition promotion through technologies for life improve-

ment aimed at eliminating ageing, enhancing intellectual, physical, or
psychological abilities.
· A study of the benefits, dangers, and ethics induced by the develop-
ment and implementation of these above techniques.

The transhumanist prospect of changing humanity raised enthusiasm

as well as concerns from various origins. Francis Fukuyama5 (a political
scientist at John Hopkins University) was one of the main detractors,
explaining in detail that this idea was one of the most dangerous. In actual
fact, we have already entered the transhumanist age without realizing it,
and so we, then, have to put up with it.
It is also worth mentioning that, together with the foreseen changes
biology may induce in human nature, there is also an issue with the rela-
tions of man with machines6 which influence increases unstoppingly.
Artificial Intelligence has become a strong competitor challenging the
human one previously considered as definitely superior. This field is a
major one in the transhumanist philosophy.
We shall later develop this important field but let us have some words
as an introduction to this domain. When the computer was born (in the
eighties) it soon crossed the minds of specialists that it could (one day to
come) become a serious challenger of the brain in the two main branches
of basic human activity: logic (algorithms) and memory (data). This gave
rise to a new specialty very widely appreciated by the proponents of tran-
shumanism: the development of an AI that could be as well initiated start-
ing from an exact copy (hum?!) of the human brain (supposing there could
be a convenient model of it) or a free extrapolation in a model which has,
yet, to be invented from scratch.

4
http://humanityplus.org/philosophy/transhumanist-faq/
5
Our Posthuman Future: Consequence of the Biotechnology Revolution, Francis
Fukuyama, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, New York, 2002.
6
“When will computer hardware match the human brain?”, Hans Moravec, Journal of
Evolution and Technology,” Vol. 1, 1998.

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 “6x9” b3774 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

The Origins and Further 7

At the moment we can say that recorded data are accumulating in

huge centers all around the world whereas algorithms are improving
through Deep Learning to dig into this incredible mass of information.
That is, for now, enough to encourage the wildest dreams of people con-
cerned with our possible future.
The first transhumanists used to meet together in the early eighties in
the University of California Los Angeles, which became the main active
center of this futuristic ideology thus giving rise to many dedicated con-
ferences. In 1998 Nick Boström and David Pearce founded the World
Transhumanist Association (WTA), a non-governmental organization
active at the international level to promote transhumanism in the scientific
community and to public authorities.
On this special occasion the question of equitable access to the tech-
niques of human improvement for people coming from different social
classes or different nationalities was asked.7 A pessimistic point of view
was developed by Kevin Warwick who said, “There will be implanted or
hybrid people and they will dominate the world. The others, who were
not, will not be more useful than the current cows in the field… Those
who will decide to remain human and refuse any ‘improvement’ will have
a big handicap. They would constitute a subspecies and be the chimpanzee
of the future.”
Of course this is a very schematic cartoony view. Even if it becomes
feasible to make “intelligence improved men” that does not mean they
will be powerful at the same time. There are currently many intelligent
men (or women!) in established societies, but who cares? What power do
they have to change the world?
In 2008, WTA changed its name to “Humanity+” and published a
magazine to present news and ideas on the transhumanist philosophy.8

1.1. Modern times are coming

Today, the gurus of the future are back with forecasting theories which
were discrete before. It was not until 1970 that the book Future Shock by

7
“Humanity, the remix”, Alyssa Ford, Utne, May, June 2005.
8
http://hplusmagazine.com/

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8 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Alvin Toeffler became a worldwide bestseller9 and has sold over 6 million
copies. With some 50 years of hindsight, one uncovers previsions that had
been deadlocks; some were successful but, as a matter of fact we did not
yet discover the current avenues which have escaped predictions but
finally came out on top.
These gurus do not belong to any kinds of sect. They aim at teaching
pragmatic working methods and propose new perspectives to economic or
industrial executives of all disciplines in order to anticipate future oppor-
tunities of the world economy since business is business!
The stage preceding the avalanche of discoveries was the transistor,
only 60 years ago. The electron was tamed using a specific technology
that will allow it to perform marvels of acrobatics which will shake our
lives. The computer will become part of our activities with the Internet
and many other implications which have a direct impact on our behavior.
This revolution was triggered by three “inconspicuous” researchers at
Bell Labs: William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain in 1947.
Never did they imagine for a second then that they would that soon upset
the world but they did. However, they never received the public fame they
deserved even though they were awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in
1956. Their discovery of the “transistor effect” was too technical to be
appreciated by the average citizen.
After the initial highlight of this experimental breakthrough it took
some ten years of maturation and technical developments to obtain the
first operational transistor and turn it into a real industrial product. The
original components were the size of a moth equipped with three electrical
wires. That was rather rough but worked confidently enough to give rise
immediately to applications. This subject shall be considered again later
in detail.
The first radio receiver10 fully equipped with these solid state compo-
nents was commercially available in 1954. At that time, the transistor was
made of a little bar taken out of a Germanium crystal and equipped with
three electrodes. This was quite cumbersome (compared to the current

9
Future Shock, Alvin Toeffler, Bantam Book, 1970.
10
“Regency TR-1” produced by Texas Instruments (Dallas) and Industrial Development
Engineering Associates (Indianapolis).

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The Origins and Further 9

components) but performed well enough to profitably replace the previous

calorific vacuum tubes. Then the technical evolution was dazzling; Silicon
took over from Germanium, giving rise to the Field Effect Transistor
(FET) and current Integrated Circuits (IC) entering the micro-scale
domain.
All of that goes with the ever-increasing performance of electronic
instruments: all-purpose computers, digital imaging, any kind of displays,
sensors, intelligent robots, near field microscopes, etc. New instruments
make it possible to build up new components which generate new instru-
ments and the loop gets closed, endlessly.
A very astute engineer at Intel understood that it was possible to
extend the technology to a versatile, polyvalent, light, and easily
movable computer. Intel refused the project and the engineer came to
Paris to build the first dinosaur of the PC 11 family called “Micral
I”.12 Programming took place directly, electrically, with switches bit
after bit! Heroic but so historical! But evolution laws immediately
seized the opportunity and applied towards an endless better adapta-
tion. A real demand existed for such a small unit; the idea of the
home PC merged and successive more and more adapted and sophis-
ticated versions were to appear under various brands and other
names. Not even the boldest forecaster (the most futuristic transhu-
manist!) would have imagined, some 40 years ago, such an impres-
sive mutation that the universe imposed on us and which we willingly
accepted. Nobody could have suspected that within so short a while
the PC, a machine, would become a so friendly (?) daily fellow, wit-
ness of our intimate life.
So Darwin’s software won! But what could we expect now for the
next forty years ahead with such incredible nanotechnologies, with elec-
tronic components so intelligent and minuscule? Would it be unconceiv-
able to directly connect our brains with this machine so that it would no
longer be qualified as inanimate and the capacities of which gradually
increase? All of that is food for transhumanism perspectives.

11
Personal Computer.
12
With this Micral we were able, with Dr Michel Castagné, to perform the first computer
driven laboratory experiences.

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10 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Man applauds the coming of scientific progresses; is that for his own
interest or for reaching an ultimate step of the Darwinian evolution of the
species? What is plain is that seismic shifts (for good or ill) should inevi-
tably come in a not-so- remote future. Whether we like it or not, they are
coming and we shall accept them. So how far may transhumanists be
involved in that forecasting?
Nevertheless, the Grand Chief Guru of forward thinking, Ray
Kurzweil13 (economist, philosopher, software specialist, businessman,
and so on) foresees a near “Singularity” to come. This word is defined in
mathematical language as “a sharp and irreversible rupture in a continu-
ous process”. This singularity would correspond to a sudden mutation in
our ways of life and of our deep being, to come in the middle of this cen-
tury. This could be considered as a rather schematic view; it would be
more likely that a series of singularities would come, each coming from a
decisive and specialized breakthrough.
Now let us come back to Cro-Magnon discovering the benefits of
fire in a cave. Such an improvement in his living standards was the first
diversion from the pure biological program initially provided by Nature
for animals. As a consequence, the life expectation began to slightly
extend and this was a real bonus for the time delay dedicated to repro-
duction. Hopefully Man benefits from a rather extensive period for
reproduction. So the population was able to grow and counteracted for
the first time the natural laws by, then, adapting the environment to the
species.
During these rough primitive times child mortality was severe and
selection was merciless. This was a natural pledge for a favored genomic
evolution toward the more adapted species. So the reproduction rhythm
had to be especially fast in order to energetically “shuffle the cards”.
Today, the healthcare available for babies has inhibited such a
genomic filter. Deviations can freely propagate albeit the more severe
ones can be prevented by a careful early detection. This is a way to
reconcile with the prescriptions of Nature. Nevertheless the “genetical

13
Some do not hesitate to call him a “high level charlatan”. However he has been hired by
Google to head the Department of Research and Evaluation which assesses projects of the
future. That is certainly not for nothing.

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The Origins and Further 11

filter” does not work as initially intended, so generating in the long run
a “pollution” of our global genetic heritage. Hopefully such a drift is
very slow.

1.2. The time for biology

Time has come for Man to directly interfere with this natural organization.
The mystery of heredity was discovered by James Watson and Francis
Crick in 1953 to be located in an interminable molecule named DNA.
They initially thought that at least a century would be necessary to keep
clear of this complexity but, nevertheless, 10 years were enough for Craig
Venter to be able to decrypt this structure.
A multitude of scientists jumped in to analyze the properties of this
fundamental biological element and quite soon the new technique of
“CRISPR14 cas 9” recently opened new horizons in this field and allowed
man to freely change a sequence. The new science of epigenetics was
born. That was an opened door for transhumanists to imagine a new kind
of humanity that would be adapted to any requirement by optimizing the
DNA molecules. From now on, excitement is at the zenith with this
opened access to all sorts of manipulation, from extended longevity to the
improved, augmented, transformed man, or the artificial15 “designer
baby” (zero defect ensured) grown out of utero.
The old dream of Pygmalion who felt in love with its statue Galatea
has become reality. This is fantastic but also incredibly frightening. Now
that biologists can play with DNA, they struggle in vain (to date!) to find
a gene directly related to death. Short of reaching this Holy Grail, they
found that many indirect contributions arise in the mechanism of ageing
and are trying to stop or even reverse the process. The unsubstantiated
theories of the transhumanists find here a very strong support for their
predications.

14
Contrary to popular belief CRISPR was not born in Bethlehem but in Berkeley in 2012
from the work of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.
15
First trials were already undertaken, the first time on sheep, but more recently a couple
of twin sisters were born in China using genetically modified gametes to prevent any risk
of being contaminated by the HIV virus. This is a very first step.

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12 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

George Church (who is in no way an entertainer) even talks about

obtaining a possible “ageing reversal” or “rejuvenation” process which
could drastically change the equation and boost the process of evolution.
He said: “there are a fair number of precedents for this in animals but the
idea is to get it transferred to humans”, and, on top of that, this genetical
rectification should be transmitted to man’s descendants! This would cer-
tainly bring a “necessity” to live which could drastically temper the previ-
ous effects of “chance” of death.

2. What about God and Nature?

In the remote epochs of life, the unit of time was a million years; this
allowed for dinosaurs to evolve quietly. Darwin said it was a slow bio-
mechanical process of selection/evolution driven by chance and necessity.
This was intended to be a perfectly deterministic mechanism driven by
error/success logic. God (Nature) launched the machine and let it go, for
better or worse.
How to deal with machines we are expected to live with? Most transhu-
manists do not trust a transcendent soul. They more likely trust in a compat-
ibility (to find) of the human mind with the digital hardware; they guess that,
at some (utopian) point, human consciousness could be transferred into a
dedicated media, possibly even in a simulated reality. Tipler16 imagined that
such an achievement in a mega computer might take the dimension of a
“post-human God”. Such a bold extrapolation was actively fought by a large
panel of scientists and philosophers like Hans Moravec or Marvin Minsky.

2.1. The necessity of religions

Tribes of these remote times needed a necessary cohesion to survive and
defend them. That has generated the mythical requirement of a common
belief (and associated rules to be observed) that was to become entrenched.
This psychological training was an essential contribution to the sense of
collective belonging and has been a psychological haven.

16
The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead,
Frank G Tipler, New York: Double Day, 1994.

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The Origins and Further 13

Most famous civilizations (the Pharaohs, Greeks and Romans, even

the Incas) benefitted from a strict regulation by their own religion. These
civilizations left significant archaeological remains and cultural relics that
survived until present day. Each of these previous religions arose from a
lack of ascertained knowledge about our external world. The religion of
the Greeks has been elaborated from the folk traditions of The Iliad and
Odysseus. Every people agreed and adapted to the exigencies … or are
invited to drink the hemlock as Socrates did. Nevertheless it appeared as
evidence, in the long run, that there was no Zeus atop Mount Olympus and
so the Greek religion vanished.
These religions have deeply assisted but never motivated any civiliza-
tion (but rather wars). The ancient religions had to disappear to make
room for the current ones (and their derivatives). This is pure Darwinism.
Would, now, transhumanism be part of the religions of the future?
The fears that dominated in these remote times (cold, heat, hunger,
wild beasts (and humans), health, and death) have been replaced by oth-
ers, equally oppressive (cancer, nuclear, pollution, viruses, pesticides, and
so forth) but death still remains even as life expectancy rockets. This can
still be considered a divine decision despite our best efforts to prevent (or
at least delay) it.
Science and Technology have begun offering perspectives that
have up to now been inconceivable. That has called into question the
belief in any religion and any God. Would that shock wave be strong
enough to shake the very basis of religions? Would the idea of God be
so essential to our lives? Would this idea also have to change and adapt
for survival? Each one will react as he may but would a collective
movement be generated? As a provisional answer Ray Kurzweil says:
“If I was asked if God exists … I would answer, not yet” and he dared
to tell Bill Gates that “If Matter and Energy were saturated with intel-
ligence, ‘it’17 will wake up, be conscious and outstandingly intelligent”.
Dinosaurs have disappeared (unless we could clone a new one!). Now,
the time scale has shrunk drastically down to a year unit and changes are
initiated by human intellectual procedures that are less deterministic and
foreseeable than the geological ones. We are on the verge of changing our

17
That makes reference to a “charismatic operating system” !

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14 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

own biological nature. Is God (Nature) to still let it go and not care? Some
have said that believing in God changes the brain. By extension, would
this mean that if God is to be rubbed out of our minds this would cause us
to revert to a previous state? As Voltaire put it, “Man invented God, not
the opposite”.
It is worth noting that any new religion to emerge since Islam18 did so
some millennium and a half ago. Does this mean that our inventiveness
concerning the idea of God is less and less essential and we have to be
satisfied with the present beliefs? To be convinced now people would
require more compelling arguments and stronger evidence than in the
Middle Ages (although people always deeply need to be comforted).
Religions are silent (all of them). We have entered a new knowledge
age which brings us sophisticated opportunities to challenge still more the
natural order and, inexorably, changes will come. Is there a destiny behind?
Would we have to get through a “Singularity” as transhumanists suggest?
For some time attempts were developed to explain religious experi-
ence and behavior in neuroscientific terms and correlate neural phenom-
ena with experiences of spirituality. Aldous Huxley was the first to use the
term of neurotheology which was intended to refer to a pseudo-science
devoted to a “cognitive neuroscience” of religious experience and spiritu-
ality in a scientific or philosophical context. This was quite unclear until
Laurence McKinney published the first book19 on the subject in 1994.
According to McKinney’s theory, pre-frontal development, in humans,
creates an illusion of chronological time as a fundamental part of normal
adult cognition past the age of three. The inability of the adult brain to
retrieve earlier images experienced by an infantile brain creates questions
such as “Where did I come from?” and “Where does it all go?”, which
McKinney suggests led to the creation of various religious explanations.
This leads to a reinterpretation of religion based on current neuroscientific
research. Some scientists working in the field hypothesize that the basis
of spiritual experience arises in neurological physiology.

18
Only sects were proposed, but they have not gathered enough traction for purpose of
discussion.
19
Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the 21st Century, Laurence O McKinney, The
American Institute for Mindfulness, 1994.

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The Origins and Further 15

All of these efforts still remain quite messy in spite of many experi-
mental attempts to evidence a neurophysiological effect by magnetic
stimulation, fMRI neuroimaging or psychoactive ingredients. However,
this evidently contributes to the field of transhumanism.

2.2. Present status

A large majority of transhumanists do not trust in the possibility of a per-
sonal dedicated soul, they are secular or atheist. They do not imagine a pos-
sible transcendence but admit a feasible compatibility of spirit with
machines that would allow downloading a spirit into a computer. In such an
eventuality it must be supposed that the machine will be in a permanent
continuous relation with the brain in order to upload in real time every
change occurring in the mind (it is well known that “spirit is ready”). So
what might happen after death? Would the machine continue autonomously?
Some say that transhumanism is a materialist pseudo-religion centered
on brain behavior. Futurists speculate about the next few years and imagine
that current works in the field might lead to radical developments allowing
deep improvements to the human. Possibly, a post-Darwinian phase of our
existence where random genetical mutation might be replaced by volun-
tary changes guided by reason, morals, or simply ethical purposes.
Google has become one of the major sponsors for the transhumanist
movement with the support of NBIC20 industries and the active collabora-
tion of Ray Kurzweil. The “Calico” department especially deals with the
fight against ageing and associated diseases. As a matter of fact there is
also strong opposition to these views. The objections relate to the basic
principles of morals and pragmatism. The “Center for Genetics” was cre-
ated in 2001 to counteract the transhumanist’s projects and especially
human cloning. The Vatican has also expressed a clear opposition whereas
Teilhard de Chardin expressed a possible compatibility with Catholicism
in exchange for some evolution in the current dogma.
Man had taken a long time to become “Homo sapiens”; now that he
trusts to master everything,21 would he, all a sudden, turn to a “Homo

20
Nanotechnologies, Biotechnologies, Information, Cognitive Sciences.
21
Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari, Harwill Secker, London, 2015.

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16 Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Deus”? Transhumanists are not alone in dealing with these issues. Teilhard
de Chardin was fascinated by the emerging technologies of the computers
and foresaw that they could lead us to a new stage of consciousness. He
said, in 1950, in his premonitory essay,22 that an “ultra-humanity” was
coming and “that without deep changes, religion is to fade away in the
night”. The incredible grip of religions on the minds of men will become
less and less effective due to extensive information.
Transhumanism is well aware of these issues, namely the relationship
between religion and present scientific requirements. Even Christopher
Benek23 proclaimed himself a transhumanist pastor to promote a common
bond between faith and technology. He says (take a deep breath): “In my
opinion, the word “artificial” is a misleading and a somewhat unhelpful term.
It implies that humanity is the only form of intelligence. We know this is not
the case. But my short answer, if we are talking about autonomous, strong
AI, is yes … because from a theological perspective, we are God’s AI.”
Now would AI artifacts improve man’s intelligence as machines
empowered his strength? Serguei Brin (from Google X Lab) foresees: “we
will make machines that can reason, think and do things better than we can”
whereas the Israelian mathematician Doron Zeilberger adds that “the logic
of the computer is to surpass our conceptual understanding”. That’s a lot! As
a matter of fact the Delph temple carved inscription “Man, know thyself and
you will know the Universe and the Gods” is more than ever on the agenda.
The question of God versus machine was at the origin of a stream of
unfounded and unfinished discussions until now. Ray Kurzweil24 dis-
cussed this profoundly without reaching any firm conclusion. Would
neurons be pure machines or is their organization more subtle? Dembski25
agrees that they need “extra material factors” whereas Jay Richards26 asks

22
La place de l’Homme dans la Nature, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Albin Michel, Paris,
1956.
23
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-digital-self/201705/the-pastor-who-found-
god-in-technology
24
Kurzweil, Singularity, p. 477.
25
The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance Through Small Probabilities, William
Dembski, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
26
Are We Spiritual Machines?: Ray Kurzweil vs. the Critics of Strong A.I., George F.
Filder, Ray Kurzweil, and Jay W. Richards, Discovery Institute, 2001.

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The Origins and Further 17

“are we spiritual machines?”. Kurzweil answers: “So, evolution moves

inexorably toward our conception of God, albeit never reaching this
ideal”. Then God is unable to manifest Himself in a machine because
the machine has not the necessary transcendence. All of that was proposed
16 years ago, is it still so convincing? Not so sure!

3. Darwin and Evolution

The brain is on the way to be deciphered and, possibly, copied; we have
entered a pure Eugenics domain; what does remain for God? We do know
that the mind is fragile but things change if it is to be replaced by a purely
rational and autonomous machine which does not doubt and begins to
think. The machine is in no way afraid of death, neither of pain nor any
danger (except if it has been taught to). Would everything be a matter of
logic? Would it be mandatory to teach the machine a dose of fear, a dose
of morals, somewhat similar to the robot’s limitations and warnings previ-
ously requested by Alan Turing?

3.1. Is transhumanism an evolution in itself?

The transhumanist movement did not come from nothing; from the earli-
est epochs, Man dreamed of a better destiny without waiting for an after
death Paradise; a destiny of extended life and a control of his own being.
This idea can be found among philosophers for a while; perhaps Lamarck
paved the way and Darwin followed with the theory of “transformism”
and evolution which were further considered as natural laws. This was
then refined and supported with the discovery of genetics by Gregor
Mendel27 which is now widely accepted. Then Monod commented: “what
is true for the bacteria is equally true for the elephant”.
They all agree that evolution does not aim at an ultimate perfection
(human being) but at a better adaptation to the environment in order to
simply survive. The only limit is to provide time enough for the species to
reproduce. The individual does not matter from a biological point of view,
the only purpose being the continuity of the species.

27
Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden, Grégor Mendel, Verhandlun-gen des naturforschenden
Vereines, Brunn, 1866.

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