Great essay, Tom. I agree with your points, though I find myself coming at the fear you describe from the other way: that transhumanism is not so much a fear of death as much as a fear of life. I think this is what you begin to get at here: "Or worse, that lead you to spend your one and only finite mortal life in trying to device fanciful technological ways of cheating death which in the end mean that you never get around to the actual business of living." I don't see these individuals fearing death by refusing to travel in planes and cars, consume alcohol, etc, but I do see them as solving their meaning and presence crisis by extending the issue indefinitely into the future.
This is part of the reason I find the following anecdote completely unsurprising: https://twitter.com/freganmitts/status/1444019853497671691. When I first heard of the Experience Machine I was horrified by it. I very much might rather be tortured, then to enter the Experience Machine (which seems a worse kind of torture anyway).
As much as I agree with your reasoning and conclusions, I'm usually wary of pronouncing judgements on hypothetical futures. We simply do not know enough yet (at least, I know I don't) to cast aspersions on their dream.
The "What If?" of tranhumanism is tempting to many because of it's promise of utopia. I think it's Good™ to have people working on it (safely and wisely), in the same way that it's good to have people who are trad trying to "retvrn".
Maybe you already know this, and this piece is merely trying to bring balance to an increasingly tech-friendly discourse. In which case, carry on Tom.
Great essay, Tom. I agree with your points, though I find myself coming at the fear you describe from the other way: that transhumanism is not so much a fear of death as much as a fear of life. I think this is what you begin to get at here: "Or worse, that lead you to spend your one and only finite mortal life in trying to device fanciful technological ways of cheating death which in the end mean that you never get around to the actual business of living." I don't see these individuals fearing death by refusing to travel in planes and cars, consume alcohol, etc, but I do see them as solving their meaning and presence crisis by extending the issue indefinitely into the future.
This is part of the reason I find the following anecdote completely unsurprising: https://twitter.com/freganmitts/status/1444019853497671691. When I first heard of the Experience Machine I was horrified by it. I very much might rather be tortured, then to enter the Experience Machine (which seems a worse kind of torture anyway).
As much as I agree with your reasoning and conclusions, I'm usually wary of pronouncing judgements on hypothetical futures. We simply do not know enough yet (at least, I know I don't) to cast aspersions on their dream.
The "What If?" of tranhumanism is tempting to many because of it's promise of utopia. I think it's Good™ to have people working on it (safely and wisely), in the same way that it's good to have people who are trad trying to "retvrn".
Maybe you already know this, and this piece is merely trying to bring balance to an increasingly tech-friendly discourse. In which case, carry on Tom.