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/lit/ - Literature

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2746437 No.2746437 [Reply] [Original]

What are some good reads on transhumanism? I'm mostly interested in the issue of human augmentation, but suggestions for books on AI singularity whatnot are appreciated as well.

>> No.2746445

there aren't any

>> No.2746451

it's transhumanism the politically correct term for furries or something, well yif in hell furfag

>> No.2746454

Kurzweil, Borges, Vinge

>> No.2747971

>>2746454
Anything in particular?

>> No.2747975

>>2747971
Read The Singularity is Near, and The Age of Spiritual Machines, both by Ray Kurzweil

>> No.2747978

the best I've found is Ghost In The Shell

It's a manga, but this board was originally for anime and it is technically /lit/.

plus, it's fucking awesome

>> No.2748017
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2748017

>>2746437
>human augmentation

I seem to post this in every thread like this... But check out any publication by Steve Mann. He is a fucking genius professor of cybernetics at the University of Toronto. He has built a pair of glasses that beams an array of lasers into his retinas allowing him to view email and surf the web and can even use physical surfaces to overlay whatever image he wants over the top. Pic related is him.

Another noteworthy genius is Proff Kevin Warwick or Reading uni, UK. He has embedded a small circuit in his forearm and connected it directly to his nervous system. It shoots pulses into his nerve endings when he nears sensors, allowing him to "feel" his way around a heavily obstacled room. He can even walk around a maze in total darkness because his implant allows him to form a mental map of where the physical objects are. He also has written extensively on the subject of human augmentation.

As mentioned before Ray Kurzweil is the obvious person to turn to for predictions about the future of tech, and human interaction with tech. Freeman Dyson is worth checking out too.

>> No.2748034
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2748034

Andy Clark: "Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence"

was you familiar with it? I suggested it here to a transhumanist inquirer between two and five months ago. was it YOU? do you ask for personal interest or for advertising the subject?

>> No.2748043

My vision is augmented.

>> No.2748126

>>2746437
try altered carbon and some stories from hyperion (kassad and amazon chick)

>> No.2748129

>>2748017
those two you mentioned are gimmicky charlatans...

>> No.2748134

You didn't ask for this, but there isn't any. Transhumanism is a currently socially acceptable form of Scientology or Realianism, soon to be equally mocked when treated seriously outside of fiction.

>> No.2748150
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2748150

>>2748134
Transhumanism is a widely definable concept. In general, it's a set of ideas or a movement that seeks to overcome being human with the help of technology. In this sense, we are all transhumanists already. Drawing some arbitrary line would be ridiculous.

I'd say being transhumanist is basic human nature. Every great religion is in a way merely an expression of transhumanist wishes.

>> No.2748151

>>2748129
>those two you mentioned are gimmicky charlatans

Mind explaining why? Kevin Warwick happens to be one of my lecturers, I can assure you he is no Charlatan. Steve Mann happens to be one of the worlds leading experts in optical cybernetics, I'm considering trying to get a PHD placement under him, but would love to hear your informed opinion on why both of these PHD level experts are nothing more than "gimmicky charlatans". Neither of them could get permission to experiment on a live human, so were forced to use their own bodies. So I really don't understand your opinion, but eagerly await your explanation anyway.

>> No.2748153

>>2748134
I'm not a transhuman in the slightest, but this is ridiculous. Scientology is based on principles that are COMPLETELY ungrounded in scientific fact, and yet present themselves as Gospel - false histories, false understandings of biology, etc. Transhumanism is based on the idea of augmenting humans via technology - something that is already in practice. Sure, there might be an over-abundant amount of idealism - "Transhumanism will save the human race" - but optimism doesn't make a cult . . ESPECIALLY when that optimism is actually pretty justified; do you want to smash a pace-maker?

>> No.2748171

>>2748151
>>2748153
Be aware that /lit/ is home to a lot of half-arsed romanticism and fetishising of the past, gentlemen. Here be typewriters.

>> No.2748174

>>2746437
I fucking love that effect on picture. How to?

>> No.2748184

>>2748174
Photoshop each .gif layer separately.

>> No.2748204

>>2747978
Ghost in the Shell is awesome. But personally, I see it more as a commentary on the differences between man and machine and what it means to be human than on the issue of human augmentation.

Either way, do watch/ read it!