/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14544600
The focus of transhumanism is transforming the human condition for the better through technological means. Two thousand years ago, being able to replace a missing leg with a functional replacement was not a part of the human condition. Now it can be, thanks to technology. Living with poor eyesight used to be a part of the human condition, now it is not. Cancer was a part of the human condition and we're hoping to eliminate that with a little more effort and research. It used to be a part of the human condition that no one could possibly live over the age of a hundred years. Not anymore. It used to be a part of the human condition that infant mortality had a rate of 30-50%. Not anymore. All of the things that were once part and parcel of being human are suddenly not, and this is a good thing.
Ground-level, realistic transhumanism is focused on continuing to improve the human condition. I'd like to live to see the first man or woman comfortably live to the age of a hundred and fifty before I die, something that's impossible for humanity as we know it today. I want to see genetic disease exterminated, something that always has a chance in the modern world. I want a lot of the horrible little things that we have to deal with as human beings to disappear, thanks to the aid of technology. Perhaps once these biggest problems have been eliminated, we can turn to those loftier, more questionable 'problems' that transhumanism in science fiction tackles. But that's a long way from the present and that's not all that transhumanism is.