May 21, 2004

The Sun Herald on Transhumanism

Southern Mississippi's Sun Herald has published an article on transhumanism, "Transhumanism Takes Technology to the Level of Faith", that mentions WTA executive director James Hughes and cyborg Steve Mann, both of whom will be speaking at TransVision later this summer. Other transhumanist thinkers mentioned in the article include Marvin Minsky and Ray Kurzweil. Excerpt:
Transhumanists come in a wide variety, said James J. Hughes, executive director of the World Transhumanist Association based in Willington, Conn.

Some are interested in life extension. Some want to be immortal. Some think nanotechnology - the emerging science of molecular machines - will someday repair our bodies from the inside out. Others are convinced they'll someday extend their memories with computer implants or upload their consciousness into a smarter-than-human artificial intelligence.

What all share is the desire "to ethically use technology to become more than human," said Hughes, whose organization has 3,000 members in 24 chapters across 98 countries.

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