Transhumanism a religion?

Transhumanism is a new ''philosophical'' movement, It advocates fot the betterment of the human race using science, such breaktrough like defeating old age and even death are goals of this way of tought and are said to be achivable in a matter of years. The improvement of cognitive functions and an idealistic aspirations of humanity.

This could turn us into super-humans! Imagine a world without aging, without death,sickness or mental disabilitys, this would most certainly negate the need for religion.

The question is not wether or not this would be achivable, but my question is : is this what humanity wants? As we use glasses to better ourselves and correct visions,and use pills to counter depression and other flaws, isnt aging considered as a major flaw?

This movement has many Doctorate level advocates such as Aubrey Degrey ect, would this be proper for the human race? wouldnt defeating death be a great victory for humanity? I await your oppinions about this.

Regards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

Every soul shall taste of death...[3:185]


(80) A Revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.
(81) Is it this Statement that ye scorn,
(82) And make denial thereof your livelihood?
(83) Then why do ye not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat,-
(84) And ye are at that moment looking
(85) And We are nearer unto him than ye are, but ye see not -
(86) Then why do ye not,- If you are exempt from (future) account,-
(87) Call back the soul, if ye are true (in the claim of independence)?

[Surah al Waqiyah 80:87]

Defeat Death?

I think they are rather afraid that God really does exists, they don't want to admit/believe and hence they try to find anything that pleases their minds.

Death can never be defeated whether they like it or not.

Imagine a world without aging, without death,sickness or mental disabilitys

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Aren't we all striving to get there...Jannah(Heaven)?

All we have to do is obey God and do good.

This world is just temporary, There is no way humans can accomplish this.

Humans must fix their own hearts first!


Do we want this?

No , not in this world.

I thought they were pleased with one life.

memories said:

....

The question is not wether or not this would be achivable, but my question is : is this what humanity wants? As we use glasses to better ourselves and correct visions,and use pills to counter depression and other flaws, isnt aging considered as a major flaw?

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Humans want most of all security - not invincibility. Whilst we have an invinciblity complex (which acts partly as a defense mechanism), human beings are at their heart insecure.

Plus, even if they were to find a way to cure all diseases (big lol to that) and counter ageing, do you really think that will stop murderers, criminals etc? Humans have killed one another throughout the ages - it is actually part of the insecurity complex to do so (this person makes you feel insecure, only way to feel secure is by getting rid of him etc).

Only way to prevent such things would be some sort of gene-altering method or eliminating parts of the psyche i.e. remove the social desire aspect. But that is a CORE function for humans - it's how we roll. Remove that (you would need to if your aim was ultimate perfection) and you have a bunch of elites who would end up doing NOTHING (since you would have had to remove competitive element in order to prevent aggression which often leads to killing etc).

So congratulations your perfect human is the outer casing of a robot. Without primary programmes (some of which cause crimes etc and thus would need to be removed in order to create ''pefection''), human beings are USELESS.

You could propose a counter: why not just reduce the amount as opposed to eliminate completely those core programming functions - which would again be bad as they'd be less motivated (than normal) to do things - which IS NOT PERFECTION.

There's a reason why we human beings have these attributes - because without, we wouldn't be human beings and we most certainly would not have lived up until the 21 century. The limitations that we have MOTIVATE us to do things. Replacing those with ''perfect'' attributes would result in NO MOTIVATION.

In short: transhumanism is bs. Don't get me wrong: I am all for supporting hospitals and movements to help people get better etc (and if thats all they want to do, awesome they have my support), but I do not want to live forever (in this life). Let that be a dream or a hope that I can hold onto - because in reality, it just wouldn't work. Imortality works best as a dream or goal - keep it that way.

memories said:

Transhumanism is a new ''philosophical'' movement, It advocates fot the betterment of the human race using science, such breaktrough like defeating old age and even death are goals of this way of tought and are said to be achivable in a matter of years. The improvement of cognitive functions and an idealistic aspirations of humanity.

This could turn us into super-humans! Imagine a world without aging, without death,sickness or mental disabilitys, this would most certainly negate the need for religion.

The question is not wether or not this would be achivable, but my question is : is this what humanity wants? As we use glasses to better ourselves and correct visions,and use pills to counter depression and other flaws, isnt aging considered as a major flaw?

This movement has many Doctorate level advocates such as Aubrey Degrey ect, would this be proper for the human race? wouldnt defeating death be a great victory for humanity? I await your oppinions about this.

Regards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

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For someone thats of a religion, I would have actually expected the opposite thoughts on this issue. I find the subject of "defeating death" to be rather depressing in itself to be honest. And I think the other posts above me just about summed it up.

Their trying to hide from Allah swt

But, as human beings dont we deserve something better? to live forever immortality on earth? think about the technological progresses that could be accomplished with such humans! Think about the achivements!

Im sure no one here would turn down this offer. what would be the need of a god?

Güven said:

Imagine a world without aging, without death,sickness or mental disabilitys, this would most certainly negate the need for religion.

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Aren't we all striving to get there...Jannah(Heaven)?

All we have to do is obey God and do good.

This world is just temporary,

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The brother has just said it all for you, there's a place out there much better than anything possible on earth, with pleasures our minds cannot comprehend and this is created specially for those humans who deserve it

If you are sincere in faith and follow guidence from Allah then theres no reason why you won't be admitted to it

memories said:

But, as human beings dont we deserve something better? to live forever immortality on earth? think about the technological progresses that could be accomplished with such humans! Think about the achivements!

Im sure no one here would turn down this offer. what would be the need of a god?

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Is this seriously coming from a christian? do your beliefs not tell you look forward to the reward in the afterlife?

aadil77 said:

The brother has just said it all for you, there's a place out there much better than anything possible on earth, with pleasures our minds cannot comprehend and this is created specially for those humans who deserve it

If you are sincere in faith and follow guidence from Allah then theres no reason why you won't be admitted to it

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Yes but, theirs no proof of this place you mention, while if we could achieve immortality on earth and proove it to be so, wouldnt you prefer putting your stocks in a proven immortality? retaher than in some place you ''think'' you will go to when you die?

Lets not forget death is the end of Biological functions, and for the record, did you ever visit a Brain dead person in the hospital? They appear pretty souless to me, If someone was to take a large part of your brain out, you would appear pretty souless also, just like any othe life form with a ''smaller'' brain.

Aha!

memories said:

...think about the technological progresses that could be accomplished with such humans! Think about the achivements!

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Like what? If you are immortal, nothing is impossible for you. You no longer have to pay for your goods, you can just steal them (who will stop you? who can stop you? You're freakin' immortal!) Once you obtain immortality, what else is needed to be achieve? You have endless LIFE! That's the biggest possible achievement mankind could ever want.

Simply put, a world full of immortals (with human psyche) would be very boring. You wouldn't be able to achieve anything. The sense of struggle and trials and tribulations etc would no longer exist, so you'd never feel inside of you the sense of achievement.

Im sure no one here would turn down this offer. what would be the need of a god?

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You are ignoring the spiritual side of humans. Every human being has an element of spirituality - in common english this is known as dreams or hopes or ambitions. So even with immortality, people would still need God/religion. Probably even more so for reasons stated previously.

The difference between paradise and transhumanism's goal of immortality is that in paradise, our psyche will be different (this is based on what I personally have read about paradise in Islam). Our programming and nature will be suited FOR immortality.

memories said:

Yes but, theirs no proof of this place you mention, !

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So you're not a christian? or you're just certain that your way of life will not lead you to this 'place', so you'd rather not believe in it?

Strange coming from a christian

so aamirsaab your saying it couldnt work because it would get to be boring? and im talking technological progress such as space exploration, all of these things that cant be achived in a normal lifespan.

Your saying that in paradise our psyche will be different how can you state this? While you cant even prove the existence of said paradise.

your arguments take into account that we have a soul yet I would be curious of seeing you provide proof of the existence of a soul.

aadil77 said:

So you're not a christian? or you're just certain that your way of life will not lead you to this 'place', so you'd rather not believe in it?

Strange coming from a christian

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Please stay on topic and quit questionning my faith, I consider these beliefs wolly compatible with my system of beleif.

memories said:

Transhumanism is a new ''philosophical'' movement, It advocates fot the betterment of the human race using science, such breaktrough like defeating old age and even death are goals of this way of tought and are said to be achivable in a matter of years. The improvement of cognitive functions and an idealistic aspirations of humanity.

This could turn us into super-humans! Imagine a world without aging, without death,sickness or mental disabilitys, this would most certainly negate the need for religion.

The question is not wether or not this would be achivable, but my question is : is this what humanity wants? As we use glasses to better ourselves and correct visions,and use pills to counter depression and other flaws, isnt aging considered as a major flaw?

This movement has many Doctorate level advocates such as Aubrey Degrey ect, would this be proper for the human race? wouldnt defeating death be a great victory for humanity? I await your oppinions about this.

Regards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

Click to expand...

All things die. Even stars burn out.

But, as human beings dont we deserve something better?

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No. I don’t believe we do. I believe, given our propensity, as a species, for violence and suffering, no good would come of this.

Or rather, the bad would outweigh any good.

to live forever immortality on earth? think about the technological progresses that could be accomplished with such humans! Think
about the achivements!

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Think of Icarus…

Think about the crimes. Think about the atrocities. Think about the misery.

You think immortality is going to make everyone play nice? You think everyone will just pull together to further scientific achievement? You think people are going to stop hurting or robbing or raping or traumatising or stigmatising others?

Were immortality possible, it would at first only be administered to certain individuals. Who, then, would decide who could become immortal or not? People would kill others for that power. And ultimately, the Haves and the Have Nots would become the Immortals and the Mortals.

Is that the kind of society humanity wants to become?

memories said:

But, as human beings dont we deserve something better? to live forever immortality on earth? think about the technological progresses that could be accomplished with such humans! Think about the achivements!

Click to expand...

There's an old saying, "Science advances one funeral at a time."

memories said:

so aamirsaab your saying it couldnt work because it would get to be boring?

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With our present psyche, immortality would be useless.

...and im talking technological progress such as space exploration, all of these things that cant be achived in a normal lifespan.

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Space travel? That's the great achievement mankind needs to make?

Your saying that in paradise our psyche will be different how can you state this? While you cant even prove the existence of said paradise.

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Based upon what I have read about paradise, I have determined our psyche will be different. Doesn't matter if I cannot prove existence of paradise - that's not the point I was making. My point was our present psyche is NOT compatible with immortality. We have certain in-built mechanisms that work on the basis of FAILURE/MORTALITY; by having immortality or success (100% gauranteed what!) In order for immortality to actually work for human beings, you'd have to make so many changes to the psyche, they'd no longer be considered human beings!

your arguments take into account that we have a soul yet I would be curious of seeing you provide proof of the existence of a soul.

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I'm not talking about soul neccessarily (that is more to do with afterlife). I am talking about what makes us human is our mortality and the fact that we have mechanisms in our genetic make up that work as a result of mortality (i.e. hopes, dreams, ambitions) which means humans having immortality would NOT WORK. The only way to make it work would be to genetically engineer humans to such an extend that they could not be considered human beings (because you would have had to essentially re-program them).

''Human enhancement refers to any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means. The term is sometimes applied to the use of technological means to select or alter human characteristics and capacities, whether or not the alteration results in characteristics and capacities that lie beyond the existing human range. Here, the test is whether the technology is used for non-therapeutic purposes. Some bioethicists restrict the term to the non-therapeutic application of specific technologies — neuro-, cyber-, gene-, and nano-technologies — to human biology.[1][2]''


Yes reprogaming could be possible along transhumanism, There! any other objections? that is if reprogramming would be possible?

''Space travel? That's the great achievement mankind needs to make?'''

Space travel seemes like a pretty good achivement, what do you have to offer?

(OFF TOPIC) Here is a song I think some might find pretty good one of my romanian friends showed it to me ''undeva Balkani''
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fARwU02bnuU&feature=channel_page

memories said:

''Space travel? That's the great achievement mankind needs to make?'''

Space travel seemes like a pretty good achivement, what do you have to offer?

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Curing cancer.

Without resorting to immortality. As that's cheating.

Muezzin said:

Without resorting to immortality. As that's cheating.

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Resorting to immortality? if one could resort to immortality to cure cancer Im sure One would do it, It would be highly immoral to refuse progress to cure something as deadly as cancer because of some Ethical Doctrine saying its ''cheating'' etc. We ought to use every tool we can to embetter the human race is waht I say.