Ultrahumanism: How We Can All Win

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Introduction<br>The accelerating pace of technological advancement, today most obvious in the field of artificial intelligence, is exciting to some and troubling to others. It’s difficult to guess what place we’ll have in the world ahead. Every aspect of our lives is subject to change—even quintessentially human things like love and beauty.<br>Those who aren’t simply shocked into dumb bewilderment are sometimes tempted toward extreme reactions. One of these extremes is transhumanism: an embrace of technological change and self-transformation that would extend even to the point of remaking ourselves as a different, and perhaps unrecognizable species. The other is traditionalism: rejecting new technology as inherently bad and clinging to the customs and limitations of past generations. Both of these ideologies slow progress toward the kind of future we really want to build.<br>It’s obvious how traditionalism slows progress, of course; but advocacy for transhumanism can slow progress too, because for all those who are enthused by the prospect of dramatic changes to human nature, there are many more who find it disturbing enough to close their hearts and wallets, and even move to bar the way. Ask for too much too soon and you may get too little too late. The fact is that few of us are keen to give up our humanity.<br>In this essay I’ll chart out a middle path I believe most people, including many religious believers and transhumanists, can agree to support. I call it “ultrahumanism.” Ultrahumanism simply means that we use technology to become the best possible versions of ourselves—the best possible humans—without becoming something inhuman.<br>Although ultrahumanism is explicitly not transhumanism, transhumanists may benefit from promoting it. By gathering a broad base of support, a moderate position could accelerate progress now, saving time overall. And some transhumanists will decide ultrahumanism offers a better description of their goals and values, and choose to realign themselves. The faithful should continue reading too, because as I’ll explain, ultrahumanism isn’t a threat to religious values. In fact, it’s the most moral response to the challenges and opportunities created by technology.<br>I quite dislike “isms,” and in my view, tying your identity too tightly to any of them is a mistake. Coining an “ism” is therefore something I do only with great reluctance. But ultrahumanism isn’t intended to be a divisive political ideology. It’s an attempt to mark out a sensible path through the confusing jungle of new technology, and thus facilitate the best kind of progress.<br>This essay covers a wide range of topics, some of which may already be familiar to you. If you have limited time, feel free to skip to the sections of interest, using the descriptions below as a guide.<br>Note: In an ultrahumanist world, everyone will have high enough visual intelligence to read this beautiful font easily. However, if you're still short of the mark, feel free to press the “translate” button above before you continue.

I. A hardware problem. This persuasive and motivational section argues that recent advances in digital technology should strengthen our sense of urgency and inspire us to accelerate biomedical research.<br>II. Let’s heal the sick. This section gives a basic overview of the most beneficial biomedical advances that might arrive in the medium term, including improvements to human health, ability, and longevity. Transhumanists will already be familiar with this information, and may wish to skip ahead.<br>III. Makeover episode. This section recommends the use of beautification technology such as cosmetic surgery, and refutes common objections to it.<br>IV. Expect more technological harms. This section discusses how technology can do us psychological harm, and explains why we should expect the economy to generate more such harmful technologies in the near future. It also argues that we should reject wireheading on moral grounds.<br>V. Don't gamble on uploads. This section argues that we shouldn't turn ourselves into computer software.<br>VI. Relinquishing power. This section discusses the moral implications of far-future technologies, explains why we cannot maximize our competitive power and retain our humanity at the same time, and argues that ultrahumanism offers a superior alternative to both transhumanism and traditionalism. I consider this the most important section of the essay, so if you are short on time, read it first.<br>VII. A note on speciesism. This brief section argues that humans have inherently greater moral value than other entities.<br>VIII. Core principles of ultrahumanism. This section summarizes ultrahumanism in a short list of core principles.<br>I. A hardware problem<br>To explain why the ultrahumanist path is far better than the status quo, I’ll begin by scaring you a little.<br>Artificial intelligence has been gradually...