Refuting Techno Transhumanism

A Framework for Understanding The Flaws of Techno Transhumanism and Why Humanism is the Only Viable Path

We hear all the time how technology and science are on the verge of unlocking unfathomable advances and that many things we thought limited to the realm of science fiction will finally be possible. From AI and quantum computing to genetic editing and bioaugmentation, these technologies will allow humanity to transcend our limited biological self, and achieve the next logical step in our evolution. But are these things even possible and if so, should we even be seeing limitations as nothing but an impediment?

Not only do I believe that this vision of Techno Transhumanism is egregiously overhyped in what it is capable of, but fundamentally mistaken in what it even aims to do and ignorant of the limitations and dangers it will encounter in its attempts to achieve these goals of transcendence. I expect the philosophical battle between Techno Transhumanism and Humanism to be at the heart of almost every societal issue going forward and if we are to effectively discuss humanity’s path forward, we need to create a comprehensive framework to understand the relevant elements and define them clearly. The goal of this article is to take this conversation beyond the simple gut reaction to Techno Transhumanism being wrong and lay out that comprehensive framework and argument to address all the problems with Techno Transhumanism from its very premise to the invisible problems in its implementation.

I will warn you in advance, this is going to be an extremely long article, admittedly bordering on tedious at times, but necessary to comprehensively define a framework that identifies all the elements of this issue and the key arguments to facilitate understanding and future conversation. It is also important to point out that my stance as a Humanist is not to forgo technology all together, but to find a healthy balance when using technology, and the only way to find that balance is to understand what must be considered and how it can be balanced.

Let’s dive in.

Defining Terms

Before we get into the details of the argument, let’s make sure we have clear definitions of the concepts we are talking about.

Techo Transhumanism

Definition Techno Transhumanism

Techno Transhumanists view humans as infinitely malleable, limited only by our technological and scientific understanding and capability. To a Techno Transhumanist things like uploading your consciousness to the cloud, a complete genetic redesign of your body, or telepathic communication are possible, it is simply a matter of developing the technology to do so.

Not only that, but Techno Transhumanists believe that Techno Transhumanism is the next logical and necessary step in human evolution. A kind of manifest destiny to transcend our limited human forms and merge with machines to become a type of god.

They define this transcendence through technology as good by the standards of increased power or mastery over our material world, unlocking future progression and exploration.

Simply put, Techno Transhumanism is the belief that humans can and should use technology to transcend our natural limitations, that those limitations are meant to be broken and do not define what we are, and that the goal of power and progress is the correct and worthy aim.

Examples of Techno Transhumanism

There are many examples of Techno Transhumanism of varying degrees. The most extreme of which is probably the concept of the singularity where humans merge with machines into a global consciousness and are no longer limited by our biological and material selves. But there are also less extreme versions which we are already starting to see today.

Drugs like Ozempic that claim to give you healthy weight loss without requiring dieting or exercise are a result of Techno Transhumanist efforts as well as the practice of designer genetics that claim to be able to modify living organisms to either improve or recreate desired traits such as the recent announcement of the engineered return of the dire wolf. I would even say use of common technologies like cellphones or the more recent use of LLMs for creative and productive work certainly qualify as a type of Techno Transhumanism, making it possible to communicate instantaneously over long distances or create written work with a simple prompt. Basically anything that seeks to create synthetic processes to achieve desired results. And while these advancements might be (or seem) beneficial and better on specific dimensions, they often come at invisible costs that must be understood and balanced.

Problems with Techno Transhumanism

I will go into these issues in greater depth later on in the article, but I want to introduce you to a list and simple definitions of the problems with Techno Transhumanism for easy reference and to begin to consider as we dive deeper into these issues.

Desirability - The goals Techno Transhumanist wants to achieve might sound attractive at first, but might not actually be desirable due to hidden costs or second order effects.

Achieveability - The goals Techno Transhumanist want to achieve might not even be achievable to begin with given the limitations not only of technology but also human biology.

Second Order Issues - There are many second order problems that will arise in the achievement of Techno Trashumanist goals that are not immediately visible.

Development Issues - The path to achieving Techno Transhumanist goals will not be without developmental issues as scientists are messing around in very complicated systems and cannot possibly be aware of all the effects, good, but often bad, that will result.

Marginal Advantage - Many of the goals of Techno Transhumanism, if or when achieved, will not result in a significant advantage as might be believed or advertised and often the tradeoff will not be worth paying.

Agency Atrophy - The use of Techno Transhumanist methods will often atrophy human ability to interact in the real world, creating a dependance that could be extremely detrimental to both individuals and society.

A point that is central to all these problems is dealing with limitations and how the Techno Transhumanist mindset that limitations are only detrimental and meant to be overcome is a deeply flawed framework that will lead to serious issues across many dimensions.

Humanism

Defining Humanism

The concept of Humanism sees humanity as having a fundamental nature that, while limiting, is not to be perceived as a negative impediment, but an integral aspect of humanity that must be foundational to our progress if it is to be healthy and sustainable. Humanity evolved along the path that it did because this path is in harmony with reality and breaking from that nature in order to “transcending limitations” would be like ignoring the fundamental laws of our reality.

Instead, Humanism promotes progress in consideration of human nature, understanding the trade offs between natural and synthetic processes and making sure not to implement change that would unmoor us from our healthy and viable foundation.

Examples of Humanism

One of the most easily understandable examples of Humanism is the superiority of breastfeeding natural mother’s milk over synthetic baby formula. No matter how advanced science becomes, it will never be able to improve upon a mother’s milk as there are aspects that are simply impossible to replicate or improve upon. Not just the actual quality of the nutrients of the milk, but the experience for both infant and mother in the act of breastfeeding.

Humanists would also stress the importance and value of what Transhumanist would only see as slower or more costly process. A good example is in person communication versus online. While online might be faster, we lose many of the less visible and healthy aspects of communication that are only achievable in person such as body language, tone, or appearance. The distinction is that Humanists see synthetic processes like online communication as a trade off and not a strict upgrade, whereas Techno Transhumanists would only see the dimensions of improvement or say that future improvement of technology will account for any downsides.

Challenges of Humanism

While I might advocate for Humanism as superior to Techno Transhumanism, it is not without its own challenges. I will touch on them briefly here and will dive deeper into them further on in the article.

Defining What is Natural - If the goal of Humanism is to maintain a foundation in humanity’s nature, it is essential we correctly identify what is actually healthy and natural.

Staying Competitive - While Humanism considers natural processes superior, this is not to say that synthetic processes are not better on certain dimensions and Humanists must not let blind loyalty to natural processes stop them from being competitive in a world of technological progression.

Responsibility with Power - While Techno Transhumanists only see upside in unlocking new technology, Humanists understand that technology provides greater power and that all power must be used responsibly if it is to be sustainable.

Ideologically Compelling - Compared to the promises of Tech Transhumanism, Humanism is not nearly as exciting an ideology as it advocates for responsibility and balance. If Humanism is to succeed as an ideology, it must find a way to make the ideology compelling.

Elements of Consideration

As I stated earlier, my goal with this article is to lay out a comprehensive framework for understanding and judging the ideologies of Techno Transhumanism and Humanism. To do that, we must identify and define the elements that must be addressed or considered to have an accurate understanding of these ideologies and their trade offs. This next section lays out those elements and I will later apply them to addressing the problems and challenges of each ideology.

It is important to note that many of these elements overlap with each other as they are simply different ways of explaining what is fundamentally the same thing: an incongruence with natural reality, but I believe characterizing them in this way highlights the important aspects of the larger problems with Techno Transhumanism.

Techno Fantasy Versus Reality

Before anything else about Techno Transhumanism can be discussed, we must first separate techno fantasy from reality. While there are people who swear that humanity can and will achieve the ability to upload a person’s consciousness to a computer or develop a pill that will be able to keep you in perfect physical health, just because it can be imagined or is a common trope in science fiction, does not mean it is possible. In fact, I believe many Techno Transhumanist, especially those with products or ideas to sell, purposely prey upon the techno fantasies established by entertainment media to convince people of the viability of impossible technologies, and if we are to have a serious conversation, we need to have a realistic understanding of what is possible and dismiss what is not.

Just as no advancement in technology will allow us to travel faster than the speed of light, there are many other limitations we will not be able to break no matter how advanced our technology becomes. And while I will be as generous as possible about those limits, no meaningful conversation can be had if those limits are not acknowledged and accepted.

Fundamental to understanding what is possible, we need to not only consider the limits of technology, but the limits of humans and our biology. While technology could allow us to speed up a podcast as fast as we want, humans simply cannot process language past a certain speed. We might find ways to marginally increase this speed, but there is a bandwidth limit and we can’t simply download an entire book of knowledge into our brain like computers move information from one harddrive to another.

The reason I choose to list this consideration first is that without dispelling the misconceptions of techno fantasy, no meaningful conversation about Techno Transhumanism can be had. While we can be open to all the amazing advances in technology that are sure to come, if we pretend technology has no limits, every serious problem with Techno Transhumanism can be handwaved away as solvable by future advancements.

Visible Versus Invisible (Second Order Effects)

Another issue impeding the ability to effectively discuss the issues with Techno Transhumanism and unfettered technological progression is the problem of visible versus invisible effects. Techno Transhumanism will often focus on the immediate benefit it provides, often ignoring the second order effects the implementation of these synthetic processes have. If we decide how to use technology only by what immediate and visible effects it has, we risk damaging the delicate balance of these less visible systems, making trade offs that are not beneficial in the long run.

Although Techno Transhumanist might not frame it this way, their ideology defines “the good” it strives to obtain as results, for the individual, in the short term. This is because those are the things that are most visible. “I want to become extremely physically fit and use technology and science to develop a magic pill to do so.” Even if this works, a world where everyone is in peak physical condition bypasses the natural process required and can have serious second order effects. What is being missed is the value of process, the effect on the group, and the effect over the long term.

Visible - Results, Individual, Short Term
Invisible - Process, Group, Long Term

In order for us to correctly weigh the impact of technological development, we cannot exclusively focus on the immediate, visible effects, must also consider the invisible ones as that is where the cost of transcending the natural limitations is paid, like constructing a dam that destroys a local ecosystem.

Results Versus Process

In pursuit of their “good”, Techno Transhumanists often look for ways to achieve desired results more effectively with a modified or synthetic process. A pill that will make you instantly healthy or a brain chip that will allow you to instantly download the ability to perform Kung Fu. What they often miss is that even if you could achieve a desired result with the press of a button, this is not “strictly better” in that there is only upside and no downside. You are still losing something: the previous natural process that was required to achieve that thing. And that process, even if it is slow and costly, has value. Often, that process was limiting, but that limitation caused positive second order effects that, when lost, will throw the broader systems out of balance.

Because of this, it is important that we do not limit our consideration to the results that technology provides, but also how it changes the process by which we achieve those results and the effects changing that process might have. I cannot stress enough that Techno Transhumanism will sell itself by only talking about the results, but ignores the process. We must understand that process is not simply a limitation meant to be transcended, but that limiting process often provides a value that needs to be understood before we replace it lest we destroy something that was balancing these broader invisible systems and create more problems than we solve.

Limitations Are Positive

It is important to establish that limitations, such as a manual and slow natural process, are not inherently negative. In fact, I would argue that limitations are essential and play critical roles in keeping balance of many of the invisible systems that support human success. And that engagement with and respect for our limitations is what facilitates healthy individuals and society.

We can think of the common trope of the genie who grants someone anything they might desire only for them to realize it is not at all what they expected. And we don’t even have to look to fairy tales for examples: people who win the lottery often end up bankrupt in a matter of months. Not back to their original level of wealth but a complete loss of all wealth. This is because even with something that seems like only upside, more money, there is a hidden cost. With power comes the hidden responsibility to wield it wisely and giving people power beyond their ability to be responsible will often result in them bringing about their own destruction.

Limits are an extension of the natural world, serving to keep it balanced and helping us understand what we need to pay attention to. If you want people to like you, it forces you to be someone likeable. If you can simply conjure up a bunch of AI friends, what need do you have to change or improve? And more importantly, what kind of effect do you think that would have on society broadly? We might not like the limits the natural world imposes on us, but we must first consider that these limitations exist for a purpose and breaking them might break systems we are unaware of, systems that keep us and society balanced.

Natural Versus Synthetic

Technology can be understood as the creation of synthetic processes to replace natural processes in services of achieving desired results. This is not so much a binary, but a scale of degree. What makes a natural process natural is its alignment with the natural world and its systems. In many more ways than we can immediately see, natural processes take into account and balance with the invisible systems and limitations. The danger of synthetic process is the degree to which it can be out of balance with these invisible systems and limitations because it is often blind to all the ways in which the natural process is superior.

For example, if we compare animal husbandry to genetic engineering, while husbandry is a much slower, natural process, there is a significantly less risk that husbandry will create genetic defects that lead to serious complications than if we genetically modified animals for the desired traits. Even assuming those modifications resulted in the traits we wanted, we simply do not know enough about genetics to accurately predict the other ways in which those changes will affect the animal or other elements of the broader natural system and its balance.

Internet communication is another good example of this. Using the synthetic process of internet communication, we can certainly communicate faster and share information more broadly, which makes it better on those dimensions. However, in person communication has many less visible elements that enhance the communication that cannot be captured when communicating digitally; things like body language, intonation, personal appearance, even smell are things we can pull information from in person, but are lost when communicating digitally. We can use stopgap solutions like emojis to convey tone, but even then, we are simply mimicking the superior communication of the in person method.

Simply put, natural processes are superior but not always better when judged in specific dimensions. When creating synthetic process to replace natural processes, we need to understand that there are many invisible elements we need to consider and many that we will not be aware of until we see the impact it has. If new technology is to be successful, it needs to be considerate of the superiority of the natural process and understand the tradeoff it is making.

The Human is Always The Pilot

The final thing we must be aware of when discussing Techno Transhumanism is that no matter how advanced the technology becomes, humans are always the ones directing it. We can never fully hand over everything to technology, even if we wanted to.

A simple example is the use of LLMs for the creation of written content. While the LLM might be the one writing the long form article, it is still the human who writes the prompt and at a higher level, deciding that the prompt even needed to be written in the first place and what it should even be about. We should also consider that the LLM, as much as we might feel like it evolved on its own, was trained by humans making decisions on what data to use and what results were acceptable. There is always a human element.

If technology alone allows people to achieve great things like the Techno Transhumanists would lead you to believe, then why is it not possible for anyone to become a popular intellectual on social media or to build a successful business? This is because technology is simply a tool and the effectiveness of its use is always a matter of the quality of the person piloting it.

The Problems with Techno Transhumanism

Now that we have gone over the key elements of consideration, we can see how they apply to the specific problems of Techno Transhumanism.

Desirability

I am going to approach the discussion about the desirability of the promises of Techno Transhumanism in the most generous way possible, assuming that you get the thing that is promised with no adverse effects. Even if you can just take a pill that makes you immediately super healthy or if the brain chip they install has no ability to malfunction or act in a way other than exactly how you would intend, we will quickly see that even in that scenario (as nigh impossible as it is) there are still many serious problems that will make these results not nearly as desirable as they sound initially.

In the case we are achieving something we could through a natural process, we are still replacing the natural process with a synthetic one and losing out on the benefits that nature process offers to both us as individuals, but also the balancing work it does for the broader society over the long run. We also will quickly see that granting people power does not mean they will necessarily use that power well. And even if we get what we want, there might be many invisible costs we didn’t know we would be required to pay. Finally, by giving up the natural process to achieve what we want, we lose out on developing the ability and skills required to achieve that thing which itself could have severe long term consequences.

Examples of Desirability Issues

Perfect Health Pill - If we approach our examples being as generous to the capabilities of what Techno Transhumanism can deliver, let’s assume that science creates a pill that can instantly make you the most healthy, fit version of yourself, effectively immortal with no adverse effects. Even in this case, we can immediately start to see the monkey’s paw of Techno Transhumanist wish fulfillment in action.

If everyone is perfectly healthy in society without trying, suddenly we do not have a quick and easy way to judge if someone has good self control and discipline. People no longer have an incentive to eat well or workout and will probably start falling into habits that, while they might not adversely affect their health, might come with negative second order effects like indulging in vice or fixation on the superficial.

In this case, working out might be unnecessary to be in good shape, but there are other benefits to working out such as stress relief, the opportunity to socialize, and simply grounding yourself in physical experience. If we create a world where there is less incentive to workout, we stand to lose the other benefits that come with the natural process of becoming and staying fit.

And if you become perfectly fit, this would change the way that everyone around you reacts to you. Are people being nice to you because you are a good person or simply because you are physically attractive? Would you handle the added power that comes with being attractive well or would it get you into trouble?

Achieveability

The next issue with Techno Transhumanism is the practical achievability of many of its promises. Despite what is written in Science fiction, the rules of reality set limitations that are simply impossible to break and if we are to have a meaningful conversation about the future of technology, we need to be aware of what is actually possible.

Many of the systems we are trying to change are already balanced around their limitations and trying to push or break those limitations is simply not going to be possible, or if it is, will come with serious drawbacks that mean you are achieving a similar result, but it is something that is far from what was actually promised.

Examples of Problems with Achievability

Digital Consciousness - The most obvious example of a complete disconnect between what Techno Transhumanism promises and what is actually realistic is the idea of being able to upload your consciousness into a computer and live a carefree fanciful life in a digital reality. It should be immediately apparent to any serious person that digital consciousness is not possible. You are not simply electrical signals, nor are you just a brain. In fact, we have some amazing proof that who you are is determined by things like your gut and your heart. Just think of the effect hormones, fatigue, or hunger have on your mood. Your entire body is who you are. And even if your entire body could be simulated, that would not make it you.

Physical Body Transfer - Another impossible goal of Techno Transhumanism is the idea that the human body can be modified like an avatar in a video game such that you are still the same you, the same consciousness, but simply in a different body. As I noted earlier, you are not simply a consciousness or a brain, but a combination of all the different parts of your body like your gut and your heart. Change any of those things and you stop being what you are now and become something different. A change of your physically body by definition will change who you are so the promised result of simple consciousness transfer into a new body is impossible.

Direct Brain Download - Another example worth noting is the promise that brain interface technology will supposedly allow humans to instantaneously download knowledge and abilities. We interface with reality through sensations and all those pathways have bandwidth limits. Just like you can’t fast forward a 2 hour movie in 2 minutes and still get the full experience, you cannot jam years of learning and practice into a brain via electrical signals.

The most generous version of this I could see being possible is some sort of interface that, when given the command, would then take over your body and puppet you as if you knew Kung Fu, but I sincerely doubt we could consider that equivalent to downloading that knowledge or that it would even be desirable to do so.

The way brain interfacing technology works is to interpret the electrical signals of the brain and turn those into commands. That is a woefully low level of fidelity of communication compared to the nuance of even a simple emotion or memory. And while we might be able to get to higher levels of fidelity over time, there are hard limits. Even when you access an idea in your brain, you have to experience the idea over time, and so at best, a brain interface machine would be able to read your internal monolog, not download your memories.

Second Order Issues

Probably the biggest problem with Techno Transhumanism we will actually have to deal with is the second order issues that will come from further incorporation of technology into society. While many of these advancements will be celebrated for the immediate results they provide, very little attention will be given to the more invisible effects they will have. Specifically, using synthetic process to break limits that were actually necessary to keep things in a healthy natural balance.

As I mentioned before, Techno Transhumanists focus on the short term, the individual, and the results while completely ignoring the long term effects, the group effects, and the value of the process. It is in those three areas that the second order effects will hide. And the biggest danger of being ignorant of those effects is that they will only become apparent later on, sometimes when it is already too late to reverse the damage of what has been done.

Keep in mind that limitations are a natural and healthy part of our reality and keep us balanced. Natural processes might be slower, but if we only see those natural processes as getting in the way of achieving our desired results, we will completely overlook the value those processes provided. So it is important to realize that second order effects will not only come from adding complications with bad synthetic processes, but removing naturally processes that provided benefits that were necessary.

Examples of Second Order Issues

Replacing Social Interaction with AI - People are already talking about the rising popularity of AI friends or, even worse, AI romantic partners. Sure, for the individual in the short term, the results might be fun interactions that always go well, but one can already see the second order issues this will have on society. Being sociable and datable requires people to be able to provide something in a relationship and if you take away the requirement to be reciprocal in order to get the social and romantic attention you want, what incentive do people have to interact with others positively beyond what is absolutely necessary for them to live?

You can think of the societal requirements for being reciprocal as a type of limitation, but remove that limitation with a synthetic substitute and suddenly you have broken the balance of the natural system. Those limitations were incentivizing social behavior that is necessary for a healthy society. Break that, and you will probably see a breakdown in broader societal function.

Curing Death - I touched on the problems that would come with science achieving some sort of perfect health pill earlier, but to the point of second order effects, what would broader society look like if everyone was healthy and lived forever? Again, we are removing a limitation that has certain incentives and those incentives keep things balanced. If people live forever, it is easy to start to imagine the ways in which things could change. People caring less about their children or the success of their community and greatly prioritizing their own personal success. To some degree, the mindset of the Boomer generation is a perfect example of this, caring very little about future generations to maximize their own enjoyment resulting in the breakdown of the hidden incentives of the system that keep it functioning over the long term.

Developmental Issues

Even for the technological advances that are within the realm of possibility, Techno Transhumanists will often completely ignore the issues that inevitably arise when messing around in systems, both visible and invisible, that are not fully understood. Not only will the known issues be ignored, but Techno Transhumanists will work diligently to make sure that any negative second order effect is either ignored or countered with the promise that future technological innovation will solve it.

My main concern with the issues around development is that companies trying to sell people on new technologies will market them in as positive a light as possible, leading people to adopt new technologies completely unaware of the issues or their severity. If we are to have an honest conversation about these issues, we must be able to see through Techno Transhumanist propaganda and focus on what is actually realistic and the inevitable tradeoffs at both the individual and group level.

Examples of Developmental Issues

Gene Editing - Probably the most obvious example of Techno Transhumanists not being honest about the developmental issues of a new technology is gene editing. Already I am seeing posts online trying to instill fomo into people who don’t use designer genetics for their children. They try to paint a Gattaca like story of genetics producing an elite class of humans where no natural born human will be able to compete. The parade around the “successful return” of the dire wolf only to ignore the fact they didn’t Jurassic Park the dire wolf back into existence, but modify modern wolf DNA to be more dire wolf like.

We simply do not understand enough about genetics to know that changing parts of the genome to produce a desired trait will not have other effects. It is possible messing with those genetics will also result in severe consequences such as infertility or breaking other fundamental biological systems in ways that will only manifest later in life or in later generations. This is why any serious scientific advancement requires years even decades of testing before it should be commercially available.

Weight Loss Drugs - A perfect modern day example of the developmental issues with new Techno Transhumanist creations are the weight loss drugs that are currently hitting the market. They are heralded as wonder drugs that make you thin, but we are starting to see mountains of issues from nausea, stomach pain, and digestive issues to more serious side effects such as pancreatitis, thyroid tumors, vision changes, and kidney problems.

It is essential that people do not buy into the hype as jumping in to the first generations of products like this will almost always mean being a test subject and risking serious adverse side effects.

Marginal Advantage

While Techno Transhumanism sells a wondrous future full of unlimited potential unlocked by advancements in technology, the reality is that in practical sense, technology is already reaching the limits of what is possible and any further advancement is likely to only produce marginal advantages at best, often at great risk. Keep in mind that what is possible with technology is not simply determined by what technology is capable of, but the limitations of human biology. While we can increase the fidelity of a screen or the speed at which we can send data around the world, these advancements rarely provide a meaningful advantage.

Many companies are incentivized to ignore the diminishing returns their products offer consumers least they can’t sell the next generation of products and it is important we assess the value of further technological innovation by the actual advantage it will provide.

Examples of Marginal Advantage

Technological Interfacing - Probably the most important and readily apparent example of marginal advantage is diminishing returns of technological interfaces. The cellphone is a perfect example of this. When cellphones first came out, their interface was limited to just a number pad. From there, meaningful advancements came in the form of touch screens, cameras, and the ability to connect and browse the internet. Now, new generations will brag about the increased quality of their screens or cameras, but these are marginal advantages at best. Companies are stuck trying to hype these features to sell the newest model, but savvy consumers know not to fall into this trap.

The same will be true of things like brain chip interfaces. As I mentioned earlier, brain interface chips will likely only be able to achieve the ability to read one’s inner monologue and that will probably be little to no improvement over the simple text to speech interfacing we can currently do with any technology that has a microphone and an internet connection. Do you really want to take on the risks that come with a brain interface chip for at best, marginal advantage to interfacing speed?

Agency Atrophy

The final and probably most terrifying issue with Techno Transhumanism is outsourcing problems to technology will inevitably result in atrophying the abilities, both at the individual and group level, required to solve those problems. These technological solutions will be sold to us for the individual short term benefits they provide, but again, breaking the limitations that are required to solve those problems in manual and natural ways means those limitations will no longer keep things in balance. If technology solves all our problems for us, we will lose the ability to solve those problems for ourselves.

Examples of Agency Atrophy

Outsourcing Problems to AI - We all have heard how the use of GPS has resulted in younger generations that have no ability to read maps or navigate even in areas they travel all the time. Imagine what happens when we start outsourcing not just work but also personal problems to AI. Already, we are seeing commercials of people who are not simply asking LLMs to write school papers or work documents, but how to deal with social problems they are having with friends or how to approach their career.

While it might be nice to have an omnipotent AI that can give you the right answer to all your problems, even if it is giving you the right answer, not only are you giving up your own agency in creating your life story, but you degrade your ability to make important decisions without the AI. Not to mention the very real possibility that the AI will lead people down paths they would not otherwise take or are not even in their own best interest.

Again, while solving problems manually means a slower, more time consuming process, that process provides benefits. I refuse to us AI to write any of my content, not only because I think that would be disingenuous, but the process of writing helps me to understand the ideas I am writing about and how to understand ideas broadly. I am not writing simply to create a paper, but the experience that writing provides.

The Problems with Humanism

While we can see the many problems that come with replacing natural processes with synthetic and breaking limitations that are actually necessary in maintaining a healthy and balanced system, this does not mean the correct solution is to forgo technological advancement altogether. I still use AI to write job descriptions in my work as a recruiter, socialize and share my thoughts on social media, and take advantage of the advancements in modern medicine. We still need to be competitive in the modern world and this makes using technology a necessity.

The real question is how do we use technology in a way that is healthy and sustainable. And how do we get society broadly to recognize the value of Humanism such that they do not become victims of many of the hidden problems with technological advancement.

Defining What is Natural

The first problem Humanists need to address is establishing what actually is natural and healthy. This article is meant to take some of the first steps, but better understanding what is fundamental to balancing all the visible and invisible systems will be an ongoing effort. While I think defaulting to things like natural food and in person communication are obvious, there are many areas that are less so.

Finding The Balance

While we might need to use technology to communicate and do our work, it will be the responsibility of the individual to find the right balance in this use. We live in a time where every vice and indulgence exists in its most potent form and is often readily available. It is easy to sit on your couch consuming the endless entertainment media available online, have food delivered directly to your front door, and lose yourself in online digital worlds, but knowing when to enjoy these technologies and when to turn off your electronics and go outside so you don’t atrophy your appreciation for the real world and the limits that comes with it will be a decision that will take self awareness and willpower.

Managing Power Responsibly

Effectively, technology is a tool and even the tools that enable us to do amazing things come with the hidden responsibility to use them wisely. Much the example of people who come into money often mismanage their new found wealth and end up going bankrupt, humanity needs to quickly come to appreciate the responsibility that comes with technological power and make sure they use it accordingly.

The ability to access the internet is extremely empowering, but this power could be used to read enriching information and network with good people, or it could be used to endlessly consume brainslop entertainment or worse. Social media wants your attention and is built to keep you scrolling, it is up to you as the pilot of the technology to not let the power consume you, but use it consciously for the goals you define.

How to Market Humanism

The final issue with Humanism is that responsibility and appreciation for healthy balance are not nearly as sexy or exciting as the endless possibilities promised by Techno Transhumanism. People like the idea that they can get what they want without having to work hard for it and telling people the harsh truth that hard work is necessary, is bound to be unpopular. However, no matter how responsible you are as an individual, you will not want to live in a world that succumbs to the false promises of Techno Transhumanism. Thus, the question becomes how can Humanism as an ideology be marketed in a way that is compelling?

Conclusion

Ok, that was a lot and if you read all the way through, I want to congratulate you for sticking with it. As I stated at the beginning, the goal of this article was to lay out the groundwork for understanding Techno Transhumanism and the Humanist alternative by comprehensively defining the terms and key elements of consideration. This is meant to facilitate a much more nuanced discussion of these ideas going forward by giving people the terms and concepts to do so.

My hope is that this article has made clear how Techno Transhumanism sells itself by focusing on the results, at the individual level, in the short term, while ignoring the value of process, and the less visible effects on the group and in the long term. That the limitations of natural processes are not impediments to advancement, but facilitate the balance of the systems that are healthy for the individual and society and we risk upsetting that balance when we seek to break those limitations. And any positive technological progress will require considering the superiority of natural process so that the value it provides is not lost in its synthetic replacement.

Convincing people that they need to be responsible with the power that technology unlocks is going to be hard, especially when compared to the seemingly unlimited possibilities that Techno Transhumanism promises, but I believe that when rational minds understand the inherent problems with Techno Transhumanism, it becomes clear that Humanism, grounding our advancement in an appreciation for natural process and limitations, is the only viable way forward.