Weaving the web of death

This article was initially published on Silicon Maniacs(fr).

Owni.fr, Atelier des médias and Silicon Maniacs organized [FR] an event with#jesuismort (I am dead) debates, reflections and experiences concerning immortality and technology. The event took place on February 9, 2011 at La Cantine (fr).

#jesuismort is an event which explores new forms of media that use the web, radio, video, feeds, automation, web applications and social networks. It was organized during Social Media Week in Paris.

The interview took place in the Latin Quarter. We were close to the statue of Dante Alighieri, the first person to use the term transhumanism to describe the overcoming of the human condition. A transhuman is more than a man; His capabilities are enhanced by developments in technology, and he defies natural constraints and even death itself. Today, the concept of transhumanism is entangled in the modern digital culture.

Has our relationship with death changed in light of transhumanism? Are we breaking the myths about cryonics? Can we believe in a life that exceeds a mere double digits?

Antonio Casilli, sociologist and author of  “Les liaisons numériques“ (The digital links), recounts the historical path taken by intellectuals and dreamers in considering transhumanism and man’s future.

When did transhumanism enter into the scientific culture?

This term has surfaced from time to time throughout history, so it is difficult to say the precise moment. In 1950, the poet T.S. Eliot used the verb “transhumaniser” in his drama ‘The Cocktail Party’. There were also similar movements and concepts that promoted a more liberal view of the human condition.

So tranhumanism is basically the spiritual exceeding the physical?

Yes. Julian Huxley, the brother of Aldous, published an essay in 1950 called ‘Transhumanism‘. He raised the possibility of reaching a new phase in the human condition through advancements in scientific techniques which exceeded all organic constraints.

As new technologies expand throughout the world, transhumanism may become accessible to everyone.

What is the connection with the web?

The 1990s mark the era of the web, and its this time in history that transhumanism inextricably binds with digital technology. The Extropy journal published articles posing the possibility of become transhuman by means of the virtual technology of the time period. In 1992, it published the article ‘Persons, Programs, and Uploading Consciousness‘ by David Ross. The article depicted a fictional extropian hero named Jason Macklin who decided to download himself into cyberspace to join his friends and family who already passed to the other side. In a very descriptive scene when his he being remodeled in a digital form, he wakes up as an avatar and looks over at his former body. With the help of a surgeon, he disconnects the cables which are keeping his organic body alive. There is little emotion in seeing his body for the last time. This is a significant moment in favor of cyberculture, as the author is using the theoretical framework of transhumanism and applying it to the construction of a 3D avatar via the web. This gives birth to the idea that any user of information and communication technology could become transhuman. In FM2030’s case, the technologies needed for his vision were complicated biotechnologies formed in laboratories. By comparison, Jason Maklin used a much simpler technology. As new technologies expand throughout the world, transhumanism may become accessible to everyone.

With the help of a surgeon, he disconnects the cables which are keeping his organic body alive. There is little emotion in seeing his body for the last time. This is a significant moment in favor of cyberculture…

This fictional story is significant because it is based off the writings of Hans Moravec, who published in 1988 ‘Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence‘ (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press), an article that describes a similar scene. In 1994, the first online medical avatar was created as part of the Visible Human Project. There was an entire community of researchers who worked on these issues, giving scientific justification to the myth of an online body.

In all these experiments we speak about the body, but we don’t pose questions about the soul. How is the incarnation of an avatar still human?

Right there lies a fundamental ambiguity…For an individual to be recognized as human, is it sufficient to store their thoughts? Or does it also store, in the form of modeling the 3D avatar, his body as well? We are facing a problems which are rooted in the superstition of maintaining a semblance of the body. Anthropomorphism represents a significant polarizing force in the technology and communication culture. For example, emoticons are important because it reassures the user of a link to humanity. Certain metaphors, such as the “interface,” insinuates the experience of interacting with others and defines what it means to be human.

Do not make the mistake in confusing the transhumanism and eugenics’ objectives in their desires to perfect the human body.

Max More, one of the the leading transhumanist, insists that transhumanism is not a form of the Niezsche’s ‘Nazi’ philosophies on man. There are no robbers, conquerors, or beasts to overcome. Rather, More believes the health and and trust in tomorrow’s trans-man will be accompanied by their moral qualities: kindness, optimism, tolerance.

Do not make the mistake of confusing transhumanism and eugenics’ objectives with their desires to perfect the human body. Natasha Vita More was created in 2001 with a web installation, Primo 3M+ – body of the future. This prototype represented the “body of the third millennium” with extensive superpowers…flexibility, endurance, capabilities and even ‘spinal communication‘.

It was an obvious notion towards the fantasies of acquiring a beautiful and competitive hedonistic body. These properties are associated with athletic performance. On this note, the philosopher Isabelle Queval demonstrates in her books (Gallimard) that we are all driven to exceed our own limits. Transhumanism is in our daily lives.

So when trying to perfect the body, we are ultimately striving to reach immortality?

Yes, the issue of immortality is key. Here we part with just the extropians, and speak about all the vast and transnational transhumanism movements. It displays a range of political positions, and ideologies are widespread. Among them are a group of individuals who are passionate about expanding the current life expectancy, and this is dominated by biomedical research that seeks to delay aging and death. It is not just about improving life, but also guaranteeing everyone can live up to 120 -150 years by eradicating a premature death.

Other tranhumanists are passionate about cryogenics, and are investors or clients of Alcor, the multinational institution specializing in the cryopreservation of bodies. This is still very expensive, and even those who can afford this procedure don’t cyropreserve their heads. Here we face another issue: how to best handle the corpse? In Western societies, respecting the dead is an important practice along with the beliefs associated with these traditions. Unlike other cultures and religions, such as Hinduism, there is no ritual burial for fragments of the body.

There is a strong relationship in transhumanism between the idea of living forever and the idea of having a digital alter ego.

From a practical standpoint, to be cryogenically frozen and have men in white coats come in with a saw to cut off your head the moment you die, is disturbing. I think the graphic video of Timothy Leary being cryopreserved introduced an element of distrust for those viewers. Therefore today’s transhumanists have a very ambivalent attitude towards this approach and have lost faith in the the possibility in one day being resurrected.

Isn’t there a dichotomy between immortality by cryonics and by transferring to an avatar?

On the contrary, I would say there is continuity. In a historical context, There is a strong relationship in transhumanism between the idea of living forever and the idea of having a digital alter ego. In the 1990s, the idea being able to upload and download the body led to a convergence of these two themes. Even if living forever as a virtual being was a myth, it was presented as accessible to the entire world because of the  vast connectivity of the Internet.

What are your views on current Internet practices and theories?

There are myths that correspond to a phase of utopian culture in information and communications. Today, everyone realizes that users who have an avatar in Second Life will not live forever. We are dealing with technologies which are still limited. Yet we are moving quickly into the future as we are faced with reality. We are living in an historic moment where the major myths are falling (despite the very pertinent analysis of Evgeny Morozov). Even if the utopian phase passes, the transhumanism movement continues to exist and become more active. Do not think that transhumanism is inextricably binded to ICT. There are a range of technologies to explore and invest, and this raises confidence. For example, they have worked on nanotechnology issues with bioethics. Conversely, there is the question of how to ensure social justice for a growing population.

Today, everyone realizes that users who have an avatar in Second Life will not live forever.

Are there any transhumanism movements which have affected the overall digital culture?

H+ is fundamentally tied to the American context. Ken Goffman, also known as RU Siruis (are you serious), is the editor of H+. He founded the Mondo2000 publication which was based in California at the heart of the cyberculture movement. The magazine was virtual in the early 1990s, even before Wired. There was a radical discourse on the virtual and digital. There is a continuity between modern transhumanists and their desire to legitimize the unconventional and bizarre. But the hippies were also very aware of the technological advances.

Are transhumanists hippies?

RU Sirius and his Mondo2000 colleagues were defenders of the New Age movement, where there was a mixture of Eastern disciplines, mysticism, homeopathy, yoga, and psychedelic drugs. These New Age themes are covered with a kind of technological shell, but remain the basis of current transhumanism. This thought, in fact, is highly related to mysticism as it is extremely concerned with issues of the soul and self-improvement. Yet these are disguised through discourse of technology, science, and materialism.

So our relationship with death has not changed?

No, our superstition about death are still there. If you look at transhumanism as a transnational movement with different components, its easier to decipher the social context in which this develops. French and European transhumanism do not have the same tone as in the UK or the US. The fundamental question is “who owns the human body?” For the liberal Anglo-Saxon, it is the solely the individual. What can be done with the body before and after death is not conditioned just by culture, but by legal and institutional elements. In some countries it is even difficult to access assisted reproduction. Italy for example, imagine what the church and right traditionalist would think of cryonics! This not trivial nor simple and can not be negotiated outside a social context. Will social security fund nanotechnologies which will permit a lifespan of 250 years? What will I have to contribute back? Do I have to work 35 hours if I’m a transhuman with overdeveloped cognitive abilities? I ask these questions with a bit of irony, but serious answers to to these questions lead us to rethink the political environment which we contemplate life and death.

Final thoughts?

We can not omit the fact our attitudes on life and death are rooted in 2000 years of Christianity. We have inherited traditions along with boundaries as to what we can afford to think about in relation to death. There are some options in transhumanism which seem more acceptable than others. That’s why at one point the avatar seemed preferable over cryopreservation, because we didn’t have to cross taboo lines on how to treat the corpse. Fragmenting the body is unacceptable while the avatar imagine is perfectly consistent with the ideas of St. Thomas and the tradition of ”corpus gloriosum” during the Middle Ages.

Find all the articles from #jesuismort by Silicon Maniacs :

• An Autopsy of immortality

>> Illustration FlickR CC : rizzato