the possibilities of post humanism

in cyberarts class on thursday, there was a discussion on what it takes to be post-human and its intricate myriad of possibilities. for the ill-informed, post humanism is about transcending humanism. basically, it's about technology taking over the world, leaving no place for humanism.

coming the day after i was just done with a musical filled with humanistic elements, the contrast couldn't have been more stark.

the presentation on the post-human form painted a largely bleak picture to me, but i am also enthralled by how it could potentially improve our lives. technology has its benefits, but we learn that science without humanity is one of man's modern deadly sins. my course mates used i-robot, the movie starring will smith as an example of robots taking over the world. they also pointed out how "cool" it was to be able to trace anyone when they had a microchip kindda thing fitted into us.

at the end of the class, dr irina asked the whole class to air our closing thoughts on the module. i purposefully sought to be the last, because i wanted to hear what everybody had to say before crystallising my own words.

my concern with post-humanism is simply the motivation of the advocates of such a movement. what appears to be the central force driving post-humanism is mankind's preoccupation with perfection and control. crucially, however, the concept of perfection is such that what may seem perfect now will almost not certainly not be the case when the previously "perfect ideal" is attained.

we remember in shakespeare's macbeth that what killed its protagonist was his "vaulting ambition." and if we remember what was stated in the Bible, in its final book Revelations, we are reminded that a sign of the end times is when some form of microchip is implanted in us. so does post humanism suggest what its name suggest? the total annihilation of the human kind?

and then i did the unthinkable.

i couldn't help but use the lines from the pre-chorus of the song Journey from the vcf musical too illustrate my point.

the possibilities are endless
those countless thoughts relentless
though all these may seem senseless
they're simply all our choices.

i guess only time will tell.