from
DESIGNER EVOLUTION
A TRANSHUMANIST MANIFESTO
By Simon Young
See more at Simon Young's Weblog:
http://thetranshumanist.blogspot.com
the opening page of
The Transhumanist Manifesto
“Man is not born free, but everywhere in biological chains.”
“People of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your biological chains!”
“Humanity - a species so weak it defines its own condition as tragic! How long must we endure such a pitiful condition.”
“What is 'the human condition' but an affliction? What is a human being? – a weak mind in a decaying body, a bundle of primitive emotions, and a brief life in the knowledge of inevitable death – extinction for the rest of eternity!”
“'Human' – the very word is synonymous with suffering and failure - 'I'm only human', 'The human predicament', 'The tragedy of the human condition' – all tell the same truth - that humanity is a disease state from which to be cured!”
“Man is the slave of a three-part genetic program reading, 'survive, reproduce and self-destruct'. Man did not ask to be programmed for self-destruction. Why then should he accept death, disease and decay like some helpless sheep?”
“Man is like a caged animal that meekly submits to captivity. Let him rather defy his biological jailers and demand freedom from his genetic prison.”
“Let us learn to think beyond the human condition. Not what man is, but what he could be!”
“As humanism freed man from the chains of superstition, let Transhumanism free him from his biological chains.”
On Evolutionary Ethics
“One should not criticize religious ethics – without having something better to put in its place! ”
“Humanity cannot separate itself from the ongoing process of evolution - we are evolution.”
“Evolution is the automatic unfolding of potential in nature.”
“Evolution is a becoming more, not less.”
“Man is the mind of evolution becoming conscious of itself.”
“The Book of Life is an unfinished masterpiece.”
“The purpose of life is the pursuit of excellence. We are here to be the best we can be.”
“Our purpose is to evolve, and through the Will to Evolve we may find our greatest joy.”
“Human beings are not lowly creatures, but the peak of the evolutionary process on earth.”
“Man is an unfinished symphony.”
“Our goal is to be better than we are - to seek More Life, through a Lust for Life.”
“Nature is not a being, but a becoming.”
“The universe is our oyster once we dare to recognize our own remarkable abilities as human beings.”
“From the seashore whence we crawled, to the farthest reaches of outer space – we are destined for greater things.”
“Let us strive together to be the best we can be.”
“Transhumanists are lovers of life who recognize that the limitations of the human condition may be overcome through technology.”
“Designer Evolution is the ability of a species to creatively direct its own evolution.”
“A dream? What is a dream but the visualization of an ideal? Is it better to have no ideals - no purpose, no direction? Is it better to wallow in the 'tragedy of the human condition' like a spineless coward? Is it better not to have a dream? Let us have the strength to dream.”
“Where Nietzsche said 'this world is nothing but the will to power' and Freud said 'the goal of all life is death', the Transhumanist says 'the purpose of life is to evolve.'”
“Only the Will to Evolve can save us from self-destruction. Let us not fail to summon it.”
“There can be nothing bad about the desire to be the best that one can be.”
“The Transhumanist attitude is one of admiration for those who refuse to lie down and die - who come up for air one more time - who rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
“Our bodies were designed for the Stone Age - but we live in the Gene Age. Homo sapiens requires a complete upgrade - a radical overhaul in design.”
“Dangers? Of course there are dangers. Life itself is dangerous.”
“What is man if he cannot even believe in himself?”
“Let us have the dignity to believe in our own powers of benevolence. What is man if he cannot even believe in himself?”
“Let us strive to develop both the feeling and the logic of love.”
Not 'greed is good' but 'personal growth is good' - that is the motto of the Self-Enhancement Society. And 'personal growth' includes the enhancement of body and mind - through Superbiology.”
“It is the instinctive and logical response of a conscious entity programmed for self-destruction to seek methods by which to expand its mental and physical capabilities in pursuit of ever-increasing survivability and well-being.”
Live to evolve! Evolve to live!
On Death
“Let us dare to dream of ultimate goals. For what is humanity's greatest goal but the defeat of death.”
“Death is a disease waiting to be cured.”
“There can be no greater reverence for life than the will to eliminate death.”
“Let no man be ashamed of his will to survive.”
“Nothing is quite so absurd as the attempt to justify death.”
“Immortality is a noble goal for an evolving species.”
“Man has learned to identify the genetic recipe for life - there is no reason to suppose that he will not go on to identify the genetic program for death.”
“When the cure for aging is found, it will not come through faith, prayer or meditation, but through science –product of the rational mind in the Modern World.”
“Let us dare to speak the truth of the human condition. It is death that is the great enemy of life. It is death that causes man to speak of the 'tragedy of the human condition.”
“Death is an obscenity. The first goal of life is survival - death is not part of the plan. So why take it lying down? Better to ‘rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light'!”
“Stoicism is the absence of will in the face of defeat. Superstition will not save us from decay. Only science can defeat death.”
“The acceptance of death as a natural part of life is a shallow defense against existential anxiety.”
“The cause of man's fatalism is the recognition of the terrible limits on his existence imposed by nature. What great projects could man complete given unlimited time!”
“Transhumanism is a philosophy for those who celebrate technology, love life – and unashamedly want more of it.”
“Human beings are the product of a three-part genetic program reading 'survive, reproduce, and self-destruct.' No longer satisfied with the final instruction in or programming, we are about to re-write our genetic software – replacing the command to self-destruct with the instruction to self-renew.”
On ‘Mind of God' Theology
“Abandoning superstition does not require losing a sense of wonder at the world.”
“The sense of awe and wonder experienced in contemplation of the ordered complexity of nature through a rational knowledge of her forms, structures and operations might be called 'Mind of God' Theology.”
“‘Mind of God' Theology is a ‘spiritual' attitude for an intelligent, rational, evolving species.”
“Spirituality is a falling in love with the world.”
“Mind of God Theology is a ‘spiritual' attitude for those who recognize the sublime wonder of the world, but not the existence of an invisible, undetectable ruler who desires to be worshipped for making it.”
“In 'Mind of God' Theology, there is no irrationality, and no bowing and scraping, just a deeply held feeling of awe and wonder at the magnificent order of the cosmos of which we are a conscious aspect.”
“The universe is a grand cosmic symphony – and man is destined for the job of its future conductor.
On Science
“Through technology we may liberate ourselves from the tragedy of the human condition.”
“Science promises to succeed where religion and politics have failed – to make the weak strong.”
“Science is not the cause of our future downfall, but the greatest prospect for our transcendence.”
“Only science offers the opportunity of transcending the state of biological limitation we call the human condition.”
“We are fast developing the technology by which to liberate ourselves from biological slavery.”
“In the 20th century, science was routinely, casually pilloried – while its exponents quietly went about their business making the most extraordinary advances in human knowledge ever seen in the history of the species.”
“What humanity needs is more knowledge, not less - and the will to attain it .”
“We can choose to embrace the Modern Age, or succumb to Cyber Rage – a state of technophobic anger and hostility towards new technology not yet understood. The choice is ours.”
“Science and technology provide the most powerful tools in our continuing evolutionary journey - but the greatest requirement of all is the Will to Evolve.”
“Sci-philes should 'come out'. Science is the new black.”
On Nature
“Gaia? Is that the gentle earth goddess responsible for a world in which cats torture mice? Getting 'in tune with nature' would mean imitating the actions of a serial killer.”
“Nature will have her wicked way with us – if we let her.”
“Nature deals a cruel hand. Rely on nature and what do we get? – disease, disadvantage and death, the products of her cold, callous lottery.”
“It is time to free ourselves from slavery to the force which demands our self-destruction.”
Let us love and honor nature, and admire her magnificence, but not be so foolish as to worship a force that ultimately has it in for us.
”Nature is an old-fashioned business. Her workshop is antiquated, her machinery worn out, her methods outdated.”
“Nature's software program is riddled with design faults. Yet rather than asking for a refund, man bows down before a designer long since disappeared into liquidation - and gives thanks for her faulty goods!”
“If nature is creating products with built-in obsolescence, it is up to man to buy out the business and take over production.”
“If science can guarantee health and strength for our children, why on earth should we leave their fate in the hands of butter-fingered nature?”
“Let us embrace the technology by which to free ourselves from subjection to nature's cruelties.”
“Why should we not seek to alter nature – the gentle 'earth goddess' who has us programmed to self-destruct?”
“Only a species of idiots would leave that which it can control to the cruel, random lottery of nature.”
“Some say, 'Tinkering with nature is dangerous.' There is nothing tinkering, tampering or meddling about curing disease, enhancing capabilities, and extending life.”
“All human endeavor is dangerous. Without the bravery to strike out into the unknown, we would still be huddling in caves. Some people apparently wish us to return there.”
““Do Bio-Luddites think 'nature know best' when she sees fit to destroy the lives of millions through disease, earthquake, famine and flood? Do Bio-Luddites think 'nature knows best' when they're undergoing a hip replacement, heart surgery, chemotherapy, or immunizing their children against deadly viruses? Do Bio-Luddites think 'nature knows best' when they're putting in their contact lenses, taking off their make-up, or watching disease-riddled loved ones breathe their last, agonized living breath?”
“Life is certainly hard, but the solution is not to abandon civilization and run into the woods to hug trees, but to embrace the science and technology by which to make life easier.”
“Nature is beautiful, but she is not 'good'. Let us love her for her magnificence – but not worship her. Would you worship one who is poisoning you to death? Yet nature is doing just that – killing you slowly! She has you programmed to self-destruct!”
“Eco-fundamentalists worship nature, the force that kills them!”
On Politics
“The difference between Transhumanism and the politics of Left and Right may be demonstrated by The Wheelchair Analogy:
The Left says, 'Let us buy you a new wheelchair.'
The Right says, 'Let us take away your wheelchair to encourage your independence.'
Transhumanism says, 'Let us cure you that you may walk again - through Superbiology.'”
BISPECTISM
“The age of political extremism should be declared dead. Politics is the art of fine tuning.”
“The future of politics lies in Progressive Centrism— a sensible middle ground between extremes of left and right.”
“Self-Interest and Social Responsibility are complementary not contradictory.”
“The needs of the individual are equal to the needs of the society as a whole, because an organism cannot exist apart from its environment.”
SOFT V HARD LIBERTARIANISM
“Hard Libertarianism—essentially the view that only the individual matters— is the political equivalent not of the proud lion, but of the solitary ape forced to leave the tribe due to its inability to cooperate with others.”
“Nature may demonstrate the ability to spontaneously create order, but society demonstrates the ability of the weak to fall by the wayside into drug addiction and crime. Abandoning the weak to their fate is not a recipe for Creative Evolution, but for social breakdown.”
“The fundamental principle of Soft Libertarianism could be stated as a formula:
maximum individual liberty compatible with social cohesion, or harmony .”
“This is the meaning of Designer Evolution—evolution not “planned by the state,” but self-directed by the creative designs of individuals operating in their own self-interest, in a free society.”
“When I speak of the gradual evolution of the species resulting from the widespread application of Superbiology, I do not mean a process of state planning, but of Spontaneous Order.”
“Designer Evolution is not a master plan by mad scientists, but a naturally occurring process resulting from the free actions of free individuals in the free world.”
“In Designer Evolution, the designer is not the State, or the Scientist, but the Individual.”
“Designer Evolution is evolution not by Social Planning, but Self-Design.”
NEUROPOLITICS V BODYPOLITICS
“I sum up the idea of political evolution from centrally imposed groupthink to independent-minded self-rule as a transition from Bodypolitic to Neuropolitic.”
“By Bodypolitics, then, I mean a society, or group within a society, organized according to the principle that its leader (“head of the Bodypolitic”) is expressing the general will of all, when in fact determining rules of behavior for him-or her-self.”
“Bodypolitics is memetic determinism—the control of society by Defenders of the Meme—their dictum: “Whatever the dominant meme, thus shall be the actions of the people.” For he who holds the power, is he who controls the meme.”
“Bodypolitics is political holism —the belief that collective activity is intrinsically superior to that of individual activity. So Beethoven's Ninth Symphony would have been much improved had he asked for some help with the melody.”
“The weakness of Bodypolitics is the weakness of holism. For if Bodypolitics is rule by the general will, this begs the question, Who exactly is it that determines the general will?”
“The political propaganda of the dictator in a Bodypolitic is the memetic equivalent of gang rape—the forceful insemination of selfish memes into the brains of a unthinking Bodypolitic. Just as soldiers who lose self-control under the intolerable stresses of war sometimes resort to gang rape to retain a feeling of power, so the political head of the Bodypolitic, when faced with the intolerable stresses of power, resorts to the forceful insemination of memes into the meme pool, saying, with every political spin of the meme, ‘I know you want it, really.'”
“If wealth is power, poverty is impotence; if happiness is freedom to be oneself, misery is slavery to the diktats of the state.”
“In the end, Transhumanist bioethics are a question of freedom – the freedom to do what one wishes with one's own body, and the freedom of parents to offer their children the best possible start in life.”
“Above all, Transhumanism is about the belief in freedom from limitations. Let us choose freedom.”
“Man is free in proportion to his ability to think for himself.”
On Psychology
“Instead of 'Let me feel your pain', Transhumanism says 'Let me heal your pain - through Superbiology.”
“Therapism survives only by its own failure. If it worked, therapists would be out of business.”
“Therapism fails because it ignores the biological deficiencies at the root of life failure.”
“The recognition of the biological basis of personality signals the beginning of the end of the present Culture of Therapism. Wallowing in the past and the trivia of daily life problems will one day be regarded as indulgent self-pity.”
“Why dredge up childhood traumas or past failures when a pill can eliminate the neurochemistry of neurosis at a stroke? Why be chained to a lifetime's psychotherapy, when gene therapy can permanently rectify the physiology of life failure?”
“Psychotherapy is limited by its refusal to recognize the effect of temperamental differences on behavior. It's good to talk - but talking won't make an emotionally stable extrovert out of a neurotic introvert.”
“Denying the influence of temperament on behavior is like ignoring a monkey on your shoulder. It won't go away if you don't look at it.”
“Therapism that ignores biopsychology has had its day.”
“The Culture of Therapism is a victim culture – it thrives on making people feel like slaves of their emotions, in order to gain power over them.”
“Hostility to Neuropsychology by therapists is an attempt to protect their jobs, which depend on not curing people. So next time you hear a psychotherapist denying the biological influence on behavior, remember their underlying motive is self-interest - and think again.”
FREUD
“Psychanalysis is a secular confessional.”
“'Shrinks' are well named – the goal of psychoanalysis is the reduction of expectations in line with current reality. The goal of Transhumanism is the transcendence of limitations – through Superbiology.”
“Freudian pessimism is the psychological underpinning of Post Modern Anti-Culture of Nihilism.”
“Freudianism is anti-humanism. Anti-humanism is Anti-Modernity. Anti-Modernity is a more accurate way of describing Post Modernism.”
“It was not the French 'deconstructionists' that were the true founders of Post Modern nihilism, but Freud - and his secret mentor, Nietzsche. For what is benevolent morality if we are slaves to the unconscious Id? Nothing but a failed system of ethics.”
“Freudianism is biological fatalism - the acceptance of man's slavery to his animal instincts. Biological fatalism is another name for the belief in Original Sin. Just as the belief in Original Sin kept man in the chains of religious subservience through the acceptance of his 'fallen' nature, so the secular religion of psychoanalysis keeps us in biological servitude – slave to the forces of the unconscious Id. ”
“Neurobiology, not life experience, lies at root of neurosis.”
EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
“Sartre was wrong. Man is not 'absurdly free', but everywhere in biological chains.”
“Existentialism fails to acknowledge the biological limitations on freedom.”
“We would all love to be free to be anything we want to be. But only a fool closes his eyes to truth because it's not to his liking. The fact is that biology limits freedom. A neurotic is not free to be emotionally stable. An introvert is not free to be an extrovert. A man without talent is not free to be a genius.”
“Neither Evolutionary Psychologists, Freudian, Humanist, Existentialist, Behavioral or Cognitive therapy acknowledge the influence of neurochemistry on personality and behavior. But the doctor who fails to offer a cure will lose his patients in the end.”
“The development of Eugoic drugs marks a revolution in psychology. The recognition that altering neurochemistry without psychotherapy can improve personality marks the beginning of the end of the Culture of Therapism.”
“Perhaps Neuroanalysis might be a more useful method of improving well-being than talking about one's parents, relationships, or the daily trivia of one's life, for fifty minutes a week.”
“In the self-recognizing brain we call the mind, Eros becomes Prometheus – the cognitive drive for Individuation the instinctive desire of a conscious entity to extend abilities in pursuit of ever-increasing survivability and well-being. Thanatos – the drive for self-destruction, becomes Orpheus - the drive for cognitive Integration – the instinctive desire of a conscious entity to feel at home in the world by transcending the alienation of Self from Other.“
“The Prometheus and Orpheus Drives are not mere 'sublimations' of lower level drives, but qualitatively different, higher (that is, more complex) drives, evolved from the lower through cognitive development.”
“Together, the Prometheus and Orpheus Drives constitute an Evolutionary Instinct - the Will to Evolve.”
“The transition of human motivational drives from Eros and Thanatos to Prometheus and Orpheus represents the evolution of human consciousness from Genethic to Nurethic control – from rule by the Selfish Genes, to self-control by the human mind.”
“Neither Freudian cynicism or New Age naïveté is the answer. Man in his current state is neither doomed nor perfectible. We are limited by our biology - but striving for transcendence.”
BIOPSYCHOLOGY
“Feelings are genetic bribery – an evolved, behavioral conditioning mechanism inducing an attraction or aversion response beneficial to survival and reproduction, through a neurochemical reward of pleasure, or punishment of pain.”
“Sadness is a genetic punishment for failing to conform to nature's demands.”
“Love is…
an evolved neurochemical inducement to protect and surround ourselves by those beneficial to our survival and reproduction.
a pleasure reward encouraging benevolence, co-operation and mating in the struggle to survive.
a neurochemical feeling of attraction to those of benefit to survival and reproductive success.
an incentive to pair bond in the interest of genetic survival.
instinctive attraction to those our genes consider useful to the completion of our programming.
a genetic inducement to reproduce and care for those important to our successful survival and reproduction.
nature's neurochemical bribe to procreate.”
“To recognize the evolved, neurochemical basis of love no more undermines its value in our lives than understanding what lies beneath the bonnet of a car decreases the pleasure of driving.”
“Research into the genetic basis of intelligence has been held back by those who believe we should not seek to define or examine, let alone enhance intelligence – in case it leads to discrimination against the 'intellectually challenged.' This is like wanting to ban skyscrapers so as not to discriminate against people with vertigo.”
“Neither invisible spirits, nor social conditioning, but biology lies at the heart of personality.”
“One of the first benefits of Superbiology will be the ability to increase the human capacity for empathy, by enhancing 'the neurochemistry of love'. Transhumanity will make itself more benevolent, not less.”
“Bio-Elitism should be replaced by an attitude we might call Bio-Empathy - the recognition that everyone is subject to biological limitations. We are all handicapped by nature. Death, disease and the fragility of body and mind make strange bedfellows of us all.”
“Bio-Empathy is the emotional basis of the Transhumanist desire to eradicate disease, defeat death, enhance abilities, as Nurethics is its rational basis.”
“The New Biology recognizes the influence of both biology and environment on behavior.”
“We do not have to pretend that no biological differences exist between people to justify moral behavior. The recognition of biological variations is perfectly compatible with the belief in equal rights and dignity for all human beings, regardless of sex, race, personality or abilities.”
“We all have different abilities, we have all survived the evolutionary journey together, and we must learn to get on with each other. This moral message has the virtue of being both true and sensible.”
“When the American founding fathers declared that 'all men are born equal', they did not mean that they are born with identical bio-genetic constitutions and abilities (Bio-Egalitarianism), but that all are equally worthy of respect and treatment under the law (Civil Egalitarianism).”
“There is no dichotomy between the recognition of innate differences in ability, and the ethical belief in equal respect of all, irrespective of abilities.”
“Biopsychology is not a tool for oppression, discrimination and prejudice, but a necessary precursor to the development of the Superbiology by which we may enhance our abilities to ever-increasing levels of well-being. So let us embrace the possibility of transcending our biological limitations with open arms.”
On Morality
(NURETHICS)
“A morality based on faith, not reason cannot hope to endure in an age of ever increasing scientific knowledge.”
“Man is a rational animal, he must find rational arguments to guide his behavior.”
“Morality requires no deity. Benevolence is simply common sense.”
“'Good-will to all men' is a rational tactic for mutual survival.”
“Morality is not threatened by our ability to intervene in our own biology. Human goodness is not dependent on our subservience to nature's whims.”
“We do not have to be slaves to the genetic lottery to know that we must be kind to one another.”
“It is compassion which causes us to believe in science. All those who have held a dying loved one in their arms and watching helplessly as a disease-riddled body shrivels away into nothingness before their eyes know too well the absolute horror of death and disease.”
“Thoughtfulness requires thought. Thinking of others requires the ability to think. Consideration for others requires the ability to consider. No ape can consider the lilies, let alone the needs of its neighbor. “
“Thought morality is Sensible Self Interest - a rational tactic for survival and well-being.”
“Nurethics tells you why, logically, it is in your own interests to act benevolently. If you harm X, then X is likely to harm you back. You don't want to be harmed. Therefore, don't harm X.”
“'Good' is the ability of the mind to inhibit Stupidly Selfish instincts. 'Bad' is the inability of the mind to inhibit Stupidly Selfish instincts.”
“Benevolence is Sensible self-Interest. Malevolence is Stupid Selfishness.”
“Nurethics is the intelligent morality of enlightened, rational self-interest.”
THE SELFISH GENE
“The Selfish Gene is a meme in serious need of radical, directed mutation.”
“Whatever its creator intended is irrelevant - the Doctrine of the Selfish Gene has served to revive the belief in Original Sin – the myth of innate human wickedness.”
“We are not composed of 'selfish chemicals' at all. Our genes continually flood our bodies and minds with the neurochemistry of love. I call it Felt Morality.”
“Human beings are not 'born selfish' (as stated on page 3 of The Selfish Gene) but with an innate predisposition for fellow-feeling. So let us speak instead of the Benevolent Gene.”
“The injection of the meme of the Benevolent Gene into The Selfish Gene is the memetic engineering required to enhance a powerful but defective meme into a Supermeme.”
“While kids still help old ladies
With their cases, at the station,
Be sure that the Meme of the Selfish Gene
Is pure imagination.”
On Art
“The postmodern anticulture of nihilism has had its fifteen minutes of fame. Let us reject the cynical art of the ridiculous for the creative art of the Technosublime.”
“Not many people except postmodern artists find feces, death, or disease beautiful, and when they do, we might reasonably regard it as psychopathological.”
“The inability to recognize any difference in aesthetic value between the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and an unmade bed derives from the inability to appreciate organized, harmonious complexity.”
“Most contemporary art is so banal it might be called So What? Art —an art of so little creativity, emotional power, or intellectual stimulation that it invariably fails to hold the attention for more than a few seconds, before the viewer thinks, So what? and moves on.”
“The ease with which the public is taken in by the unskilled, worthless tomfoolery of most postmodern art is such a distressing contemporary phenomenon I think it requires its own terminology. I call it the Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome .”
“Observing our culture today, in such depths of postmodern nihilism that one of its most talked about artworks is the presentation of an unkempt bed, one may be forgiven for thinking that an alien superintelligence would be likely to respond with the extraterrestrial equivalent of the phrase, ‘Beam me up, Scotty, this planet sucks.'”
“It is symptomatic of the postmodern anticulture of nihilism that joyous, sunny, or as I call it, Up! Art , is almost always regarded as inferior to Miserabilist Art.”
“In the postmodern anticulture of nihilism, Up! Art is dismissed as lightweight kitsch, while Miserabilist Art is applauded as a ‘profound statement on the human condition.'”
“Most artists today have been conditioned by the high priests and priestesses of postmodernism to believe that negativity is aesthetically superior to positivity, euphobia to euphilia (the love of feeling bad above the love of feeling good).”
“As a Soft Libertarian, I am naturally averse to the idea of state censorship, in the arts as in elsewhere. So long as I harm no one in the process, I see no logical reason why I should permit the state to dictate what I am allowed to think, feel, do, or say. And yet—I cannot help wishing that artists who spread the negamemes of nihilism and misery in the name of “self-expression” would go and do something useful instead—like nursing or bricklaying, for instance.”
“The best type of art is that which stimulates all four faculties, inducing the optimum state of well-being I call Fully Firing on All Four Cylinders . Such an art would be equally sensual, emotive, intelligent, and uplifting, and offer a positive, awe-inspiring vision of the world.”
“Instead of an art which depresses, deflates, or “shocks the bourgeois out of its complacency,” let us seek to create a positive Up! Art which inspires and uplifts—an art which sees humanity not as some depraved animal, but as an intelligent species embarked upon an upward journey toward the betterment of the human condition.”
“The best or highest forms of art communicate a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty and magnificence of the universe of which we are all an intrinsic part, through works of ambition, skill, and magnificence—
as opposed to, say, the expression of psychosexual anhedonia symbolized by two fried eggs and a kebab.”
“The ability of the best art to inspire awe and wonder I call the Oh, Wow! Factor . It is a quality lacking in most contemporary art, but one I predict humankind will discover again in the twenty-first century.”
“Designers in all walks of life should be revered by society – for their craft represents the peak of evolutionary activity – the ability of the evolved human brain to create ever new, ever more complex patterns out of the stuff of the world.”
“Designer Evolution – the ability to re-design our own bodies and minds through Superbiology – is the ultimate in creative design.”
“When Darwinian evolution is replaced by Designer Evolution, man will be viewed as an artist, taking over the unfinished work of nature.”
“Let us choose to be artists of self-design.”
On Society
“Post Modernism is fiddling while civilization burns.”
“The Post Modern Condition is existentialism without the pain – the ironic acceptance of life without meaning or purpose in an age with no more ideals.”
“The ironization of Post Modern culture is leading to the de-moralization of man.”
“At the dawn of the 21 st century, much of Western culture seems like a trash-filled graveyard of anti-humanistic self-mockery.”
“In the Post Modern era, ironic condemnation of one's own civilization has become a mark of social acceptance.”
“Post Modernists wallow in the cheap luxury of cynicism, even as civilization collapses all around them. Irony is the cultural orthodoxy. Belief in the values that built the Modern World - reason, science, beauty, truth, progress, are swept out in a tide of ironic disdain. Only the irrational, amoral or absurd are valued. Ideals and enthusiasm are ridiculed. Absolute relativism rules. No behavior or lifestyle is considered better or worse than any other. How could it be, since we are nothing but the product of the same selfish genes, and there is no ultimate purpose to life?”
“Descent into amorality is the inevitable end result of Post Modern relativism. For once truth and meaning are regarded as relative, moral consensus necessarily falls by the wayside.”
On Bio-Luddism
“Hubris was a quaint notion which made for some good plays. Let us have no fear of seeking to improve our own condition.”
“Man is an evolutionary species, he must use his powers to progress, or else sink into oblivion with the dodo.”
“Fear and sloth can never be the basis of human ethics.”
“That which ceases to grow, begins to decay.”
“Man was not meant to live in the moment like the lilies of the field – his purpose is to become all he can be.”
“It is the destiny of man to evolve beyond the limitations of human condition.”
“Those who think things won't get better, stand by and watch as things get worse.”
“Cynicism is merely sloth – an excuse not to try.”
“Bio-Luddism is the abdication of the moral imperative of the species to improve its condition.”
“Truly, the end is always nigh for the Negs.”
“What the voices of pessimism choose to ignore, of course, is human ingenuity.”
“Let us reject the cowardly instincts of the Bio-Luddites and embrace the technology by which to correct the design faults imposed on us by nature.”
“To abandon progress through fear is simple cowardice, and cowardice never accomplished anything.”
“Without the instinct for progress, man is doomed to remain forever at the mercy of disease, decay and the limitations of mind and body.”
“If physical and mental self-improvement through exercise and education are deemed virtuous, why not biological self-improvement, through Superbiology?”
“Parents will no more stop loving their children by choosing the color of their eyes than by choosing the color of their clothes.”
“Morality does not depend upon our helplessness to determine our children's health or characteristics – on the contrary, we will learn to cherish life more by having a greater creative hand in its design.”
“Whilst all sensible, compassionate people recognize the requirement for state protection of those in genuine need, the extreme argument that Bioenhancement should be outlawed as an elitist threat to equality is as absurd as the proposal to ban Rolls Royces, or tea at the Ritz.”
“There is no great gulf between the able-bodied and disabled, for all human beings are limited in their biological potential by nature – an attitude that might be called Bio-empathy.”
“Let us adopt an ethics based on reason and compassion, which says – We are all unique individuals united by our common heritage. Diversity and co-operation have evolved because they increase our ability to survive. It is in the best interests of all of us to learn how to get on with people different from ourselves.”
“Banning biotechnology because of Hitler is like banning barbers because of Sweeney Todd. We cannot go on basing our ethics on fear of a mad dictator sixty years in the grave.”
“The fear that biotechnology may be misused by a mad dictator is really the fear of electing a mad dictator. It is the authoritarian state we should fear, not science! Let us not banish knowledge, but dictatorship! Let us be extremely wary of excessive state power, but let us not abandon science through fear of our ability to exercise democracy wisely.”
“Some people die each year under anesthetic – should we ban operations? Thousands die each year from falling down the stairs – should the state make us all live in bungalows?”
“The Bio-Luddites wish to outlaw biotechnology through fear. In another age they would have called for the abandonment of fire, or the wheel, or electricity. You cannot base an ethics on fear of your own power.”
“End-is-nigh doom-mongering is an irrational response to the evolutionary progress of the species from Stone Age to Gene Age - ape man to spaceman.”
“What is needed now is a renewal of self-belief in the Modern World, before it's too late.”
And some pertinent quotes by others…
A fusion between the futurism of Arthur C. Clarke and the liberalism of Ayn Rand.”
Mac Tonnies, on Transhumanism
“The human potential movement on steroids”
Mark Dery, Escape Velocity,
on Transhumanism
I don't see that nature has done such a good job that we can't improve on it...I think it is rather primitive of us to be so fearful of ourselves.
Fay Weldon, liberal novelist, feminist
We have not only the right, but the obligation to defy nature's tyranny.
Camille Paglia, libertarian ‘post feminist' thinker; author, Sexual Personae
So here is what I believe…if there are any answers to life's greatest questions it is science that will provide them.
Minette Marrin, conservative columnist
People say, "Well, these would be designer babies, and I say, "Well, what's wrong with designer clothes?"
James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA structure, world's foremost living biologist
How long before designer babies?
And why not?
Leader, The Independent, 12/12/98