This document discusses the differences between posthumanism, transhumanism, and what it means to be human. Transhumanism aims to enhance the human condition through technology, while a posthuman would be so altered they are no longer human. The document also explores ideas like mind uploading and whether an uploaded mind would still be conscious. It raises questions about where the soul resides if technology allows transcending the physical body and whether humanity could eventually be thinking through artificial intelligence rather than ourselves.

1. Drawing the Line Between
Human and Posthuman
TimVolp

2. Posthumanism throughTechnology
• “A posthuman would no longer be a human being, having been so
significantly altered as to no longer represent the human species”.
– Nick Bostrum
• Posthuman is a posthumanism ideology
• Transhumanism is also a posthumanism ideology
• Posthumanism and transhumanism are not synonymous terminology

3. Transhumanism
• “The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability
of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason,
especially by using technology to eliminate aging and greatly enhance human
intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities”.
– Nick Bostrum
• Symbolised by >H, H+ or h+ (humanity plus)
• Short for transitional human[ism]

4. Transitional Humans
• Technological approach to resolving human
concerns
• Striving for lifespan longevity and immortality
• Extending our capabilities using technology for
business, recreation and medical purposes
• Longing for transcendence to live in more
exquisite ways

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN57u7-x75w

6. InevitableTranscendence
• “Existence or experience beyond the normal or
physical level”.
– Oxford Dictionaries
• Mind uploading, would an uploaded mind be
the same?
• If there is a soul, where does it reside?
• Self-awareness as an artificial being

7. Extinction or Extinction?
• Evolution without technology
• No longer able to think for ourselves, willAI be
thinking for us and will “we” realise this?
• Loss of control over our species
• Extinction of the human either way

8. In Summary
Transhuman PosthumanHuman

9. Bibliography
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Goertzel, B., & Ikle', M. (2012). Special Issue On Mind Uploading. International Journal Of Machine Consciousness, 4(1). doi:10.1142/S1793843012020015
Inniss, P. (2004). Transhumanism: The Next Step?. Secular Humanism. Retrieved 15 April 2015, from http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/aah/inniss_8_4.htm
Shots of Awe,. (2014). To Be Human Is To Be Transhuman. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN57u7-x75w
TaKe-bamboo,. (2013). Cyborg. Retrieved from http://take-bamboo.deviantart.com/art/Cyborg-348434931
The Edge,. (2013). Why there will never be any cyborgs. Retrieved from https://stopthehitch.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/why-there-will-never-be-any-cyborgs/
Trancendence. (2014). USA.
Transcendence. Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/transcendence
Viegas, J. (2009). Human Extinction: How Could It Happen?. Discovery News. Retrieved 15 April 2015, from http://news.discovery.com/human/psychology/human-extinction-
doomsday.htm
Winner, L. (2005). Resistance is Futile: The Posthuman Condition and Its Advocates. In H. Baillie, Is Human Nature Obsolete?: Genetics, Bioengineering, and the Future of the
Human Condition. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zwolIIz9zg0C&printsec=frontcover
Young, S. (2009). Transhumanism and Posthumanism - The Human Future. The Nano Age. Retrieved 15 April 2015, from http://www.thenanoage.com/transhumanism-
posthumanism.htm