Our Impending Cyborg Future: A Pause for Reflection
Any given definition of the term “transhumanism” is prone to be debatable, and the span of topics and technologies argued at one time or another to be covered by that umbrella term is quite broad. Nonetheless, much of the intense popular attention garnered by the modern transhumanism movement revolves around the most expansive hopes that have been expressed for the technological enhancement and extension of human life in hopes of moving beyond the limitations imposed by our biological makeup. Up to (and even including) immortality, these “grand hopes” themselves long predate the transhumanist movement, of course; indeed, those hopes arguably may be fundamental manifestations of part of what it means to be human. So, perhaps only a few might choose to take issue directly with the content of those innate desires. However, I wish to suggest, as others have, that reflections on the many hurdles to any technological realization of those grand hopes cannot help but sober the sweeping contemporary confidence espoused by some of the more optimistic proponents of transhumanism. A brief reiteration of some of the potential physical, biological, technological, and sociological obstacles to the realization of these grand hopes can lead to a less optimistic assessment of how soon that technologically-produced nirvana might arrive, if at all. Thus, while the grand hopes remain worth pondering and pursuing, the path to attaining them ultimately may not lie with technology.
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Barry Graham Ritchie is Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University. He has previously served as Interim Vice President and Dean of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at ASU, and as Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ASU.
He has been with ASU since 1984, being promoted to Professor of Physics in 1996. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics from Appalachian State University, he earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in nuclear physics from the University of South Carolina, and served as a postdoctoral research associate at both the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland.
A member of the American Physical Society with over 140 refereed publications, his research specialty is in experimental nuclear and particle physics. Having served on technical advisory panels at Los Alamos National Laboratory and at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), his research group studies the structure of the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei through experiments at international particle accelerator facilities. The work has been continuously supported by the National Science Foundation since 1985. His interests also include the intersection of science and religion, and he and his colleagues at ASU have received funding from the Templeton Foundation to study the issues raised by the enhancement of human capabilities through genetic and nano- technologies.
He is active in his congregation at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Mesa, Arizona, teaching New Testament and adult faith formation classes.
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