“While spiritual awakening sets consciousness free from the limitations of the body and the five senses, depending on a body integrated with technology for evolution and heightened perception only serves to further bind our existence and perception to the transient material realm, which is only a small part of our existence, and has a definitive end.” – D Percival
The search for expanded states of consciousness is part of the human experience. With technology developing at a breakneck pace, people are increasingly interested in how to best “hack” their daily life for enhanced productivity, emotional satisfaction, and even physical well being. Transhumanism, or the belief that humans can use technology to evolve past their current limited physical and mental experience of life, presents an interesting question on the subject of consciousness: can technology lead us to higher states of consciousness, or is it just the opposite — a weight dragging us back into the heaviness of the material world?
Proponents of transhumanism say that humans are clearly still in the early stages of our evolution, and the next logical step forward includes using all available technologies to evolve (humans in transition or transhumanism). There’s even the potential for us to become human beings that are so radically different from ordinary folk as to deserve the title “post humans”.
This idea of human transformation is not new — there are traditions stretching back centuries dealing with how to reach the heightened state of consciousness known as enlightenment, how to attain eternal life, and how to live a transcendent existence.
So how does one transcend the pain, problems, and general clunkiness of ordinary life in the physical world? Technology offers undeniable help in day-to-day functioning, but is it enough to actually transform the human race?
Modern biohackers, also known as “grinders”, like Amal Graafstra, have found ways to develop what you might call extrasensory perceptions, akin to a sixth sense. This isn’t something like intuition or clairvoyance however; these sixth senses require implants to extend the capabilities of the human body. Whether using RFID technology to open doors, unlock a laptop, or even perceive the location of true north, Graafstra believes that embeddable tech is the next step in human evolution. He even started his own company, Dangerous Things, which allows people to order DIY implants, ready for injection, so they can experiment with embeddable tech on themselves.
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From Human to Transhuman
Is the step from ordinary person to enhanced transhuman inevitable? We seem to be going in that direction, given some of the latest technological strides which blur the lines between humans and machines.
Continue reading . . .