A history of transhumanist thought

Abstract

The human desire to acquire new capacities is as ancient as our species itself. We have always sought to expand the boundaries of our existence, be it socially, geographically, or mentally. There is a tendency in at least some individuals always to search for a way around every obstacle and limitation to human life and happiness. Ceremonial burial and preserved fragments of religious writings show that prehistoric humans were disturbed by the death of loved ones. Although the belief in a hereafter was common, this did not preclude efforts to extend one’s earthly life. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (approx. 1700 B.C.), a king sets out on a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh learns that there exists a natural means – an herb that grows at the bottom of the sea. 1 He successfully retrieves the plant, but a snake steals it from him before he can eat it. In later times, explorers sought the Fountain of Youth, alchemists labored to concoct the Elixir of Life, and various schools of esoteric Taoism in China strove for physical immortality by way of control over or harmony with the forces of nature. The boundary between mythos and science, between magic and technology, was blurry, and almost all conceivable means to the preservation of life were attempted by somebody or other. Yet while explorers made many interesting discoveries and alchemists invented some useful things, such as new dyes and improvements in metallurgy, the goal of life extension proved elusive. The quest to transcend our natural confines has long been viewed with ambivalence, however. Reining it in is the concept of hubris: that some ambitions are off‐limits and will backfire if pursued. The ancient Greeks exhibited this ambivalence in their mythology. Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humans, thereby permanently improving the human condition. Yet for this act he was severely punished by Zeus. The gods are repeatedly

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