Transhumanism in the Movies
What is the Transhumanist Movement?Transhumanism is a movement that embraces the enhancement of human beings through science. Transhumanists believe that through science we will evolve into beings that are more than merely human, and be humans+ (therefore, the symbol for transhumanism is H+). Imagine our brains with computer chips in them, giving us instant access to all of the knowledge in the world. Picture cheap Canada Goose genetically altered humans, free of deformities, with improved intelligence, strength, and beauty. Envision uploading our minds into beautiful cyborgs that resemble human beings. Picture immortality. These are but some of the scenarios that transhumanists envision. How have movies dealt with this topic? How is the impact of human enhancement through technology portrayed? Will it benefit or hurt mankind? Let’s explore some popular movies with transhumanist themes.
buy canada goose jacket Starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood buy canada goose jacket
buy canada goose jacket cheap Mankind ‘s evolution is aided by a mysterious monolith that has been left on Earth by an alien intelligence. After the monolith gives off a piercing noise, nearby apes take a leap in evolution and learn to use tools canada goose clearance sale and defeat their enemies. Next, man goes to the moon and finds another monolith which sends a radio signal to Jupiter. A two man crew sets out to investigate. During the journey, the computer system Hal goes insane, and kills one of the pilots. The other pilot, Canada Goose Parka David Bowman, dismantles the berserk computer and continues on by himself. When he gets to Jupiter, he sees another monolith, and follows canada goose deals it in a discovery pod. The pod is swept into a vortex which hurdles Bowman great distances across alien worlds. Finally he finds himself in a series of strange rooms, viewing his own demise. On his deathbed, he sees the monolith, and reaches out to it. In the final scene, he has evolved into a star child, gazing down at earth. Bowman has evolved into something beyond a human, and soared past his human limits with the help of the alien race. buy canada goose jacket cheap
canada goose clearance sale Transhumanists believe that we could reach such heights through our own science, and that someday we will learn how to scan our brains and upload them into computers. Once our consciousness becomes digitized, we could actually project ourselves through space at the speed of light, and be received by some artificial container at another point. Once we achieve these capabilities, would we be star children, almost pure consciousness with a cosmically proportioned awareness and intelligence? At this point would we have completely lost our humanity and be something completely different a post human? canada goose clearance sale
The Terminator SeriesIn the world of 2029, machines have taken over the world, and mankind is at war with them. Hero Kyle Reese is sent back into the past to protect Sarah Connor. A terminator, sent from the future by the machines, is pursuing Sarah. The terminator appears human, but is actually a cyborg killing machine. In the future, the Machines will completely exterminate the last humans unless Sarah Connor gives birth to John Connor, and raises him to become the resistance leader. The series goes through Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and concludes with Terminator Salvation. In Terminator Salvation, Marcus is a criminal on death row who agrees to turn his body over to science canadian goose jacket after his execution. During a resistance attack on Skynet led by John Connor, Marcus mysteriously emerges from the wreckage and joins forces with Connor. It ends up that Marcus, although he thinks he’s human, is actually a hybrid part human, part cyborg. Despite the fact that Marcus was built to destroy Connor, Marcus tears out the hardware that links him to Skylab, and eventually ends up sacrificing his own heart to save Connor, who is wounded in a battle against a terminator.
canada goose coats One transhumanist theme in the Terminator series is the eventual superiority of machine over man that may occur once machines become smarter than man. Transhumanism speaks of this as the point of singularity. Once machine intelligence passes human intelligence, there is no predicting the outcome, and perhaps Canada Goose online machines would turn on their inferior human creators. The twist at the end shows Marcus as a combination of man and machine. He is a trans human, but his humanity enables him to triumph over the machines. canada goose coats
Starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurmon and Jude Law
This movie is set in a future world where there are two distinct forms of humans. Most people are genetically enhanced to be free of disease, super intelligent, amazingly strong and physically perfect. Those who don’t choose to become enhanced (the in valids) are left behind, and are considered inferior. For those “less fortunate”, life Canada Goose Jackets is a struggle. The hero of the film, Vincent Freeman (played by Ethan Hawke) was conceived naturally, and is an in valid. Based on a DNA test done when he was born, Vincent has a 99% chance of developing a heart defect before he turns 30. His parents allow their second child, Hugo, to be genetically enhanced because they realize that they have doomed Vincent to an inferior life. Hugo is stronger and smarter then Vincent, but Vincent works hard to overcome his shortcomings. His one dream is to become an astronaut for Gattaca Corporation, but he is barred from ever achieving this because of his genetic weaknesses. He decides that he will have to disguise himself somehow as a “valid” in order to accomplish his goals. He links up with Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), a “valid” who became paralyzed in a suicide attempt. Jerome sells his identity to Vincent, and Vincent struggles to realize his dream.
canada goose black friday sale This buy canada goose jacket film clearly shows the split that genetic enhancement could cause in society. It also differentiates between man’s biological and spiritual nature. Jerome’s attempted suicide shows that no matter how enhanced humans become, science can’t elevate them spiritually. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Vincent obtaining his dream of going to the stars proves that the human spirit goes beyond genetics, and can’t be determined through science. canada goose black friday sale
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In this movie, humans are enhanced to http://www.canadagoosecanadaoutlet.com be weapons. Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is a chemically enhanced super soldier. Part of a secret defense program, he has been given drugs that greatly increase his intelligence and strength. His human plus abilities can be seen in the very first scene of the movie where he is climbing a mountain and fighting off wolves at a training site in Alaska. When the defense program is threatened with exposure and suddenly shut down, Cross must flee from the government agents sent to assassinate him.
canada goose uk outlet The message Canada Goose Outlet here is the danger of transhumanist scientific advances being put in the wrong hands, and being used for the wrong purposes. Many Transhumanists are concerned that if mainstream society rejects transhumanism, it will only develop underground, and be used for unethical purposes. canada goose uk outlet
canada goose clearance Battlestar Galactica and CapricaAlthough not movies, these two TV series deserve mention. canada goose clearance
Battlestar Galactica depicts a generation of people that have left their home planet Earth so many years ago that they no Canada canada goose outlet Goose sale longer know where it is or if it even exists for sure. Long buy canada goose jacket cheap in the past humans have spread out to 12 colonies. One of the colonies is on Caprica, and this is where human like machines called cylons are built. The cylons waged war against their human masters, and the 50,000 remaining humans flee from the 12 colonies in space ships. The war between cylons and humans continues throughout the series. Wandering in space, technophobic because their world has been destroyed by technology, the humans try to find their way back to Earth, their fabled home. Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Gallactica, explores the development of the cylons. As it ends up, the cylons were a result of the transhumanist goal of uploading human consciousness into canada goose store cybernetic bodies.
Canada Goose Jackets There are many canada goose coats interesting transhumanist concepts that are explored in this series. Are the trans human cylons really that different from the humans? They seem to think like humans, love like humans, and even have religion. Ultimately, some of the cylons join forces with the humans. At the end, they find a new Earth where humans and the human like cylons settle down. Together, they throw away all of their technology, canada goose and start anew. Canada Goose Jackets
Canada Goose Online In ConclusionIn most of these movies the rise of Artificial Intelligence produced a dangerous situation where computers turned on their human creators. This is of concern to transhumanists, who believe that this is a real possibility. The enhancement of humans is depicted as something that could cause social conflict. Two distinct races humans and trans humans could find it hard to live together. Perhaps humans would become a sub class of society. Transhumanist technology could be misused, as in the Bourne Legacy. Although fascinating, transhumanism is portrayed as something to be wary of. Certainly these films make you think about what it means to be human and possibly trans human.5 years ago from San Antonio, FL Canada Goose Online
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