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Future Imperative

What if technology were being developed that could enhance your mind or body to extraordinary or even superhuman levels -- and some of these tools were already here? Wouldn't you be curious?

Actually, some are here. But human enhancement is an incredibly broad and compartmentalized field. We’re often unaware of what’s right next door. This site reviews resources and ideas from across the field and makes it easy for readers to find exactly the information they're most interested in.

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The future is coming fast, and it's no longer possible to ignore how rapidly the world is changing. As the old order changes -- or more frequently crumbles altogether -- I offer a perspective on how we can transform ourselves in turn... for the better. Nothing on this site is intended as legal, financial or medical advice. Indeed, much of what I discuss amounts to possibilities rather than certainties, in an ever-changing present and an ever-uncertain future.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

"Understand" -- One Vision of Human Evolutionary Potential

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Yesterday I finally ran across "Understand," a novelette by Ted Chiang. "Understand" features a character who has begun to self-evolve from normal intelligence levels, to genius, to far, far beyond the intellectual limits of any known human.

Given my own plans to engage in radical self-enhancement, the story of Chiang's main character is of more than academic interest to me, as it should be for anyone working to achieve a dramatic, self-directed leap forward in their personal evolution. Perhaps one of the issues this story puts in sharpest relief is the consequence of having only a select handful or an individual with capabilities vastly greater than those of humanity. At some point, only beings of similar intelligence "matter" in terms of being able to truly hinder or assist one another, and they have the ultimate veto power (and all other decision-making power) over the rest of our activities... So long as the rest of us allow such a tremendous gap to open up in terms of our relative capabilities and the talents of those at the highest levels of intellectual attainment.

Future Imperative