Why are you transhuman (ist)?
I’d like to divide my answer into two, answering “Why do you have transhumanist values?” and “Why do you call yourself a transhumanist?”. To the former, my answer is: because I recognize that pioneering technologies have a unique capacity to enhance people’s quality of life, and I think suffering (i.e. a low quality of life) is a bad thing. To the latter, my answer is: I don’t. Seriously, I really don’t like to be called a transhumanist, because I think the word makes people think that pioneering technologists are trying to turn humanity into a new species, which is not necessarily very attractive, and the word fails to get people to see that these technologists are simply the continuation of humanity’s efforts over past millennia that have improved our quality of life so astronomically already.
Dr. Aubrey de Grey is the biomedical gerontologist who researched the idea for and founded SENS Research Foundation. He received his BA in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge in 1985 and 2000, respectively. Dr. de Grey is Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits on the editorial and scientific advisory boards of numerous journals and organizations.
Quote from SENS:
Our goals could be described in terms of science and also in terms of community. In terms of science, the goals are clearly to pursue the development of medicines that would turn back the clock of aging, to actually develop medicines that will genuinely rejuvenate the body by restoring the molecular and cellular structure and composition of the body to something like how it is in early adulthood. However, I never felt that this was something that SENS Research Foundation or any organization that I would be leading would do on its own. We are the pioneers; we are the engine room of all of this. The credibility of the overall goal has become increasingly clear, and more and more people are getting involved. And that might cause SRF to grow but it also causes other organizations and other individuals to come along into the mission and get involved in their own ways including in the private sector. Even at the start, I used to say that my basic goal was to become unnecessary.
Dr. de Gray as an ‘Icon’ is focused on longevity. While he does not consider himself a transhuman specifically he did consent to be listed and is an ‘Icon’ of Longevity and the philosophy of the idea of longevity in the transhumanist sense.
Related Web Properties
#IAmTranshuman (ist)