Transhumanism Is A Good Concept Analysis

Why Transhumanism is a Good Concept Transhumanism has become a remarkably controversial topic- with half of society agreeing with their plans and the other half disagreeing. Two intellectuals spoke out about their views on the subject: Francis Fukuyama and Ronald Bailey, each on a differing side. While Fukuyama makes an argument against the transhumanists, Bailey makes a compelling argument for them. He does so by justifying why enhancing humanity is a human thing to do, while also illustrating the realistic circumstances enhancing technology has and will put us in. Bailey establishes a strong argument by suggesting humans “escape” their biological constraints every time the race becomes smarter or discovers a new development in the world. For example, he argues how people today do not “still live in our species’ ‘natural state’ as Pleistocene hunter-gatherers” (Bailey, 452). In other words, our race has tremendously advanced since the time of our ancestors thanks to our intellectual and technological progress. Bailey presents the idea that since the beginning, humans have …show more content…
He suggests it will start small, with “pills and shots to increase strength, lighten moods and improve memory,” making it affordable for everyone (Bailey, 453). He adds that as the technology advances, not only will we enhance our flaws, but we will have the ability to give children beneficial genes that will prevent those flaws from developing. Many people find the idea frightening- people such as Fukuyama, who claims transhumanists will make the technology untouchable to the poor. However, Bailey makes an effective argument mentioning the distribution of the technologies to anyone who wants them will be an easy job, and it will not create a larger gap between rich and poor: “safe genetic engineering is more likely to ameliorate than to exacerbate human inequality” (Bailey,