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ELISE BOHAN: Ah shit, transhumanism….
Publisher |
Sarah Wilson
Media Type |
audio
Categories Via RSS |
Society & Culture
Publication Date |
Sep 27, 2022
Episode Duration |
00:55:55

What if we could bioengineer our bodies to live forever, would we and should we? What if we could avoid all the awkward bits of sex and just neatly copulate with a robot? And what if we never had to go through the bother and pain of pregnancy and could instead use artificial external wombs? Would we? And should we?

Transhumanists say these are moot questions because the superhuman or post-human train has well and truly left the station. We’re only decades from these altered, souped up realities. Oxford transhumanist scholar Elise Bohan and I roll our sleeves up to discuss the litany of moral questions that arise from this, like why the hell were we not consulted on this before the train took off? Has anyone stopped to ask if this is what humanity wants or can handle morally? We chat about the singularity, the particularly worrying effects on men and dating and Elise posits a timeframe for AI intelligence taking over from human smarts (!). If ever there was a conversation in history to get us talking about what matters and makes for a flourishing existence, this is it. Take a deep breath…

Grab Elise’s book, Future Superhuman: Our Transhuman Lives in a Make-or-Break Century 

I refer to the book Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

And we reference previous podcast chats with William Macaskill

.....

If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. 

Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. 

Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life 

Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most. 


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