To withstand the immemorial threat of the cosmic darkness and our own self-made motif of the nuclear apocalypse we must take on some kind of stronger, more adaptive and versatile bodily composition. Our very cells cry out for that lively bioreengineering. And our machines, our alloys, our electronic senses, our delicate microinstruments and fantastic nanotechnologies; all of them raise an ache in our meaningful survival mechanism to join with them an let them enhance our ephemeral doomed biological bodies.
--St. Boniface, Cyberia.



Transhumanism (>H) is the philosophy that we can, and should, try to overcome our biological limits by means of reason, science and technology. Transhumanists seek things like intelligence augmentation, increased strenght and beauty, extreme life extension, sustainable mood enhancement and the capability to get offplanet and explore the universe. These goals are to be achieved with the aid of contemporary and future technologies such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology, cryonics, megascale and space-time engineering, AI, and mind uploading . In other words, (hardcore) transhumanists seek to become posthuman (demi-)gods -- "persons of unprecedented physical, intellectual, and psychological capacity, self-programming, self-constituting, potentially immortal, unlimited individuals''. It is a fairly common belief among transhumanists that the pace of technological progress will accelerate enormously within the next century, ultimately resulting in a period of extremely fast and profound social and technological change, after which nothing can be reliably conceived; the Singularity.

Note: the above is (more or less) the "basic" or "general" definition of transhumanism. A specialized version of the transhumanist philosophy, Transtopianism, can be found here.

Some other definitions of transhumanism:

What is Transhumanism? ,by Nick Bostrom

Transhumanism and Extropianism
,by Greg Burch

Introductory Texts about Transhumanism
,compiled by Anders Sandberg

The Transhumanist FAQ

The Transhumanist Declaration (2.4)

The Extropian Principles V. 3.0


Mailing lists & newsgroups

Transhuman mailing list Unmoderated, medium/low traffic list for general transhumanist discussion.
Extropy Institute mailing lists Unmoderated, for everything related to (extropian) transhumanism. The main ("extropians") list is generally high traffic, the rest low/medium traffic.
Technocalypse A list for people who want to actively prepare for the coming Singularity. Unmoderated, low traffic.
CryoNet mailing list An unmoderated, medium traffic list (in digest form only) for discussing matters related to cryonics, the experimental procedure whereby patients who no longer can be kept alive with today's medical abilities are preserved at low temperature for treatment in the future.
Cryonics-Euro Unmoderated, low traffic list for European cryonicists. See also the European Cryonics Page.
USENET sci.cryonics newsgroup Unmoderated, medium/low traffic general cryonics discussion.
USENETsci.nanotech newsgroup Moderated, for discussion of things related to molecular nano technology


Transhumanism, Extropianism & Related Sites

Transhumanist Resources

World Transhumanist Association (WTA)

Extropy Institute

Transcedo
Dutch Transhumanist Society.

De:Trans
German Transhumanist Society.

Aleph
Swedish Transhumanist Organization.

Transhuman and Extropic Art Center

Transhuman World Culture InfoMark

Homo Excelsior
The Transhumanist's Magazine.
HedWeb -- The Hedonistic Imperative
The Hedonistic Imperative outlines how genetic engineering and nanotechnology will abolish suffering in all sentient life.

Transhuman.com

Contemporary Renaissance Futures

Factasia
Fantasy, philosophy and logic.

The Transhuman Web Alliance

Alexander "Sasha" Chislenko's Transhumanist Website

Henry's Future Pages

World Future Society
The World Future Society is a nonprofit educational and scientific organization for people interested in how social and technological developments are shaping the future.

The MIT Extropians

Church of Virus
"A neo-cybernetic philosophy for the 21st century; a synthesis of religion and evolution".

The Foresight Institute
Nanotechnology information center.

Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Cryonics organization.

Cryonics Institute

American Cryonics Society

The Life Extension Foundation


Foundations of Transhumanism
This is a project to lay out the foundations of a transhumanist philosophy. A selected number of cutting-edge texts on the key issues are presented in a systematic way.
The Up-Wing Home Page
Up-Wing is a movement dedicated to promoting means to improve the chances of averting catastrophe and attaining the stars. Up-Wing promotes the development of new technologies, ethics, economics and philosophies concerned with imminent dangers and opportunities for the survival of our civilization.
Skyful of Stars
A site devoted to speculation about trends, technologies, and social structure in the near and far future.
The Futurism Page
This page is devoted to the scientific and philosophical exploration of the potentialities and dangers of the immediate as well as the remote future.
Libertarian Futurist Society
The New Civilization Network
The New Civilization Network (NCN) is a global network of people visualizing a better world and working on building it. A world of increased quality of life, freedom, fun and inspiration for all. A world where the needs of all of humanity are met.
The Road to Posthumanity
A small sketch of possible methods to expand our capacity, from the present state to a posthuman state.
ArtilectWorld
The Artilect World Information Center is an international group of scientists, academics, researchers, and engineers -- all working together on various projects to discuss the coming of ultra intelligent machines.
Nanoquest
Various nanotech and AI-related links.
Goo prophylaxis -- How do we prevent a nanotechnological disaster?
, by Nick Bostrom.
The NanoComputer Dream Team
The NanoComputer Dream Team is an international group of scientists, academics, researchers, and engineers -- all working together on various projects to build the world's first nanometer-scale supercomputer.
Brain Tennis -- Max More vs Paulina Borsook
Discussion about transhumanism and extropy from HotWired.
The Transhuman Jewellery Experience
Foundation for the Advancement and Expansion of Humanity
The Secular Transhumanist Website
Future History timeline
Cyborgs and Postmodern Bodies
Timeline to 2020 A collaborative scenario-development project, courtesy of the Textropians.
Self-Transformation And Extreme Longevity
Joyful Life Extension, Universal Liberty and the Global Village Project
The Ultimate Homepage Index -- Transhuman
Cyberlewis.com -- Transhuman Topics
Scientific Futurism In what direction is Science heading and how is it shaping humankind's path into the future? How should we face the new technologies?
Gipson Arnold's Links to the Future
Scratch Monkey An online novel by Charles Stross about a (dark) future with uploads, Super Intelligences etc.
Out of Control Book (full text online) about the convergence of life and automation in the future.
Links to other Future-Related Sites
The >H Links Collection



Intro | Transtopian Principles | Enlightenment Test | Singularity Club | Egoism | Vernor Vinge on the Singularity (article) | Five Things You Can Do To Fight Entropy Now (essay) | E-mail



Last updated : 8-10-99