WWKD?
All this talk of nonhumans, transhumans, post-humans. The coming Disclosure. The Singularity. We’re all focused beyond humanity to something else, some future state of being, some other species, something that transforms us and raises us to some new quantum state.
The more I think about this stuff, the more I think about Star Trek. The constant theme in that show was: What is it to be human? And the constant message was that it is our flaws, our emotions, our vulnerabilities that not only set us apart from machines and aliens, but also redeem us, that make us better than our foes.
Captain Kirk always defeated the Others, and won in his arguments with Spock, through his humanity. He was an argument for humanity, warts and all.
I don’t think any Singularity or Disclosure or any other horizon will change our fundamental humanity. We’ll continue being the flawed and emotional beings we have always been. And crossing such a threshold that teaches us our insignificance will ultimately drive us to learn more about ourselves and love ourselves more, including all our failings and flaws and fuckups. At least I hope that’s the case.
This will be the theme of any future philosophy, any future religion: What would Kirk do?
