From Neo-Luddism to Transhumanism: singularity and vertical progress or identity loss

Abstract

One can distinguish two extremities in relation to modern technologies. The first is Neo-Luddism that implies their negation and representation as a hostile force to man, which should be struggled against. The second is transhumanism that finds a panacea to the humankind in solving all the problems on the basis of technology development and rests upon the maximum convergence of human and machine minds. Both of the views imply a radical change of either standard of living or the existing identity of an information society individual. This article discusses a problem peculiarity of modern Neo-Luddites’ viewpoints. At that, if one does not take into consideration the extreme displays of fight against machines, than this is rather about reasonable fears of unpredictable consequences of the unrestrained and uncontrolled process of inclusion of technologies in the human vital activity. One disputes a “rose-coloured view” of the future triumph of technological development that must bring the man if not just immortal, then an utmost lifespan. As an ideal, it must become a point of technological singularity, that is, the man’s transformation into other, cyborg-like, machine property. The popularity of the ideas of life extension is quite explainable and is not subject to criticism. But disregard of ethic and ethnic problems as well as problems of overpopulation of the planet and scantiness of resources makes transhumanists’ outlooks, if not utopian, then at least, rather ambiguous. As well as any immortalist of those who have promised immortality, take the latter to an unclear future speculating on ever-increasing interest to this theme. Evaluating the approaches by Neo-Luddites and transhumanists as radical, one proposes to start moving to the in-between position. It provides the working-out of a commensurate and “peaceful” coexistence of man and technologies in order to save the generic entity of a human and exclude shocks to the identity.