Transhumanism

Students from all three of my AP classes will upload source-data here.

Debate topic: The **benefits** of transhumanism **outweigh** any potential short- or long-term **costs**.


 * Debate teams:**
 * Period 2: Pro:** Parker, Varunraj, Matt vs. **Con:** Perry, Susmita, Zach
 * Period 4: Pro:** Dale, Emily, Rachel vs. **Con:** Michelle, Matt, Sukhmann (Mon, 12.2)
 * Period 8: Pro:** Nina, Adam, Craig vs. **Con:** Aishwarya, Alex, Devin, Ghanash (Mon, 11.25)


 * What to post:**
 * source title (hyperlink to the source if available)
 * Your name (first & last)
 * Author's name
 * a SOAPSTone for the source (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, Tone)
 * 2-3 key quotes


 * How many of these to post:**
 * At least three per student by Sun. night
 * Careful not to post over/delete someone else's work
 * consider taking notes in another document and then copy/pasting in

Craig Thorogood Soapstone Matt Lieberman Soapstone Susmita Ghose Soapstone Sukhmann Aneja's Soapstones Perry Huang's Soapstones [] Michelle's Soapstones Zach Kalik's soapstones Aishwarya Sadh Varunraj Baskaran's SOAPSTones
 * Where to post? Right here in the space below.**
 * Devin stuff**

[]

Ghanash Vigneswaran

Massimo Piligliucci

Subject- To present the negatives of utilizing technology to benefit the human soul.

Occasion- To show how transhumanism leads to overpopulation and environmental issues.

Audience: Techno-optimists/techno- pessimistics and opponents f transhumanism.

Purpose- To illustrate the drawbacks of transhumanism due to the the costs that outweigh the benefits.

Speaker- opponent to transhumanism

Tone- argumentative

Quotes- " If we all live much longer, we all consume more resources and have more children, leading to an even more overpopulation and environmental degradation." " Fifity years of old age are a hefty price to pay, and one that would be psychologically devastating and further bankrupt our resources."

[| http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/06/transhumanist-movement-is-coming-the-ethical-dilemma-posed-by-rapidly-advancing-technology/]

Ghanash Vigneswaran

Glenn Beck

Subject- To show the moral and ethical issues associated with transhumanism

Occasion- To depict how relying on technology leads to overpopulation

Audience- Transhumanists and opponents to transhumanism

purpose- To show how technology has moral and ethical implications

Speaker- opponent to transhumanist movement

Tone- persuasive

Quotes- " If humans are to live longer will Earth be able to support that."If we lose the concept of the soul and become the creator at the same time, what does the phrase 'We're al endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights mean"

[]

Ghanash Vigneswaran

Natalie Hendren

Subject- To show how the costs outweigh the benefits of transhumanism.

Occasion: To illustrate the negatives of transhumanism.

Audience- transhumanists/ opponents to transhumanism.

Purpose- To show how this movement needs supervision in order to eliminate the drawbacks.

Speaker- Opponent to Transhumanism.

Tone- Argumentaive

Quotes- "We are only given one earth and we must be careful with the powers we have over people, animals and land." "Without supervision, this could be a dangerous road that could result in mutations, overpopulation, and other disasters around the world"

subject: to inform

Alex Wahl [] Ronald Bailey

Subject: To educate on the potential dangers of Transhumanism Occasions: Transhumanism has been an increasing topic of debate,m Technology is more quickly increasin Audience: Students teachers scientist philosophers, anyone interested in transhumanism Purpose: To provide reasons and support to the con side of transhumanism, to show possible negative effects that weren't originally thought of. Speaker Ronald Bailey, Francis Fukuyama Tone: Cautionary, Educational Quotes: "His choice for the world's most dangerous idea? Transhumanism." "What transhumanists seek is very different. They want to go beyond current innate human capacities. They want to change human bodies and brains." "The new species, or "posthuman," will likely view the old "normal" humans as inferior, even savages, and fit for slavery or slaughter. The normals, on the other hand, may see the posthumans as a threat and if they can, may engage in a preemptive strike by killing the posthumans before they themselves are killed or enslaved by them. It is ultimately this predictable potential for genocide that makes species-altering experiments potential weapons of mass destruction, and makes the unaccountable genetic engineer a potential bioterrorist."

Alex Wahl [|2045 Initiative]2045 conference executives Subject: To educate on the process and steps years by year that this conference has Occasion: Recently there was the first meeting of this group. To tell the public their aims and goals Audience: Anyone interested in future technology transhumanism, really everyone Purpose: To provide and about us on the website, also to go year by year with a possible and realistic plan for how technology will be used on humans Tone: Professional, Authoritative Quotes: " One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species."

Alex Wahl @http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/samples/sp657748.pdf Christopher Hook Subject: The con side of a debate for transhumanism Occasion: Recent ethical moral and social issues most likely led to this. ALso the increasing likelihood of transhumance technology Audience: Cons die against transhumanism Speaker:Christopher Hook, Nick Bostrom Purpose: to pursued reader against transhumanism to show all the bad unseen things that can happen because of it. Tone: Cautionary, frightened, worried Quotes:" "What becomes problematic for some is when the augmentation or enhancement in question potentially exceeds the function that could be achieved by the finest specimens of homo sapiens trained in the most rigorous fashion. "

Adam Giurlando

transfigurism.org

Mormon Transhumanist Organization

Subject- The correlation between Mormon and Transhumanist views

Occasion- To provide information about the Mormon Transhumanist’s beliefs

Audience- Anyone interested in the topic or looking for religious transhumanism

Purpose- To educate the reader about the similarities between the mormon faith and transhumanism

Speaker- Mormon Transfigurist (religious transhumanism) advocates

Tone- Informative

Quotes: “ Mormonism and Transhumanism advocate remarkably similar views of human nature and potential: material beings organized according to law, rapidly advancing knowledge and power, imminent fundamental changes to anatomy and environment, and eventual transcendence of present limitations.”

“Increasingly, persons are recognizing parallels and complements between Mormon and Transhumanist views.”

[|__http://transfigurism.org/pages/about/__]

Adam Giurlando

lifeboat.com

Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board

Subject- Transhumanist Technologies that may be available in the future based on current reasearch

Occasion- Outlining the tehcnology that may someday become available

Audience- People wondering how transhumanism can have an effect on their lives in the near future

Purpose- To highlight ten possible technologies that transhumanism promotes

Speaker- A member of the Lifeboat Board Michael Anissimov

Tone- Informative

Quotes:

“ As we gain ever greater control over the atomic structure of matter, our technological goals become increasingly ambitious, and their payoffs more and more generous.”

“technology in the grander sense of strategies for eliminating disease, providing cheap but high-quality products to the world’s poorest, improving quality of life and social interconnectedness, and so on. .”

[|__http://lifeboat.com/ex/transhumanist.technologies__]

Adam Giurlando

Transhumanism.org

World Transhumanist Association

Subject- Transhumanist beliefs and how it could potentially help or harm the world Occasion- SHowing interested people what transhumanism has to offer both good and bad

Audience- People wondering what transhumanism is

Purpose- To show how transhumanism could develop both good and bad in the coming years

Speaker- Nick bostrom of the London School of Economics

Tone- Informative, friendly

Quotes:

“Present-day processes can be fine-tuned; wealth can be increased and redistributed; tools can be developed and refined; culture can change, sometimes drastically; but human nature itself is not up for grabs. .”

“The transhumanist outlook can appear cold and alien at first. Many people are frightened by the rapid changes they are witnessing and respond with denial or by calling for bans on new technologies.” [|__http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/transhumanism.htm__]