Super You: How Technology Revolutionized What it Means to Be Human
One day in 1835 Charles Darwin went on a bird-watching holiday to the Galapagos and came back to write his theory of evolution. The clever ornithologist demonstrated that animal and, controversially, human improvement was happening naturally as a biological process.
Since the age of the caveman, humans have been clever enough to augment that ongoing natural physical transformation through technology. The wheel made carrying loads easier. The discovery of fire allowed us hairless apes to survive frigid temperatures; and agriculture provided a means to feed our children when the herds moved on.
Fast forward…and the discovery of transistors and computers are giving us more superhuman powers daily (Hey mom, I counted to 12 million in 40 milliseconds!). The Internet made us know everything. (Go on, ask me the name of Justin Bieber’s monkey!) And despite the influx of YouTube videos that feature dogs on skateboards and cats on Roombas, the connected web will make human life even better and easier.
Pair human biological evolution with accelerating technology innovation and you have a supercharged version of evolution. And as a result 6 billion super humans — all looking dully at their cell phones while walking into traffic, yes; but we digress.
Chips implanted into our brains? Sensors under our finger pads? Check and check.
Lab grown replacement organs and curated DNA that makes designer babies possible. In progress!
While the raw science of some of these ideas is still developing, the reality of new technology is making — what some call — “body hacks” possible.
That is to say hacking your biology as if it were a robot mated with a ham sandwich. Mods, tweaks and upgrades to human flesh are Hearts are being rebuilt. Children are being sculpted in a petri dish long before they are born. Crazy, some would say brilliant, amateurs are giving themselves superhuman powers through the power of simple technological implants. This is happening in the garage across town, in the labs down the block and in some cases in your own basement. Ask your kids.
Scary? Yes. Brilliant? Yes! Revolutionary. Absolutely.
And soon you too will be hacking yourself Ever wonder what it would be like to have super powers? Well, the truth is this reality is not far away. Though don’t drop your Wonder Woman outfit at the dry cleaners yet. Cosmetic surgeries, such as implants, botox and liposuction, have changed the way we look allowing us to create a version of our best selves. Want to be taller? That’s coming by 2020.
Want someone else’s face? Texas resident Richard Lee Norris has someone else’s mug after he shot his own off in a gun accident. Doctors transplanted a dead man’s face onto his. Norris wasn’t the first. He was the 23rd. You may not want the face of a cadaver. (Nobody wants to hear: “Honey, you look dead today!”) No, your new face could come from a test tube. With a cute new nose grown just for you. “I’d like an Aniston please!” And yes you can have Jagger’s lips. Though you might want to think twice about that one. Just sayin’.
The book is more than skin deep though. It also looks at life saving technologies. Hearts don’t beat in this book. They hum. This thanks to two doctors who engineered a mini implantable jet The fight against obesity has a new implanted tool called the laparoscopic band that aids weight loss, circumvents diabetes and heart disease to provide extended longevity to anyone that can pay the price of a Smart car. (One of the authors has one.)
With these exciting advancements, blindness, mental illness and hearing impairments are becoming obsolete. Remember the Bionic Man? Steve Austin’s reality is coming to your Super You looks at this too. What does the government say you can and can’t do? Sorry no anesthetic in your garage surgery. That’s practicing medicine. And that’s illegal.
The book explores what political and religious leaders have to say about the new realm of transhuman technology. A book co-written by a Catholic priest about stem cell research was given the thumbs up by Pope Benedict.
It is an exciting time in the evolution of man. We have reached a new frontier: the possibility of transhumanism. We are at the brink of the age of Human 2.0. Super You is more than just a theory, it is a new exciting reality that is about to transform the society, economic longevity and ultimately the very bodies with which we live.
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