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Future Superhuman: Our transhuman lives in a make-or-break century
In breathtakingly original prose, Elise Bohan argues that we’re hurtling towards a superhuman future — or, if we blunder, extinction. The only way out of our existential crises, from global warming to the risks posed by nuclear weapons, novel and bioengineered pathogens, and unaligned AI, is up. We’ll need more technology to safeguard our future — and we’re going to invent (and perhaps even merge with) some of that technology. What does that mean for our 20th century life-scripts? Are the robots coming for our jobs? How will human relationships change when AI knows us inside out? Will we still be having human babies by the century’s end? Bohan unflinchingly explores possibilities most of us are afraid to the impacts of automation on our jobs, livelihoods, and dating and mating careers, the stretching out of ‘the-circle-of-life’ as life-extension technologies mature, the rise of AI friends and lovers, the liberation of women from pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, and the impending global baby-bust — and attendant proliferation of digital minds. Strap in for an exhilarating, and starkly honest, take on the promise and peril of life in the 21st century.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 28, 2023
We were in Melbourne recently; visiting Lygon street, we dropped in at Readings and I noticed this book. My first impression was that it would be a naïve, gung ho advertisement for transhumanism, and I nearly didn't buy it, but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. In fact, it turned out to be somewhat different from what I had expected. Love it or hate it, and I am sure many people will hate it, Future Superhuman is well worth reading.
The author, a 30-year-old Australian woman currently working at Nick Bostrom's Future of Humanity Institute, comes across as smart, focussed and painfully honest. I liked all these qualities, which she deploys to advantage in telling us what's wrong with the world from the perspective of the observant Gen Z person. I had seen a lot of what she says before in various places, but some of it was new, and as usual it's very helpful to get everything collected together in a coherent framework. Basically, if you're a typical late teen/twentysomething, the world is falling apart in so many ways that it's only just worth living: depression and suicide rates are way up, for good reasons.
To start with, I had not understood quite how bad relations between men and women have become. The way she tells it (and I will be very curious to see if other people from her generation agree), a large proportion of the male population, perhaps as much as 80%, is straightforwardly viewed by a large part of the female population, again perhaps as much as 80%, as being uninteresting losers: no meaningful job prospects, no emotional maturity, no ability to improve their situation. So we have 80% of the women competing for 20% of the men. According to statistics she quotes, over a quarter of the men are getting no sex at all, way up on the corresponding figures for 10-15 years ago. Women have a somewhat better time of it, since, as she says, men are less fussy about who they have sex with, but with the alpha males in such short supply a lot of them don't see why they should tie themselves down to one woman. So although women can get sex, they can't get long-term commitment, which is what most of them want: as a consequence, they are in many cases desperately lonely. I am only slightly paraphrasing what she says, which is based both on sociological studies and on her personal experience.
Enmeshed with this dire emotional situation, the world is hurtling towards a major environmental disaster, while little action is taken to avert it; jobs are steadily disappearing to automation; social media addiction is having a huge negative impact on people's mental health; the educational system has become a horrible trap, where people get further and further into debt to pay for qualifications that have less and less value; birth rates are falling, resulting in fewer productive taxpayers supporting more pensioners; and fascism is making a comeback. I thought all of this analysis, which accounts for about half of the book, was excellent. Bohan gives the strong impression that she is telling it like it is, with just the right mix of statistics, personal anecdotes, and appropriate outrage. Where I am much less certain I agree with her is the rest of the book, the transhumanist agenda which is its ostensible subject.
Having convinced us, or at least me, that the current situation is unbearable, Bohan outlines a solution which involves deploying current and plausible near-future technology to create a radically new kind of existence. She want to solve the fact that people are becoming adults later by extending the natural human life-span into the hundreds or thousands of years. Falling birth rates will be addressed by improving artificial wombs so that babies can be gestated, as well as conceived, in vitro. The loss of meaningful jobs will be dealt with by some kind of Universal Basic Income (she prefers a version where people still make a token contribution to society). For the breakdown of emotional intimacy between men and women, she thinks that AI technology will soon make it possible to develop artificial lovers who will be far more satisfying than human ones. There are some startling interviews with users of current-generation sexbots. Even now, they receive much higher ratings than I would have expected: as Bohan says, men aren't too fussy about how they get sex.
Well, she does her best to make it sound appealing. But even if you accept Houellebecq's provocative claim that Brave New World is a utopia rather than a dystopia, why ever should the big tech companies who will soon have all the power come up with the inconceivable resources needed to implement this future? For all their talk of philanthropy, I am unconvinced. Although the Peter Thiels and Elon Musks are indeed extremely interested in longevity research, I don't think it's meant for us: it's meant for them. They are quite upfront about their desire to be immortal, and no doubt they will extend this privilege to some carefully selected friends, family members, and associates. But why exactly would they want to devote their efforts to letting billions of people spend millennia hanging out in virtual reality with their synthetic succubi, while serving no useful purpose at all? I'm afraid I see things developing in a rather different direction. Anyway, draw your own conclusions. Bohan's book will give you plenty to think about.
The author, a 30-year-old Australian woman currently working at Nick Bostrom's Future of Humanity Institute, comes across as smart, focussed and painfully honest. I liked all these qualities, which she deploys to advantage in telling us what's wrong with the world from the perspective of the observant Gen Z person. I had seen a lot of what she says before in various places, but some of it was new, and as usual it's very helpful to get everything collected together in a coherent framework. Basically, if you're a typical late teen/twentysomething, the world is falling apart in so many ways that it's only just worth living: depression and suicide rates are way up, for good reasons.
To start with, I had not understood quite how bad relations between men and women have become. The way she tells it (and I will be very curious to see if other people from her generation agree), a large proportion of the male population, perhaps as much as 80%, is straightforwardly viewed by a large part of the female population, again perhaps as much as 80%, as being uninteresting losers: no meaningful job prospects, no emotional maturity, no ability to improve their situation. So we have 80% of the women competing for 20% of the men. According to statistics she quotes, over a quarter of the men are getting no sex at all, way up on the corresponding figures for 10-15 years ago. Women have a somewhat better time of it, since, as she says, men are less fussy about who they have sex with, but with the alpha males in such short supply a lot of them don't see why they should tie themselves down to one woman. So although women can get sex, they can't get long-term commitment, which is what most of them want: as a consequence, they are in many cases desperately lonely. I am only slightly paraphrasing what she says, which is based both on sociological studies and on her personal experience.
Enmeshed with this dire emotional situation, the world is hurtling towards a major environmental disaster, while little action is taken to avert it; jobs are steadily disappearing to automation; social media addiction is having a huge negative impact on people's mental health; the educational system has become a horrible trap, where people get further and further into debt to pay for qualifications that have less and less value; birth rates are falling, resulting in fewer productive taxpayers supporting more pensioners; and fascism is making a comeback. I thought all of this analysis, which accounts for about half of the book, was excellent. Bohan gives the strong impression that she is telling it like it is, with just the right mix of statistics, personal anecdotes, and appropriate outrage. Where I am much less certain I agree with her is the rest of the book, the transhumanist agenda which is its ostensible subject.
Having convinced us, or at least me, that the current situation is unbearable, Bohan outlines a solution which involves deploying current and plausible near-future technology to create a radically new kind of existence. She want to solve the fact that people are becoming adults later by extending the natural human life-span into the hundreds or thousands of years. Falling birth rates will be addressed by improving artificial wombs so that babies can be gestated, as well as conceived, in vitro. The loss of meaningful jobs will be dealt with by some kind of Universal Basic Income (she prefers a version where people still make a token contribution to society). For the breakdown of emotional intimacy between men and women, she thinks that AI technology will soon make it possible to develop artificial lovers who will be far more satisfying than human ones. There are some startling interviews with users of current-generation sexbots. Even now, they receive much higher ratings than I would have expected: as Bohan says, men aren't too fussy about how they get sex.
Well, she does her best to make it sound appealing. But even if you accept Houellebecq's provocative claim that Brave New World is a utopia rather than a dystopia, why ever should the big tech companies who will soon have all the power come up with the inconceivable resources needed to implement this future? For all their talk of philanthropy, I am unconvinced. Although the Peter Thiels and Elon Musks are indeed extremely interested in longevity research, I don't think it's meant for us: it's meant for them. They are quite upfront about their desire to be immortal, and no doubt they will extend this privilege to some carefully selected friends, family members, and associates. But why exactly would they want to devote their efforts to letting billions of people spend millennia hanging out in virtual reality with their synthetic succubi, while serving no useful purpose at all? I'm afraid I see things developing in a rather different direction. Anyway, draw your own conclusions. Bohan's book will give you plenty to think about.
April 13, 2022
I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of "Future Superhuman". It's engaging, provocative, well-informed, and... refreshingly different from many of the other books that address transhumanist and/or technoprogressive themes.
Elise Bohan convincingly makes the point that "staying as we are" isn't a viable option for us humans in the remainder of this century. Nor is there an option to somehow revert to an imagined earlier, simpler form of human civilisation. Fast-changing technology and global industrialisation are raising challenges that are almost too difficult for us to handle. Their solution will require us to become better humans - clearer thinkers, less governed by neolithic emotions, more open to counterintuitive changes in our social structures, better able to absorb and manage the full benefits of emerging technologies. These are no mere cosmetic tweaks. They will reconfigure many aspects of what it means to be human.
The author acknowledges that her message is shocking. But she takes care to guide the reader to appreciate things from her point of view. She gives plenty of personal examples.
I mainly found myself nodding in agreement with the points Elise was making. But in a couple of places, I found my own thinking challenged: in Chapter 10, "A generation of kidults", on the particular difficulties experienced by children born from 1995 onward, as they grow up; and in Chapter 12, "The end of having babies". On reflection, I was persuaded to update my opinions by the material in Chapter 10, but I'm not yet convinced by everything in Chapter 12.
Part I of the book is entitled "How to think like a transhumanist". Part II is "A species in transition". On both counts, the book delivers splendidly on its promise. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Elise Bohan convincingly makes the point that "staying as we are" isn't a viable option for us humans in the remainder of this century. Nor is there an option to somehow revert to an imagined earlier, simpler form of human civilisation. Fast-changing technology and global industrialisation are raising challenges that are almost too difficult for us to handle. Their solution will require us to become better humans - clearer thinkers, less governed by neolithic emotions, more open to counterintuitive changes in our social structures, better able to absorb and manage the full benefits of emerging technologies. These are no mere cosmetic tweaks. They will reconfigure many aspects of what it means to be human.
The author acknowledges that her message is shocking. But she takes care to guide the reader to appreciate things from her point of view. She gives plenty of personal examples.
I mainly found myself nodding in agreement with the points Elise was making. But in a couple of places, I found my own thinking challenged: in Chapter 10, "A generation of kidults", on the particular difficulties experienced by children born from 1995 onward, as they grow up; and in Chapter 12, "The end of having babies". On reflection, I was persuaded to update my opinions by the material in Chapter 10, but I'm not yet convinced by everything in Chapter 12.
Part I of the book is entitled "How to think like a transhumanist". Part II is "A species in transition". On both counts, the book delivers splendidly on its promise. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
April 7, 2022
I read an advance copy of this book, provided by NewSouth. I absolutely loved it. Future Superhuman has plenty of smart and interesting things to say about transhumanism, technology, and the future. As a book it stands out as both more substantial and more coherent than most in this speculative futurism niche.
Most of the book is breathtakingly original, well-organised, and intriguing. It begins with several chapters devoted to helping readers see the world and the future as transhumanists do, which is something many transhumanists and futurists tend to forget to do. Bohan is appealing to a broad audience here. The topics give a broad view of the ways humans need to change and the ways we will likely change, but they are generally also honest about the messy, piecemeal way in which future tech will impact humanity.
Dr Bohan’s fresh and unique voice comes through on every page: bold, fearless, fun-loving, and relentless on the absurdities of the human condition. The style overall is a delight, and I wanted to hang out and chat with the author and ask her questions about all manner of other topics.
Most of the book is breathtakingly original, well-organised, and intriguing. It begins with several chapters devoted to helping readers see the world and the future as transhumanists do, which is something many transhumanists and futurists tend to forget to do. Bohan is appealing to a broad audience here. The topics give a broad view of the ways humans need to change and the ways we will likely change, but they are generally also honest about the messy, piecemeal way in which future tech will impact humanity.
Dr Bohan’s fresh and unique voice comes through on every page: bold, fearless, fun-loving, and relentless on the absurdities of the human condition. The style overall is a delight, and I wanted to hang out and chat with the author and ask her questions about all manner of other topics.
June 10, 2022
I wasn’t expecting to like this book as much as I did. Transhumanists can fall into the trap of peddling a lot of unrealistic hype. But the core ideas in Future Superhuman are sound and valid and I agree with the author that we’re failing to pay attention to the biggest x-risks of our time.
The second half of the book took me more by surprise. It’s an ambitious attempt to explain how everything in our lives, like sex, romance, dating, job prospects, mental health and even the rise of transgenderism can be understood as part of this idea of a species in transition.
I would have like to see some of the arguments fleshed out a bit more (eg- the ones about nuclear power and young people’s sex lives and mental health) but I get that it’s hard to do that in a book covering so many topics. The story overall is a really important one and the writing is accomplished and engaging.
The second half of the book took me more by surprise. It’s an ambitious attempt to explain how everything in our lives, like sex, romance, dating, job prospects, mental health and even the rise of transgenderism can be understood as part of this idea of a species in transition.
I would have like to see some of the arguments fleshed out a bit more (eg- the ones about nuclear power and young people’s sex lives and mental health) but I get that it’s hard to do that in a book covering so many topics. The story overall is a really important one and the writing is accomplished and engaging.
July 3, 2022
The author manages to make the unbelievable believable, the frankly terrifying an almost obvious natural progression of rapid technological advancement. Whether or not things pan out like this, the ideas discussed are really fascinating…and maybe not as depressing as you might think. Still not sure I want to live forever though.
July 27, 2022
I pretty much enjoyed reading the book "Future Superhuman". Elise Bohan convinces readers with a down-to-earth approach that makes them understand that transhumanism is not a movement but one of the futurology schools of thought that does not make predictions on the unforeseeable future but discusses the transitional period which humankind is facing. The book focuses on different areas of life and concludes with a wide variety of research: among others, AI technology, sexbots, recreational medicine, and demographic development. It starts with a big picture view and portraits a superhuman future and then describes "the human world that is on its way out, and the posthuman world that is on its way in" (p. 25). There are also some limitations to this approach as it is mainly focused on highly developed society (Global North) and biased by research from Western cultural academic perspectives; taking not into account also indigenous cultural views. Some passages are worth to be further discussed: e.g. in chapter 7 taking into account also newer psychological attachment research, and in chapter 11 exposure of sexbots not only to men but to women. The general audience can easily follow the author's approach to seeing the world and future as transhumanists do. The main argument is that humans need to adapt to developments in the transition to future humanity.
I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone interested in a general introduction to current transhumanism thinking.
I wholeheartedly recommend the book to anyone interested in a general introduction to current transhumanism thinking.
November 4, 2022
It’s clear that some of the concepts and theories Bohan talks about need to be discussed. However, Bohan writes in a bubble. Clearly her extensive work at Oxford has removed her from the world and she seems to make leaps and bounds regarding the changing world. She’s naive when it comes to discussing events that will happen in the near future and seems to discontinue all that needs to happen before it.
I agree with Bohans discussion of pandemics and how humans have failed to take care of the planet and populations. Besides this she so easily negates humanity and gives no thought to why trans-humanism could be dangerous to the beauty of humanism. Her plain sexist and superior tone really set me off on this book. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so disrespected during a book in which someone is simply trying to present ideas. It’s unfortunate that Bohan decides to negate readers before they can even make it further into the book.
I agree with Bohans discussion of pandemics and how humans have failed to take care of the planet and populations. Besides this she so easily negates humanity and gives no thought to why trans-humanism could be dangerous to the beauty of humanism. Her plain sexist and superior tone really set me off on this book. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so disrespected during a book in which someone is simply trying to present ideas. It’s unfortunate that Bohan decides to negate readers before they can even make it further into the book.
June 25, 2022
In many respects there's little here that's particularly startling; what's surprising is the poise and balance with which Bohan writes. In effect, she sets out to convince rather than shock and the book is all the better for it.
April 4, 2022
I read a draft version/advance copy and I thought it was a very entertaining and provocative way to understand hard problems and get a sense of the future.
January 27, 2024
This was the most intelligent, compelling, insightful, and visionary book about human beings I have ever read. TEN STARS
July 7, 2022
A compelling conversation for anyone with the slightest grasp of the failings of humanity and the reliability of a program. Elise's prose is uniquely positioned to coerce curiosity with a future we can truly own. A must read for ideas people
July 3, 2023
It is not as much a book about the future superhuman as it is a book more about the time between now and the rise of the superhuman. Bohan discusses how work will become more and more automated, how men and eventually women will turn to sex robots and virtual worlds, the decline in fertility and the future of human fetuses beyond the uterus, research in curing aging and more.
I agree with most of Bohan's forecasts and reasoning. To be fair it is both a bit shallow on both references and arguments. As it is a book about future technologies not yet existing and focused on the big picture that is to be expected though. On the other hand I can see why many will be offended by Bohan's offhand speculation that many women's criticism of sexbots boils down to a "deep evolutionary fear that the bots are becoming sexual competitors" to them. Likewise I can see some have a problem with the passages discussing pregnancy and birth from the female perspective. She also persists in calling human bodies a "meatsacks". She acknowledges already in the preface she is a bit provocative and that there is a risk she may be seen as a "baddie" or "villain".
If the reader can handle being provoked a bit the writing itself is both clear and easy to read.
There isn't much discussion about politics or political intervention in the book. Partly because it is a book which aims to discuss the effects on society by new technology and partly, I guess, because Bohen leans toward the libertarian side and want the state in general to stay away. I'm more of an interventionist myself, but didn't mind her approach in the book at all.
As a transhumanist she isn't shy about pointing out human failings. One theme which runs through the book is how weak willed humans are. We eat stuff we know is bad for us, we do things we believe are morally wrong and so on. I agree with her and I believe it is something worth to keep in mind when thinking about big questions. Even more today when big tech companies are getting ever better at grabbing the attention of users and keeping them on their respective platform.
Great book. A bit provocative (in mostly a good way) and I believe a lot of here forecasts will turn out the be right. A bit shallow and a bit lacking in references here and there keeps it from being a five star rating. If I come back to the book in 30 years and it turns out (almost) everything predicted come to pass I'll return and update the rating to a 5.
I agree with most of Bohan's forecasts and reasoning. To be fair it is both a bit shallow on both references and arguments. As it is a book about future technologies not yet existing and focused on the big picture that is to be expected though. On the other hand I can see why many will be offended by Bohan's offhand speculation that many women's criticism of sexbots boils down to a "deep evolutionary fear that the bots are becoming sexual competitors" to them. Likewise I can see some have a problem with the passages discussing pregnancy and birth from the female perspective. She also persists in calling human bodies a "meatsacks". She acknowledges already in the preface she is a bit provocative and that there is a risk she may be seen as a "baddie" or "villain".
If the reader can handle being provoked a bit the writing itself is both clear and easy to read.
There isn't much discussion about politics or political intervention in the book. Partly because it is a book which aims to discuss the effects on society by new technology and partly, I guess, because Bohen leans toward the libertarian side and want the state in general to stay away. I'm more of an interventionist myself, but didn't mind her approach in the book at all.
As a transhumanist she isn't shy about pointing out human failings. One theme which runs through the book is how weak willed humans are. We eat stuff we know is bad for us, we do things we believe are morally wrong and so on. I agree with her and I believe it is something worth to keep in mind when thinking about big questions. Even more today when big tech companies are getting ever better at grabbing the attention of users and keeping them on their respective platform.
Great book. A bit provocative (in mostly a good way) and I believe a lot of here forecasts will turn out the be right. A bit shallow and a bit lacking in references here and there keeps it from being a five star rating. If I come back to the book in 30 years and it turns out (almost) everything predicted come to pass I'll return and update the rating to a 5.
September 27, 2022
Elise Bohan doesn’t shy away from our most difficult challenges.
As a transhumanist myself, I agree wholeheartedly with the quote by Anders Sandberg on the book’s cover: “This is the book I want to give to friends who ask, ‘but what is transhumanism, really?”’
Future Superhuman will surely challenge you to think and rethink and confront many ideas previously taken for granted: our beloved “sacred cows—the untouchable, immutable constants of our reality, from ageing and death to childbirth and embodiment.”
Bohan urges us to “start thinking bigger than humanity, bigger than biology and bigger than this planet.” We need to upgrade our thinking and confront our situation in the 21st century: “Our brains are adapted for a Palaeolithic world. But they are not purpose-fit for a global civilisation of this scale.” “We are first and foremost animals who carry many vestigial inheritances in our design that no longer serve us well.” “That’s why the next step in our civilising process must be to change our animal programming by tweaking our biological natures and upgrading our bodies and minds.” To make these changes, “we’ll need help from minds that are less tribal, myopic and self-interested than our own. Our most crucial task in the 21st century is to invent them.”
According to Bohan, we are now living in a “make-or-break century.” Her prescription is to look beyond our “blind spots”—to places where we may be “most afraid to look.” This is where she feels “the most radiant forms of growth are kindled—in individuals, and the species.”
Perhaps most importantly, this book can serve as a catalyst to inspire deeper thinking about our tremendous challenges and foster more creative ways to nudge our apish dispositions away from tribalistic, fear-driven endarkenment and toward brighter paths. In effect, Bohan is simply exhorting us: Do better, dear humans, before it’s too late.
As a transhumanist myself, I agree wholeheartedly with the quote by Anders Sandberg on the book’s cover: “This is the book I want to give to friends who ask, ‘but what is transhumanism, really?”’
Future Superhuman will surely challenge you to think and rethink and confront many ideas previously taken for granted: our beloved “sacred cows—the untouchable, immutable constants of our reality, from ageing and death to childbirth and embodiment.”
Bohan urges us to “start thinking bigger than humanity, bigger than biology and bigger than this planet.” We need to upgrade our thinking and confront our situation in the 21st century: “Our brains are adapted for a Palaeolithic world. But they are not purpose-fit for a global civilisation of this scale.” “We are first and foremost animals who carry many vestigial inheritances in our design that no longer serve us well.” “That’s why the next step in our civilising process must be to change our animal programming by tweaking our biological natures and upgrading our bodies and minds.” To make these changes, “we’ll need help from minds that are less tribal, myopic and self-interested than our own. Our most crucial task in the 21st century is to invent them.”
According to Bohan, we are now living in a “make-or-break century.” Her prescription is to look beyond our “blind spots”—to places where we may be “most afraid to look.” This is where she feels “the most radiant forms of growth are kindled—in individuals, and the species.”
Perhaps most importantly, this book can serve as a catalyst to inspire deeper thinking about our tremendous challenges and foster more creative ways to nudge our apish dispositions away from tribalistic, fear-driven endarkenment and toward brighter paths. In effect, Bohan is simply exhorting us: Do better, dear humans, before it’s too late.
August 12, 2022
Bohan is clever and insightful in how she pinpoints the complex issues and conundrums in an increasingly techno savvy and overpopulated planet.
It's an in important book to read. However, her naivity is as profound as the inherent contradictions within her prognosis of the future.
Driven by a reductive notion of the human experience to meatsack, ape brained, hard wired mating games, she envisions a cyborgian transition into a 'superhuman' future.
Playing lip service to the climate change, biosphere crash down and human rights issues, she suggests with an almost messianic fervour that the future is a melding of techno and biology within the human body. A narcissistic, dystopian, nerdish, machismo driven world with a quaint, almost 1950s notion of male/sexbot/female relationships.
Like so many in the history of ideologies before her, the belief they have the solution to the world's issues is doomed.
Pro eugenics, intellectually snobbish, and reference to Neitzche's Superman, so disastrously misunderstood and used by Nazi Germany is not a great introduction to a brave new cyborgian world.
It's an in important book to read. However, her naivity is as profound as the inherent contradictions within her prognosis of the future.
Driven by a reductive notion of the human experience to meatsack, ape brained, hard wired mating games, she envisions a cyborgian transition into a 'superhuman' future.
Playing lip service to the climate change, biosphere crash down and human rights issues, she suggests with an almost messianic fervour that the future is a melding of techno and biology within the human body. A narcissistic, dystopian, nerdish, machismo driven world with a quaint, almost 1950s notion of male/sexbot/female relationships.
Like so many in the history of ideologies before her, the belief they have the solution to the world's issues is doomed.
Pro eugenics, intellectually snobbish, and reference to Neitzche's Superman, so disastrously misunderstood and used by Nazi Germany is not a great introduction to a brave new cyborgian world.
July 9, 2023
A bold book with a warning in its introduction that It is meant to rattle you and rattle it does. Especially as it progresses and touches on topics that essentially make us human. AI friends, AI partners, sex-bots, no babies… sounds like dystopia to my ape brain. The author tries hard to paint it as inevitable and utopian. How will our brain evolve that fast to adapt and accept it as new normal? I guess technology and ‘no-choice’ will have to take care of that. Will all its prophecies come true? I hope not.
The book contradicts itself a lot and gets incoherent frequently. Also repetitive as she tries to justify her thoughts over and over.
The book contradicts itself a lot and gets incoherent frequently. Also repetitive as she tries to justify her thoughts over and over.
January 8, 2023
Wow. Simply eye opening to some concepts I had no idea of. The author explains in simple terms concerts that may be difficult to grasp without the technical background. She obviously had digested most of the concepts while writing a PHD, and delivers a clean and easier book to read.
I agree with the vision she paints, and also think we need to keep our eyes open, understand and act, rather than be the cat with the colourful yarn.
I will absolutely recommend this book to all my friends!
I agree with the vision she paints, and also think we need to keep our eyes open, understand and act, rather than be the cat with the colourful yarn.
I will absolutely recommend this book to all my friends!
August 15, 2024
I was surprised at how disappointing this book was. The author has a PhD from Oxford but this book about Transhumanism was rambling and super shallow. I get it’s supposed to be an accessible guide but I guess I was expecting more.
April 10, 2023
The phrase "self-made billionaire" is used unironically. Did not finish.
November 15, 2023
Less than human
If this is the headspace of the people thinking about the future, we're doomed. The author spends a great deal of time reducing humanity to mere biological necessity, glossing over any instance that might show we are more than a sex drive with speech, and pontificating on what needs to be done without really talking about how we get there. She is waiting on A.I. with the same fervor as a Christian for the second coming, while dismissing religion with a wave of her hand. Much the same way she dismisses the old, the poor, anyone she feels doesn't meet her intellectual standard. Even argues at one point that eugenics was okay except the Nazis took it to an extreme. If this is the kind of thinking driving us to the future, then this is my stop.
If this is the headspace of the people thinking about the future, we're doomed. The author spends a great deal of time reducing humanity to mere biological necessity, glossing over any instance that might show we are more than a sex drive with speech, and pontificating on what needs to be done without really talking about how we get there. She is waiting on A.I. with the same fervor as a Christian for the second coming, while dismissing religion with a wave of her hand. Much the same way she dismisses the old, the poor, anyone she feels doesn't meet her intellectual standard. Even argues at one point that eugenics was okay except the Nazis took it to an extreme. If this is the kind of thinking driving us to the future, then this is my stop.
February 4, 2024
6.5/10
"The reason the present is so remarkable is because rewriting the fundamental constraints of human nature...looks poised to become possible for the first time."
Challenging, intriguing, disruptive. I admire the sheer ambition involved in arguing that the end of humanity doesn't need to mean the end of us. For the most part, it's a sound argument, and Bohan is persuasive in the fields of hard science. The sociological interludes feel underdone, limited in scope, and at times scientistic. I suspect some kind of debate between Bohan and Douglas Rushkoff, whose takes are almost diametrically opposed, would be utterly fascinating. Well worth a read.
"The reason the present is so remarkable is because rewriting the fundamental constraints of human nature...looks poised to become possible for the first time."
Challenging, intriguing, disruptive. I admire the sheer ambition involved in arguing that the end of humanity doesn't need to mean the end of us. For the most part, it's a sound argument, and Bohan is persuasive in the fields of hard science. The sociological interludes feel underdone, limited in scope, and at times scientistic. I suspect some kind of debate between Bohan and Douglas Rushkoff, whose takes are almost diametrically opposed, would be utterly fascinating. Well worth a read.
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