When I was a junior in high school, I had to write a major research paper for my English class. Semester long project, that sort of thing.
What did I want to write about?
I pondered this. I pondered this some more.
And then I read a review of Hans Moravec’s book, Mind Children. The thesis? Humanity was going to build its successor.
Suddenly, I had it. I would write my paper on the next stage of human evolution — the merging of man and machine, from cyborg technology to group consciousness.
This was 1989.
I received a good grade on the paper. It was passed around the teachers. No one quite knew what to make of it. I don’t have a copy of it any longer.
The subject of transhumanism has always been of interest to me, and science fiction about a post-human future — like the works of Verner Vinge or Charles Stross — I find interesting. Just as our ancestors a century ago wouldn’t understand the world of today, we won’t understand the world of our descendents.
Of course, we can speculate. 🙂
A friend of mine sent me a link a few days ago.
There’s a new online magazine, H+ Magazine, about the transhuman future.
I’ve printed the PDF off, and I read through some of it on the train this morning.
The first issue has interviews with Stross and Warren Ellis, plus articles on curing human mortality and engineering technological replacements for biological organs.
Interesting stuff, if that’s the kind of thing you’re interested in.