Super-human intelligence. Stronger, fitter bodies. Greater emotional and moral well-being. Brains merging with computers. The end of ageing. Life expectancy extending beyond 200 years. This is what some human beings will look like at the end of the 21st century.
It’s not just a science fiction dream (or nightmare). A galaxy of leading scientists and engineers, backed by billions of dollars of investment capital, are dedicated to making this vision come true. The Tesla and Space X boss Elon Musk, Geoff Bezos founder of Amazon, and Google founder Larry Page are just three of those who are investing heavily in the human enhancement field. Given their track record so far in making unlikely things come true, it would be a mistake to dismiss their efforts out of hand.
The dream of making better humans goes along with a growing distaste and even contempt for our current human condition. We are pathetic, ludicrous, laughable bipeds, ‘ape-brained meat sacks’, hopelessly equipped to cope with the complexities of 21st-century life. The only hope for humankind is to upgrade the hardware.
This is the philosophy of transhumanism – using cutting-edge technology to enhance human capabilities far beyond existing limits. Variants of this potent vision can be traced back thousands of years, but it seems to be an idea whose time has arrived. We don’t have to accept our bodies as they have been given to us. We can take control. We can use technology to make our dreams come true
Various forms of ‘low-tech transhumanism’ are already in vogue – cosmetic surgery, mood- and cognition-enhancing drugs, drug doping for sports, gender transitioning, and so on. The popularity of these activities and the billions of dollars already being spent by consumers, suggest that the Silicon Valley investors in transhumanism are unlikely to lose their money.
What lies behind modernity’s deep sense of dissatisfaction with the limitations of our human condition? Could it be that deep in the human heart is an awareness that our current human restrictions are not intended to be the end of the story. That the wordless longing for something better, something more wonderful, is in fact a sign that redeemed humans are destined for a far more glorious bodily existence. Our bodies are ‘sown’ in dishonour and weakness, said the Apostle Paul, but they will be raised in glory and power (1 Cor. 15:43).
The New Testament teaches us that in the coming age every aspect of our humanity will be transformed. Our knowledge, awareness, consciousness and relationships will be unimaginably enhanced, and death, disease and suffering will be no more.
The problem with the transhumanist dreams is that they are not radical enough. They are too petty, too limited, too earthbound. Instead, as believers in the risen Christ we can trust in the wonderful and indescribable reality that our Father has in store for us – ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him…’ (1 Cor. 2:9).
In an age which oscillates between techno-optimism and existential despair, the Christian hope of physical resurrection and cosmic transformation has a new relevance.
John Wyatt is Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics at University College London. His background is as a paediatrician caring for sick and premature infants and a medical research scientist. He is passionate about combining his medical and scientific knowledge with a Biblical understanding of what it means to be human, and learning how to live full, fruitful and Christ-honouring lives as we face the challenges and opportunities of later life.
