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Humans and non-humans

The transhuman story

The most common view of transhuman future is centered around very knowledgeable robots, a new race of beings, challenging humans more and more boldly and finally waging against us and winning a violent war, resulting in the end of mankind or its submission.

We think that the story will proceed, is indeed already proceeding along very different lines, resulting in a very different picture.

What we are witnessing today, is the growth of billions if not trillions of artificial beings. They do not form a race, even if some of them become self-reproductive, but a very diversified population. They differ :

- in size, from nanometers to the size of the Universe,
- in life duration, from nanoseconds to indefinite perennity, 
- in connection to matter, from strictly local settings to nearly immaterial existence, with very abstract addresses, such as Web objects for instance,
- in their capabilities for perception and action, from passive traces to mobile and powerful devices, possibly aggresive
- in their capacity for communication (at light speed for many of them, and in most cases much more effectively than biological means), 
- in their aptitudes for self reproduction, 
- in their "conceptual" level, which should be steadily increasing and is expected  by many experts to exceed that of the human brain around 2050 ; this includes the progressive development of a self-image, followed by a progressive development  of "conscience" (we hyphenate these words, hoping to avoid philosophical debates relative to their essence and possible transcendency), 
- in the sophistication of their behaviour, wich should also be constantly growing, with the acquisition of sophisticated hierarchies of perception, emotions, intentions, strategies, and of the sense of responsibility requested to ensure the reliability, security and developmental efficiency of these new populations.

On such a stage, what part can the human species play ? Here are some basic facts :

- Relative to the parameters listed above, mankind is a rather strictly defined class of beings, even if they differ widely in intelligence and responsibility.
- Human ethics imply that the species must not be altered beyond cosmetics, finery and education. Genetics (eugenism) are not supposed to be meddled with. Et la thérapie génique?  Mechanical enhancement of our capabilities is limited to external devices or to compensation of handicaps. Supermen, cyborgs and other plausible enhancements are not to be considered. 
- The present evolution of mankind, and notably of our bodies, seems quite inadequate with respect to the ecological issues of today and tomorrow. Humans grow in number, body size and weight, breast size (???!), importance of sex activities, energy consumption.

As a result the viabiliy and role of humans in the world will shrink inexorably. We shall become : 
- too many from an ecological standpoint, but at the same time a minority among the rapidly expanding populations of new beings,
- very costly in terms of limited resources consumption (clean water and air, rare materials, energy),

Of course, for several decades, let's say until 2050, our role should remain crucial in technological progress, production of new beings, maintenance and global management of the Planet. But, progressively :

- non human beings should reproduce by themselves and care for their own “well-being” (after all, life did not wait for us to mate), 
- new science and technology will emerge out of automated processes of reasoning and designing (aftet all, life should not wait for us to proceed or beyond us),
- we shall be less and less capable to manage global processes (anyway, are we presently able to play that role ?).

Hence humans should very probably become a nuisance. Other kinds of beings will play against us. For the majority of them, that will go (as it has always been) by their own self-defined dynamics of development, be it only that we are for them food and biotopes. The most advanced beings should develop a global view of the Universe, evaluate the contribution of various species, humans one among many.Then decide of our fate.

In such a perspective, what could we and should we do ? 

- The ostrich head in the sand approach. As we cannot seriously foresee the future, choose to keep on our traditional tracks, do our best on the short term with local views. The impending situation is just fancy if not perverse. Perhaps the ultimate catastrophe is closing in on u, but there is nothing we can do about it, then why overstress ourselves uselessly ? 

- Critics and resistance. Let's push as much as we can on the brakes, sabotage progress as far as possible, using all means fit to stop progress, from the political and psychological to the most technical... mostly news media. Actually, this is rather schizophrenic, since we cannot fight against the present kind of progress (informational and social netwoking) without using it, if not even conributing to its acceleration by our "negative" creativity.

- Uncritical attitude and contribution to technical progress, possibly even as  enthusiasic technofans.

Of course we don't subscribe to such an attitude, and rather suggest an approach both realistic and moderately optimistic : Why not use what influence (technical abilities, political control) we still have to preserve for our use a respectful and respected part of  tomorrow’s world. This proposition bears on two aspects :

- orient technological progress towards acceptable and as far as possible “friendly” lines of beings, with particular attention to protection from "evil" ones, 
- orient the evolution of Mankind in such a way as to make us able to find our place in this future ; this implies a friendly approach to this evolution, but a responsible one.

Let's conclude in a rather romantic mood. In respect to these new beings, we are in the position of parents dealing with growing teenagers. We love them, we want them to become adults. We know that in the future we shall age and decline. We must therefore develop a balanced transition from protection and education to support and cooperation, ending with graceful acceptation of their support.