Can Christians Embrace Transhumanism on Their Own Terms?
Humans have long seen religion as the primary path to transcendence, but as human technologies advanced over the centuries, science began to deliver on solutions previously attributed only to God. As a result, human ingenuity replaced religion in the form of secular humanism and set human reason as “true north” on the path to paradise. Lost in translation was the stubborn need for deeper meaning and transcendence in life, as well as the stubborn limitations that, despite the best efforts of science, continued to keep humans from experiencing heaven on earth. Enter transhumanism, or H+, a philosophical movement that seeks to redefine and transcend the limits humanity by improving, enhancing, augmenting, upgrading, and even replacing human beings with technology. Fueled by recent advances in artificial intelligence, transhumanism has emerged as an attractive alternative for those who want to put transcendence back in secular humanism, but still keep God out of the equation.
Micah Redding, a computer programmer by training, a follower of Christ, and now the executive director of the Christian Transhumanist Association, joins Gretchen to talk about how we can have both. He shares why he believes followers of Christ can—and, what’s more, should—wisely embrace the technologies that are already changing our lives, and use them to better the human condition in participation in the work of God and discipleship of Christ. Since humans are made in the image and likeness of God, he contends, we have a mandate to participate in the new creations that human ingenuity produces while still fulfilling the evangelical mission of the Gospel. And finally, he proposes that Christians must not abdicate their role in shaping the direction of the future but rather embrace transhumanism on their own terms, actively seeking to use science and technology to cultivate life and renew creation.
Humanism was originally a Christian idea but secular humanism defined humanity as the measure of itself
Posthumanism and transhumanism are trying to put the transcendent back into humanism
“We are defined by our connection with something greater than us, and that opens up this path of transformation”
Scripture shows that science and technology emerge from humanity’s nature as creative beings made in the image of God
Leaving technology to the secular world is “a failure on the part of Christian thinkers”
God commands, “go; be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth,” but people respond, “how do build walls and we keep ourselves safe?”
God enters into human history and transforms our destructive technology into something good
AI is already with us and is transforming the world around us in profound ways
Social media algorithms are controlling how we relate to others
People drastically underestimate how much is already being transformed and how much is about to be transformed
Software developers don’t actually understand what they’re building
Decentralize social media so that the algorithms are answerable to the people whose lives they affect
“We need to take a more active role in the algorithms that are shaping our lives”
The way tools are used today becomes the foundation of how software is built tomorrow
“When we're on the trail of something that's truly, deeply good, there is no limit to it”
People should be asking relational questions rather than asking “how far is too far?”
“I want to see technologies used to build up relationships, to build up communities, to build up the world, ultimately to build up life itself”
Technology is shaped by ethical visions, and people of faith had better put themselves in position to be part of these ethical conversations
Small groups of people have profound, outsize effect in these conversations about technological ethics
Links:
Christian Transhumanist Association
The Christian Transhumanist Podcast
MSc Philosophy, Science and Religion, University of Edinburgh
“The History of ‘Transhumanism’” by Peter Harrison and Joseph Wolyniak
“Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Wrong”
Treatise on the Love of God by Francis de Sales
The Life of Moses by Gregory of Nyssa
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil
“Cryonics and Orthodoxy,” Christianity Today, May 10, 1968
“How Elon Musk Identified Which Big-World Problems to Solve”