Regardless of the variations within the position of gender in Ex Machina and Arrival, these movies share a theme that pervades a lot of latest science fiction, and which dates again to the myths of Prometheus and Icarus: transcending human intelligence. Many tales deal with this situation by specializing in the exact second of the transition between human and ultra-human or transhuman intelligence. Many others predict the circumstances below which the transition will happen.

Within the film Arrival, there may be the instinct, manifest within the interactions between Dr. Banks and the aliens, that alien intelligence shouldn’t be actually synthetic. The aliens, in spite of everything, developed within the universe by some means, identical to us, which makes them “pure.”

Wouldn’t it actually make any distinction if our squid-looking intergalactic neighbors turned out to be robots? In the event that they reply to our questions like all of us would, then we’re compelled to conclude that they might be clever, although they give the impression of being and act very in a different way from us (Montemayor, 2021a). Assessing consciousness is a distinct query (Haladjian and Montemayor, 2016, Montemayor, 2021b).

The demise of human intelligence and its correlative transcendence is named the “singularity,” some extent of no return, and it doesn’t matter if it’s within the palms of super-computers or super-aliens. So, the considering goes, why not take preemptive measures about this transhumanist demotion? Or ought to we welcome it with open arms?

One other movie, Transcendence, combines these themes. Right here too a professor, Dr. Will Caster, is the principle character, however he’s no hero. He creates a singularity of his personal and is totally centered on himself. The sensible and initially well-intentioned professor, who’s the main world professional on AI, turns right into a villain and a type of alien robotic monster in direction of the top of the movie. It seems that he’s additionally motivated by romantic love, however that is totally inconsequential. Dr. Caster is eager on not letting anybody get in his method, and he’s decided to not merely transcend his personal intelligence but in addition vanquish the whole situational framework on which it relies upon: human society. For our functions, the precise particulars of the film aren’t necessary. What issues is how Dr. Caster “transcends” himself by being uploaded by his spouse to a worldwide informational system.

Directly cyborg, matrix architect, and terminator, Dr. Caster merges with all types of on-line applications and regularly abandons his “wetware,” or biologically based mostly existence, in favor of a “cloudier” and information-based existence, with many potential—and in precept, limitless—{hardware} prospects. He’s the singularity and himself on the similar time? How can this be?

Dr. Caster may be a nightmarish paradox, however he’s additionally a transhumanist dream come true. Dr. Caster is extra Faustian than Goethe’s Dr. Faust, and he’s fairly actually in all places—a type of panpsychistic egocentric fury. He’s a warning regarding transhumanism gone fallacious. However this isn’t as a result of there’s something essentially fallacious with transhumanism as such. Somewhat, the issue is that human intelligence has a number of dimensions of steerage and motivation, fairly steadily in opposition to at least one one other. Dr. Caster is advancing scientific analysis and enhancing present data at an surprising pace—a fairly laudable exercise. However he’s additionally a egocentric and immoral particular person, who believes his values are the most effective sources of ethical and political steerage.

Just a few individuals on the whole planet are like Dr. Caster, who has entry and monetary sources to have transhumanist ambitions. We will grant that transhumanism may be optimistic as a result of it’s a treatment to anthropocentrism. The query is what dangers does it pose, even when it has optimistic options?

Justifications of cognitive enhancement

The justifications for cognitive enhancement are just like these utilized in favor of bodily enhancement (see Extra and Vita-Extra, 2013). Here’s a definition of transhumanism by Max Extra: “Philosophies of life (resembling extropian views) that search the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of clever life past its at the moment human kind and human limitations via science and know-how, guided by life-promoting ideas and values.” (Extra, 1990)

Supply: Carlos Montemayor

Within the context of life perpetuation and enhancement, Ronald Bailey refers to a type of “gene tyranny” to characterize the situation of dependence on our biology that the transhumanist challenge guarantees to remove. In “A Letter to Mom Nature,” Extra (2013) makes use of related language. Parts of Amendments No. 1, 3, 4 and 5 state:

• We’ll now not tolerate the tyranny of getting old and dying. By way of genetic alterations, mobile manipulations, artificial organs, and any essential means, we are going to endow ourselves with enduring vitality and take away our expiration date. (Modification 1)
• We’ll enhance on our neural group and capability, increasing our working reminiscence, and enhancing our intelligence. (Modification 3)
• We’ll complement the neocortex with a “metabrain.” This distributed community of sensors, info processors, and intelligence will enhance our diploma of self-awareness and permit us to modulate our feelings. (Modification 4)
• We will now not be slaves to our genes. We’ll take cost of our genetic programming and obtain mastery over our organic, and neurological processes. (Modification 5; Extra and Vita-Extra, 450)

At first look, the social and political language within the context of evolution, biology, and cognitive neuroscience is recent and fascinating. What might be extra justified than resisting tyranny? However the expression “by any means essential” within the political realm entails resistance, if essential violence, in opposition to oppressive and unjustified oppression. What might violent resistance imply within the context of the evolution of our and different species? Is the analogy between social oppression and nature apt? In what sense is Mom Nature a tyrant? And in what sense is Dr. Caster a hero?

Dr. Caster will now not tolerate the tyranny of getting old and dying by being pervasively “nanoparticle-present” in the surroundings, in addition to informationally world, with entry to all types of databases. Not a “slave” of his genes, Dr. Caster is the grasp of his biology and neurological processes. Mom Nature is now not the tyrant—in reality, she is now not “mom” in an absolute sense as a result of now Dr. Caster is at the least partly “father.” Mom Nature is now in battle, or at the least so it appears based mostly on the Letter and its Amendments, with “Father” Dr. Caster. So has he change into totally synthetic in advantage of this battle?

Implications of transcendence

If we by some means transcend the boundaries of human intelligence through the use of human intelligence to create the “transhuman,” what implications are there for the expertise of being human? Are we transcending that have as properly? Whereas the examples described give eventualities of such extravagant transcendence, the subjective experiences of those new people are incomprehensible. That doesn’t imply they exist as a type of true consciousness (possibly they merely flip into info as soon as they abandon organic nature by transcending it). Or do they?