Experts Clash Over Transhumanism and Humanity's Future at UK Debate
On December 4, a debate was held at the Institute of Art and Ideas' 'World's Most Dangerous Idea' event in the UK, examining whether technology can defeat aging and death. Àlex Gómez-Marín described transhumanism as a death cult and pseudo-religion intent on extinguishing the human condition. In contrast, Zoltan Istvan, a transhumanist author and California gubernatorial candidate, argued that the movement aims to reduce suffering by overcoming aging and death, citing his personal experience with loss.
Susan Schneider distinguished between using technology to improve health and the more radical claims such as uploading consciousness, cautioning that digital immortality may be unachievable and would involve duplicating the self. Adam Goldstein emphasized the importance of focusing on governance and design choices for technology, encouraging consideration of the kind of future society wishes to build with AI, rather than predicting salvation or catastrophe.
The Galileo Commission warned that merging humans and machines risks reducing life to a technical system and sidelining vital questions about meaning, identity, and agency. Transhumanism, which evolved in the mid-20th century, has proponents such as Bryan Johnson and Peter Thiel. However, critics express concern that the benefits may primarily accrue to the ultra-wealthy and that the movement blurs lines between science and religion.
The central debate revolves around designing a cooperative AI-enabled future versus approaches driven by fear and control amid advances in AI, biotechnology, and longevity research.
