How Transhumanism is Revolutionizing Healthcare

The notion recognized as transhumanism embraces that humans should be allowed to use technology to modify and improve body and cognitive functions, thereby extending their potential beyond current biological constraints. In addition to addressing the moral problem of accessibility, this futuristic effort clarifies new rights and lays out workable innovations for disease/ disorder management. Enhancing all physical and cognitive human capabilities is the crucial goal.

The English biologist and philosopher Julian Huxley first introduced the idea of transhumanism in 1957. A new generation of patients seek medical support that will not only help them manage their health conditions easily but also improve their daily lives. Engineers and scholars have responded by creating astonishing innovations that exceed the commonly accepted standard boundaries. The article deals with healthcare transformation with the help of transhumanism within the context of medical devices and technologies.

What is Transhumanism?

Transhumanism is a faculty of notion that promotes the concept of surpassing the human situation. With existence expectancy growing progressively over the previous couple of years, advances in technologies are bringing the ideological elements of this faculty of idea to light. It stands on three pillars or three “supers,” i.e., super-intelligence, super-longevity, and super-happiness. Transhumanists envision a destiny in which such technologies’ accountable utility permits people to gradually slow down, reverse, or cast off the aging process, acquire corresponding will increase human life spans, and glorify human cognitive and sensory capacities. Few transhumanist movements no longer aim for immortality but amortality, i.e., a considerably prolonged life in good health.

Figure 1: Technological Evolution

Pros & Cons of Transhumanism

Figure 2: Potential Benefits and Challenges of Transhumanism

There are many benefits to this philosophy of transhumanism. The main cons of using technology are improvements in learning, senses, and human intellect. This current aims to lessen human flaws so that developments and technologies can reach unthinkable levels of perfection. Technological development would increase the human body’s resistance to disease, extending life expectancy. This would also impact the slowing down of aging.

Speaking of the drawbacks is also crucial. To begin with, humans would completely lose their identity as humans. Furthermore, disparities across nations and continents brought about by technology can widen the digital divide and heighten the likelihood of social unrest. The discussion of moral, legal, and ethical laws, on the other hand, would emerge and cause misperceptions in society.

Instances of Transhumanism in the Healthcare Industry

There are already technological applications that offer insights into transhumanism. Transhumanists assist the emergence and convergence of technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science, in addition to hypothetical future technologies like simulated reality, artificial intelligence, superintelligence, 3-D bioprinting, mind uploading, chemical brain preservation, and cryonics. Among the most pertinent are the following:

• AI-powered Prosthetic Implants: Artificial Intelligence in healthcare assists physicians in deciding where to make the best incisions and implant placement locations. It also aids in designing prostheses that address patients’ biomechanical issues.
• Nanotechnology: On an atomic scale, transhumanism is used to create novel structures, materials, and devices/ systems. This technology has already made significant advancements in healthcare, including certain cancer treatment materials, material production, and renewable energy.
• Organ Cloning: In the field of organ and tissue cloning, distinct processes are being advanced at the identical technical foundation: reproductive and therapeutic cloning. The former seeks to reproduce a person, and the latter seeks, from stem cells, to create organs and tissues that might be compatible with the genetic donor.
• Gene Therapies: Gene therapies are treatments that use the transfer of an affected patient’s cellular genes to cure a particular disease/disorder. The main goal of this invention is to modify the affected patient’s genetic data to restore normality.

Transhumanism Market: The Next Step in Healthcare Evolution

Most high-tech medical device companies are planning future investments and technologies like digital twinning, AI/ML, robotics, IoT, etc. Establishments are financing R&D to renovate products and meet user demands to stay ahead of the race. Some of the companies are illustrated below:

Neuralink: A neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk is developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology that could record and stimulate intellectual activity. This technology could be used to treat neurological disorders, enhance cognitive and reasoning function, and even amalgamate human mindfulness with AI.

OpenAI: A non-profit research organization that is developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) that could be as intelligent as a human being.

Biohack.me: An online platform dedicated to do-it-yourself (DIY) transhumanist projects and body amendments that provides resources and support for entities who are interested in utilizing advanced technologies to enhance their bodies and minds.

Google: A technology company that has invested in various technologies and research domains that line up with transhumanist notions, which include ventures related to artificial intelligence/machine learning, life extension, biotechnology, etc. Calico Labs is one of the first modern transhumanist projects backed by Google and Larry Page.

Conclusion

If the transhumanist ideology has a destiny, it is with the healthcare domain. If the rules and regulations license it and technological inventions broaden sufficiently to reassure patients, the future of modern remedy might thoroughly be transhumanism. While transhumanists proclaim that the futuristic era opens the door to more variety within human shape and functionality, transhumanist enhancement techniques propagate the strength of nonconformity as a normative idea. The future of numerous varieties of lifestyles requires the development of the stigma of disability. It calls for reconsidering the beliefs of normality. As an alternative, transhumanists function with a sense of what counts as normal. They endorse strategies for enhancement implementation of adjustments and refusing to create individuals with disabilities. The primary dreams of disability rights compete with the eugenic goal. The targets of transhumanism and disability rights are inside the maximum crucial admire and fundamentally argumentative.