How to Become a Superhuman
This post is about scientific ideas. Note that it’s not self-help or motivational content.
The advent of generative AI and discourse on technological singularity prompted me to revisit a book I read many years ago - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval N. Harari. Particularly the last chapter of the book - The End of Homo Sapiens - is very intriguing and relevant to the recent buzz.
My personal takeway from the entire book is that Homo sapiens is the only species that has intentions to design its own paths of life, never satisfied with status quo and our natural capabilities even. Thanks to On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, published in 19th century, we know humans have been evolved by natural selection, not created overnight by God’s intelligent design. However, in 21st century, Homo sapiens seems to have adopted the laws of “intelligent design” on its own account in order to transcend its biological limits, as the author argues in the final chapter. Yes, we want to become superhumans.
According to the book, the Homo sapiens-leading intelligent design could happen in any of three ways: through biological engineering, cyborg engineering or the engineering of in-organic life. As the third option is 100 percent artificial, like AI and robots, the first and second options seem to be what we can do to advance the evolution of our own species. (The line between the three categories are being blurred though.)
Start with moderate biohacking
Biohacking, or do-it-yourself biology, is a practice to enhance human body and mind through scientific approaches. I regard biohacking as the ultimate form of personal development.
Some extreme biohacks are scary and disturbing even. But don’t worry. You can start with moderate, safer practices such as intermittent fasting, the efficacy and health benefits of which are scientifically proven. At an advanced level, you can have your DNA evaluated by a nutrigenomics company to get prescribed an optimized diet plan. Refer to the following article for more biohacking practices and cases.
What’s Biohacking? All You Need To Know About The Latest Health Craze | Forbes
While Jack Dorsey has been one of the most high-profile biohackers for years, a guy named Bryan Johnson recently caught my attention. The 45-year-old, ultrawealthy software entrepreneur is undergoing a project to reverse his aging process and have his organs rejuvenated as those of an 18-year-old. The project takes at least $2 million a year and involves more than 30 doctors and health experts monitoring his every bodily function. A strict daily routine, dozens of supplements and medicines, vegan diet and an hourlong workout consisting of 25 different exercises are the recipe of his elixir. The results? So far so good, accoridng to the articles.
How to Be 18 Years Old Again for Only $2 Million a Year | Bloomberg
Going Viral: Bryan Johnson Wants to Stop Time | Bloomberg TV
And there’s CRISPR gene editing, which is probably the most extreme (and dangerous) biohack within the arena of biotech. While I’d like to say, “Don’t try this at home,” some enthusiasts of DIY gene editing already exist(ed). Astonishing …
Don’t change your DNA at home, says America’s first CRISPR law | MIT Technology Review
Become a cyborg eventually
There are another type of hardcore biohackers, also known as “grinders”, whose extreme practices include biochip implants and so on. Their ultimate goal is to become cyborgs, which falls into bionics beyond the realm of biotech.
A transhuman biohacker implanted over 50 chips and magnets in her body | Interesting Engineering
What’s the definition of cyborg by the way? Short for "cybernetic organism," a cyborg is a being that has both biological and artificial components. And that’s the biggest difference from an android or a humanoid, which are 100 percent artificial robots. Simply put, a cyborg is a human-machine hybrid. (Well, an animal-machine hybrid as well.)
Actualy, all of us are already cyborgs somehow. Without biochip implants or bionic arms, most of you have smartphones that tremendously enhance your memory and information processing capabilities. Smartwatches augment you even further by tracking your movement and vital signs. As AR / VR gears are becoming popular, we humans feel like cyborgs more than ever. Well, I dare to say that the ultimate form of the “augmented self” is a cyborg.
Why do we want to become superhumans after all?
As I mentioned in the beginning of the post (based on the book Sapiens), humans are the only species that has insatiable desire to alter the course of life. It’s proven by the speed of human evolution, compared to other primates.
The book Sapiens also argues that what is really unique about the human mind is “the ability to imagine things that do not really exist.” And these human capabilities of “imagined reality” explain all the civilizations we’ve built throughout millennia.
In other words, Homo sapiens is not destined to live just by provision of nature. We humans have to keep creating artificial stuff, which includes beings with abilities beyond those of typical humans.
But are we going too far, which leads to near self-destruction? Probably we are now at a crossroads (again).
Let me delve into that matter by discussing the technological singularity and artificial super intelligence (ASI) in my next post.
Stay tuned!