Mercer / Trothen Religion and the Technological Future

An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-030-62359-3
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 266 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Progress in Mathematics

We live in an age of rapid technological advancement. Never before has humankind wielded so much power over our own biology. Biohacking, the attempt at human enhancement of physical, cognitive, affective, moral, and spiritual traits, has become a global phenomenon. This textbook introduces religious and ethical implications of biohacking, artificial intelligence, and other technological changes, offering perspectives from monotheistic and karmic religions and applied ethics. These technological breakthroughs are transforming our societies and ourselves fundamentally via genetic modification, tissue engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, the merging of computer technology with human biology, extended reality, brain stimulation, and nanotechnology. The book also considers the extreme possibilities of mind uploading, cryonics, and superintelligence. Chapters explore some of the political, economic, sociological, and psychological dimensions of these advances, withbibliographies for further study and questions for discussion. The technological future is here – and it is up to us to decide its moral and religious shape.

Zielgruppe

Upper undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mercer, Calvin

Trothen, Tracy J.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction.- 2. Existing and Possible Technologies: How We Biohack.- 3. Transhumanism, the Posthuman, and the Religions: Exploring Basic Concepts.- 4. Radical Human Enhancement and Ethics: Questions We Must Ask.- 5. Superlongevity and Other Physical Enhancements.- 6. Cognitive Enhancement and Moral Bioenhancement: Becoming Smarter and More Moral.- 7. Affective Enhancement and Spiritual Enhancement: Feeling Happier and More Spiritual.- 8. Cryonics: Buried, Burned, or … Frozen.- 9. Mind Uploading: Cyber Beings and Digital Immortality.- 10. Superintelligence: Bringing on the Singularity.- 11. Religion 2.0 and the Enhanced Technological Future.

Über Autor(innen)

Calvin Mercer 
is Professor of Religion at East Carolina University, USA, and founding chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Human Enhancement and Transhumanism Unit.
Tracy J. Trothen 
is Professor of Ethics at Queen’s University, Canada, and co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Artificial Intelligence Seminar.