Comments on: TransHuman http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/kevinh/2011/11/22/technocalyps-part-i-transhuman/ part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:41:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Jeremy Keith Knox http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/kevinh/2011/11/22/technocalyps-part-i-transhuman/#comment-138 Jeremy Keith Knox Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:17:43 +0000 http://edc11.education.ed.ac.uk/kevinh/?p=412#comment-138 Interesting post here Kevin, and you highlight the Transhuman themes of disembodiment, scientific progress, emancipation, and…well…what I would consider an obsession with heads. I think it is fascinating how Transhumanism justifies itself on both religious and scientific terms, as you describe, yet the theological and the positivistic could be considered opposed to one another. These head-swapping transhuman endeavours seems to be a clear expression of science; justified by the doctrines of progress, human betterment and the quantification of life, yet they are also legitimated by the rules of the Catholic Church. Fantastic inclusion here of the Pope’s address, which for me, emphasises the Transhuman adherence to an essential ‘life’ that must exist behind the material of the body. The acknowledgement a ‘soul’ would seem to justify the kinds of experiments described here, as does a privileging of humans over other animals. All this talk of heads and brains must have some implications for learning, and education. How do you think the transhuman themes of disembodiment, scientific progress and emancipation-from-the-material play out in education? If a soul does indeed exist, is it that which learns and not the body? Is there a difference between learning of the body and that of the mind? These all sound like fascinating questions to take further. Great post Kevin! Interesting post here Kevin, and you highlight the Transhuman themes of disembodiment, scientific progress, emancipation, and…well…what I would consider an obsession with heads. I think it is fascinating how Transhumanism justifies itself on both religious and scientific terms, as you describe, yet the theological and the positivistic could be considered opposed to one another. These head-swapping transhuman endeavours seems to be a clear expression of science; justified by the doctrines of progress, human betterment and the quantification of life, yet they are also legitimated by the rules of the Catholic Church. Fantastic inclusion here of the Pope’s address, which for me, emphasises the Transhuman adherence to an essential ‘life’ that must exist behind the material of the body. The acknowledgement a ‘soul’ would seem to justify the kinds of experiments described here, as does a privileging of humans over other animals.

All this talk of heads and brains must have some implications for learning, and education. How do you think the transhuman themes of disembodiment, scientific progress and emancipation-from-the-material play out in education? If a soul does indeed exist, is it that which learns and not the body? Is there a difference between learning of the body and that of the mind? These all sound like fascinating questions to take further. Great post Kevin!

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