Transhumanism is out. Humanmaxxing is in.
Apostles of the cyber-future have apparently given up on the idea of uploading their minds to the cloud and trading perishable flesh and blood for animatronic invincibility.
Now they’re all-in on using AI, robotics, and performance-enhancing biotech to optimize human potential.
So what does humanmaxxing look like?
It starts with the assumption that we’ll all have more time to enjoy a higher quality of life thanks to AI and robots reducing the need for human labor.
AH-ha-ha-ha-ha! Where have I heard that fantasy before?
At the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York in 1964; a massive exposition of mid-century optimism about a future in which our lives would be made easier, faster, and better by . . . technology!
Major corporations — General Motors, IBM, Pepsi-Cola, General Electric — had pavilions that treated visitors to simulated visions of the future: squeaky-clean cities, hyper-efficient transportation, deep-sea colonies and men on the moon, computer-programmed homes filled with easy-to-use time-saving automated appliances, . . . we were all gonna live like the Jetsons!
Has the future gotten here yet?
Yes and no. Technology has made life easier in a lot of respects, but at what cost?
Sure, getting household chores done is easier and faster than in the past. And that’s great because half the people in the United States need more than one job to afford a basic lifestyle. Whose got time for household chores when you have to work two jobs to pay for the house?
And for those of us who are getting by on one job, “always on” culture has created the expectation that employers can intrude on our leisure time any time they want. Now, none of our time is ever really our own.
Ah, but no worries: AI and robotics will give us tons of time to . . . learn subsistence farming and foraging so we won’t starve.
Maybe humanmaxxing is just for people who can cash in on their SpaceX shares. After all, time is money, right?
So if you have the time, you might also have the money for all the looksmaxxing, sleepmaxxing, brainmaxxing, and auramaxxing that money can buy.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not against self-optimization. I’m a self-optimizer, or at least I try to be.
But who is the “self” that I’m optimizing?
I’m a fitness-optimizer: I maintain a steady physical practice and a healthy vegetarian diet, but I’m not the body I’m keeping fit; I’m the person who has a physical body.
I’m an intelligence-optimizer: I read, study, and do research on a regular basis, but I’m not my intelligence; I’m the person who’s aware of the extent — and limits — of his intelligence.
And yes, I’ve become an obsessive beard-optimizer, but I’m not my beard, either.
Self-optimization is what my spiritual practice is for.
Why? Because the self — the person who’s aware of the body, mind, and senses — is spiritual, not material.
This is humanmaxxing’s second false assumption: it assumes that maxxing the material body, mind, and senses is how you maxx the person.
The gospel of humanmaxxing says that human limitations can be overcome through the use of bio-enhancement technology and strict lifestyle optimization strategies.
The teachings of Yoga wisdom also say that human limitations can be overcome, but the tech of yoga takes a different approach: consciousness-maxxing.
Humanmaxxing isn’t really about self-optimization; it’s about optimizing the self’s container, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Container upgrades can definitely make life more pleasant . . . for a while. But solving the problems of old age, disease, and death requires a different kind of tech than anything we’ll get from a biotech lab, robotics manufacturing facility, or a data center.
Softmaxxing, hardmaxxing, moneymaxxing, personalitymaxxing, whatever-kind-of-maxxing floats your boat — sure, go for it, I guess, as long as you don’t go so overboard with it that you become a danger to yourself and others (guys, no T-maxxing. I mean, really? C’mon, man.).
But if you’re genuinely interested in finding a way to solve the problems of old age, disease, and death, I recommend consciousness-maxxing.
It won’t keep those problems from rocking your boat sooner or later, but it will give you the tech you actually need to situate yourself in a sea of tranquility when they do.
When it comes to maxxing, consciousness-maxxing is maxxing to the max.
Wishing you all good fortune,
– Hari-k