Transumanar

Manifest Destiny: To the stars and beyond

Manifest Destiny was a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). Manifest Destiny was always a general notion rather than a specific policy. The term combined a belief in expansionism with other popular ideas of the era, including American exceptionalism, Romantic nationalism, and a belief in the natural superiority of what was then called the “Anglo-Saxon race”. While many writers focus primarily upon American expansionism when discussing Manifest Destiny, others see in the term a broader expression of a belief in America’s “mission” in the world, which has meant different things to different people over the years.

Three key themes were usually touched upon by advocates of Manifest Destiny: 1. the virtue of the American people and their institutions; 2. the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the U.S.; and 3. the destiny under God to accomplish this work. The origin of the first theme, later known as American Exceptionalism, was often traced to America’s Puritan heritage, particularly John Winthrop’s famous “City upon a Hill” sermon of 1630, in which he called for the establishment of a virtuous community that would be a shining example to the Old World. In his influential 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine echoed this notion, arguing that the American Revolution provided an opportunity to create a new, better society: We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand....

One may not always like everything about America, but there is no doubt that American culture has achieved a lot. Their gut belief in their Manifest Destiny, their own goodness, the superiority of their way of life, their mission to bring democracy to the world, and that their God is always on their side, has provided them with a single minded drive to overcome all obstacles on their way and conquer one frontier after another.

In President Kennedy’s words: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too”. A few years later, watching the first men walking on the moon, it was easy to believe in humanity’s Manifest Destiny in space.

Too bad space “did not happen”. It will happen someday I hope, but reading the news it is evident that today’s world is a complex, interconnected and difficult place on its way to becoming even more so. It is evident that no part of humanity can march toward its destiny leaving other parts behind. Kennedy’s Moon speech was intended to energize citizens with a 20th century grand vision of Americans’ destiny in space but, as it is now evident, a single nation is not going to make it. We can only move onward as a whole, or else.

Where is a grand vision for the Manifest Destiny of all humanity, that can energize all persons on the planet and provide the drive to move onward as a whole? I think Transhumanism could be the answer.

The background of the image above is taken from a painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress, an allegorical representation of Manifest Destiny. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward. I replaced Columbia with the picture of one of my best friends in Second Life, a young, energetic and very bright person. I do not have the faintest idea of her looks in real life, but her avatar’s looks suggest a sexy, high-tech vision of a radically democratic future.

I believe a sexy, high-tech radically democratic future for all humanity is our Manifest Destiny. It will not lead to holy wars against infidels, but rather to a Holy War against the limitations of being humans 1.0: disease, mortality, stupidity, unhappiness, lack of empathy and understanding, and being confined on our little planet. This is the first paragraph of the Transhumanist Declaration: ”Humanity will be radically changed by technology in the future. We foresee the feasibility of redesigning the human condition, including such parameters as the inevitability of aging, limitations on human and artificial intellects, unchosen psychology, suffering, and our confinement to the planet earth”.

We must find new and better ways to communicate this beautiful vision to everyone. We have often failed to do so in the past: transhumanists are often far too aseptic, over-intellectual and out of touch with “the people” to communicate effectively. We should not forget that we are *still* biological beings, and rationality without emotions is often not enough to provide motivation and drive -we also need some chemical and hormonal fire in our blood. This is the challenge ahead: formulating transhumanism as a strong belief that can energize people with emotional fire, without giving up our roots in rationalism and scientific thinking. Besides scholarly works we need more novels, movies, series. We also need good communicators able to explain transhumanism in everyday language and generate a positive emotional response.

Religion has been, and is, important for Americans. This is sometimes difficult to understand for most of us us Europeans, used to considering religion as something largely irrelevant and with no place in public life. But religion was an important part of the Manifest Destiny meme, and still is a powerful factor in American policies. In fact, this short article was inspired by a discussion about religious belief in the US and Europe on the wta-talk mailing list of the World Transhumanist Association. Thanks to all those who contributed to the discussion, and especially to PJ Manney.

Religion is certainly a powerful enabler for memetic engineering. When criticizing the extremes of religion, and there are many very sad examples in history, it is important to bear in mind that religion has also fueled many worth initiatives and provided peace of mind to countless believers. The key question if how to keep the good things of religion (sense of community, happiness, and a hopeful vision of our place and purpose in the universe) without the bad things (bigotry, fundamentalism, intolerance, holy wars, burning heretics and infidels). Here again I think transhumanism, and especially its “cosmic” face aimed at achieving superhumanity and spreading to the stars and beyond, may provide a modern, energizing but tolerant alternative to religion rooted in the scientific worldview.

Posted by G.P. on 04/05 at 11:26 AM
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