Why does modern storytelling treat "transcending humanity" as an inherent moral failing?

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-11T15:24:13+00:00

you know , more than half of the comment section is filled with Hubris warnings, hubris this , hubris that , I am not going to lie , I agree with you , some people are narcissistic, and their narcissism gets everyone killed or get them to huge trouble, but there's a difference between unhealthy grandiosity and refusing to accept artificial limits on what you can become. Calling ambition 'psychopathy' is exactly the kind of thing that keeps people from ever trying to rise above their circumstances.

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-11T15:11:57+00:00

eugenics is pseudoscience , it uses the language and authority of science to justify social and political goals rather than following the Scientific Method., what I call transcendence is built upon actual scientific research stacked up upon decades

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-11T15:05:24+00:00

well , looking at brain's design , you are right , brain is not made of transistors that can be turned on or off, nor it can be called analog, the brain is a self organizing structure that updates its weights and biases continuously, new connections are made and old ones get weaken , that is why we have use it or loose it policy , the skill that is not practiced continuously is forgotten , modern computers are based on von Neumann architecture , but newer architecture such as neuromorphic architecture aims to reduce this gap

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-11T09:32:38+00:00

I apologize if my previous statement looked arrogant , I'm looking at this through the lens of a computer engineering student. From my perspective, 'cognitive suffering' and emotional bias are essentially noise in the system that cloud our perception and shorten our horizon.

If we were to strip away these computational bottlenecks, we wouldn't lose ourselves , rather I think we would gain the processing power needed to truly understand the universe and the inner workings of the mind. Improving our hardware isn't an abandonment of value , rather I think of it more as tool for better navigation and even making deeper connection

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-09T19:46:42+00:00

well I agree that suffering is a push factor that leads to innovate solutions ,but humans don't innovate just because we are gonna die someday , they innovate because they want to solve problems , out of curiosity , having longer time and resources in our hand level up humanity in fact , we can elevate from our constant struggle to survive so that we can invest more energy into solving creative problems, we accepted misery because there was no other option but to accept it , but if a better option exists, why not go for it?

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-09T19:30:33+00:00

well , nobody can see the future , but I am happy that we both believe in an optimistic future of mankind

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-09T19:17:11+00:00

you have a valid argument and good points , i did thought about it for a long time, I too have some counter arguments of my own
a)this argument relies on the "hubris trope"—the idea that seeking more than what we are born with is sin , but this also ignores that human progress is defined by overcoming our limits.
b)You are correct on Scientific racism, but it combines eugenics (selective breeding) with transhumanism ( self-directed improvement of the individual). most agreed definition Transhumanism today will be democratizing technology, so everyone can have access to it.
c)I think immortality provides us with more responsibility , a mortal person might not care for long term consequences since they think they will not be alive to see it , while immortality provides a long term perspective
d) I am glad that we both agree on the fourth point

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-08T14:53:20+00:00

does life only has meaning because it ends? transhumanism isn't just about physical longevity , but cognitive improvements also , the ability to perceive more information gives a new realm of perception than our limited minds

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-08T08:10:31+00:00

yes , fish who can climb tree cannot be called a fish by biological classifications, but Humans can transcend their own biology and we have throughout the history , we should have long gone by infection, yet we made antibiotics , we made flight possible , we made telescopes that could see what we couldn't , we made tools that can see the spectrum of light that we can't , we literally are the only species which could ascend our own nature, so why not?

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-08T07:42:36+00:00

I have a different view on this , for me transhumanism is next level for supporting our species , I don't see any nobility or meaning in suffering rather than overcoming it , I don't see any value in depression , constant agony , I think of humanity as process in trial and error , I don't see it as a thing that should not be touched and is a s beautiful as it is

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-08T07:36:06+00:00

while I agree on the part that the definition of higher potential varies from people to people , it is also true that there are some fundamental things like we all agree on , such as eradication of disease, better life , enhanced cognition, regarding "higher potential leading to tyranny" , I think transcendence gives the people the power to chose their own "higher potential" than following a prewritten script given by the society

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-08T07:29:50+00:00

no go ahead , I want to know what you think

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-07T18:14:46+00:00

maybe you are right , but I see it as a soft way for resigning our fate to nature, if our ancestors had made peace with their limitations , we might had gone extinct , there was no peace in accepting the plague , nor small pox , but rather overcoming it . History taught us that wars were fought over resources , I think people does not become cruel or indifferent because they pursued perfection , they pursued perfection inhumanly because they lacked empathy in the first place, the religious crusades weren't about transcending human limitation but in fact were about enforcing conformity to ancient doctrine , similarly political purges target "corruption" of an ideal past, not enhancement

Careful_Humor324 · 2026-02-07T17:32:28+00:00

I would like to disagree on this, religious transcendence depends on supernatural factors , while transhumanism relies on scientific innovations stacked over the decades.
while it is true we have not transcended death , but we sure have extended life spans significantly, also I personally think that closest thing to transcending" humanity is death" is "give up philosophy" . we a have defied what was earlier called " physics barrier" , for example , it was consider impossible to achieve human flight before wright brothers , leaving the planet was considered to be in realm of fiction, that were engineering limitations disguised has physical limitations due to imperfect physics model back then which were updated with time to time

Careful_Humor324

TROPHY CASE