1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910484648003321

Autore

Mercer Calvin R.

Titolo

Religion and the Technological Future : An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism / / by Calvin Mercer, Tracy J. Trothen

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2021

ISBN

9783030623593

3030623599

Edizione

[1st ed. 2021.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (276 pages)

Disciplina

201.66

Soggetti

Religion and sociology

Artificial intelligence

Bioethics

Sociology of Religion

Artificial Intelligence

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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, with bibliographies 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.