Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan Review Part Two
In part one of my review of the Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan, I covered the political end of the book. Part two of the review is going to cover the Transhumanist end of the book.
Three Laws of Transhumanism are:
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A transhumanist must safeguard one’s own existence above all else.
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A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible—so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First Law.
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A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe—so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.
By and far this is the worst part of the book. It is a poor mans version of the three laws by Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”. Combining this with the TEF, it is an attempt to build the 10 Commandments for Transhumanists and it is so unnecessary. Dogma is the last thing Transhumanists need.
In many sections of the book, you come across this bizarre mix of Ayn Rand as a Transhumanist. Which is basically, Transhumanism with no regrets or responsibility. Which is just a horrible way to live as a human being, never mind being a Transhumanist / Futurist.
Another horrible sections of the book is a quick discussion of the board of Transhumania concerning a candidate to receive free medical services. This particular candidate is a mom with multiple children who had multiple marriages, the board determined she was unworthy of actually living, because of her lifestyle. It is ugly, it is uncalled for, and it is unfitting to any Transhumanist / Futurist agenda or judgment. This is exactly what I mean about Ayn Rand as a Transhumanist.
Now that I have covered some of the sections in the book that annoyed me, lets cover some sections of the book that rocked.
You have a consistent theme of life, death, and spirituality. For me, this was by and far the best part of the book. Between the life, love and death of Zoe Bach, and the struggle of the unknown of the afterlife by Frederick Vilimich. It was pure intrigue by both characters that carried all of the way to the end of the book.
The struggle between transhumanists and the religious was an all or nothing agenda. One to win and the other to lose. You also have a considerable amount of fear and loathing from all sides, which for the book is quite reasonable for both sides. Fear is the main catalyst for all of the characters, for the good and the bad.
Personally I do not believe it has to be an all or nothing agenda between Transhumanists and the religious. We are all one people and everyone can be part of the future. The future does not have to be based on fear, no matter how you want to live your life.
You can purchase The Transhumanist Wager by clicking this link.