A Cosmic Vision of Our Future Evolution

 Transhumanism  

Economist Ted Chu has been researching the future of humanity for nearly two decades and has compiled his thoughts into the new book, Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential.  The goal of the book is to provide ideological clarity about the posthuman future by looking at our next stage of development from a cosmic perspective.

For thousands of years, great thinkers have contemplated the meaning and purpose of human existence; but while most assumed that humanity was the end point of creation or the pinnacle of evolution, Ted Chu makes the provocative claim that the human race may in fact be a means rather than an end—that humankind will give rise to evolutionary successors.

In his new wide-ranging and authoritative book, Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential: A Cosmic Vision of Our Future Evolution, Chu reexamines the question of human purpose in light of the extraordinary developments of science and technology.

In Chu's vision of the future, the human race is not the highest nor is it the final product of 14 billion years of cosmic evolution. "We alone are not the sole or ultimate purpose of the universe. Yes, we are a noble product of the evolutionary process, but humanity is also a means to a greater end. We need to discover and joyfully embrace this higher end, this new purpose."  Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential explores this future.

"Ted Chu's elegantly written and well-researched book is the finest in this field since Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near," says Michael E. Zimmerman, Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado at Boulder

Arguing that a deep understanding of our place in the universe is required to navigate the magnitude of the choices that lie ahead, he surveys human wisdom from both East and West, traces the evolutionary trajectory that has led to this point, and explores the potentials emerging on the scientific frontier.

"In terms of developing human resources we are still at a hunter-gatherer stage, we don't know how to produce and generate better human beings; but this is about to change."

According to Chu, the idea of the technological Singularity is too simplistic and too easy.  "When you look at evolutionary history, nothing is so smooth," he says.  Chu sees difficulties and bottlenecks in the path of the future.  For Chu, in terms of cosmic evolutionary history, the Singularity is nothing new.

"As a macroeconomist and futurist, I have long sensed that the human era is coming to a close and that this posthuman era is upon us," writes Chu. "In my role as a chief economist, both for General Motors and for one of the world’s largest investment funds, I have learned that I must go beyond economics. In the same way, in order to express the pinnacle human spirit, we must now go beyond humanity."

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However, in terms of the global economy, Chu thinks we are in a critical stage in terms of development.  He says most economists have ignored technological progress and the potential of technology to change human nature.  

"Human beings are becoming a bottleneck of economic growth," he told Singularity Weblog's Nikola Danaylov.  "In terms of developing human resources we are still at a hunter-gatherer stage, we don't know how to produce and generate better human beings; but this is about to change."

Chu makes us fully aware of the many risks ahead, but offers an original “cosmic vision” that provides the courage and the perspective we will need to explore the potentials of our posthuman future.

Chu was formerly chief economist of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (the Middle East's largest sovereign wealth fund) and was also chief economist at General Motors. He has spent the last 15 years in the intensive study of posthuman evolution. He lives in Abu Dhabi.



SOURCE  Singularity Weblog

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