Hello, SFIA audio listeners, in this month's Nebula exclusive, Big Alien Theory,

we're asked at the reason alien civilizations might be rare is because most aliens are huge.

To hear it and every episode early and add free, plus hours of bonus content,

check out go.nebola.t.v.t.v. And use my code, Isaac Arthur.

In the future, humanity might settle and create countless new worlds, but will we also create

new types of humans?

Today we are going to be discussing transhumanism and post-humans, and whether this is an inevitable path for

humanity or something we should actively avoid or willingly embrace.

The first point to acknowledge though is that transhumanism is not a specific single agreed-on

path, and indeed is not even agreed on definition, it tends to be rather big tent and

so can only be loosely defined.

Generally, transhumanism is the notion that the use of technology to extend human lifespan,

intelligence, and physical ability would enhance the quality of human life and should be

actively pursued. In this context, a transhuman would be someone who has had some of those changes,

what we would call augmentations for today's purposes. There's a lot of great thinkers and

arguments on the topic, for and against and in-between, from philosopher Nick Bostrom,

who is probably one of the most well-known advocates of transhumanism, to Leon Cass, who believes

these technologies will dehumanize us in a negative way. We will try to give a balanced view,

but I should say from the outset that I tend to feel cautious usage of augmentation can

be a good thing, and strongly favor usage to help those who are disabled in some fashion,

but not limited to that. In contrast, while to help those who are disabled in some fashion, but not limited to that.

In contrast, while there are those who would object to using technology to fix impairments or deficits, relatively few folks are opposed to that basic principle, even when often gives

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