Sunday, February 15, 2009

A different point of view





Paul Hughes on transhumanism:

By spiritual, I mean a deep and growing awareness of sublime, subtle nuances of consciousness that are available to any conscious explorer - what some might call "energy fields", "sacred spaces", "cosmic consciousness", or "the divinity within all things". This is as much a poetical and contextual shift as it is a scientific one, and is available to anyone who is not afraid to see the world from an enchanted point of view. I always tell people that if they believe so strongly in the scientific-materialist viewpoint, then what possible harm can come from trying to see things differently? It does not require a belief in "god", only a willingness to experience the universe from a different point of view. There is no downside, except perhaps a loss of innocence from realizing the universe is a far greater and more mysterious place than the scientific framework is equipped to handle. But the gains from such experience are infinite, as those who've been there can attest. Science is an awesome expansion of our awareness of universe, and the more science we have the better off we'll all be. The mistake is assuming it is the only awareness worth having.

4 comments:

Alexander Kruel said...

Ever read Greg Egan' Permutation City or Distress?

Mac said...

I've read both. Egan's a fascinating writer, but possibly the antithesis of what Hughes is writing about.

Paul said...

Greg Egan's Diaspora comes much closer to what I've said. In that book he covers much of the ground I have, but only hints at "higher" realities via mathematical dimensions, which is his focus, being a mathematician.

As I mentioned in this post, the transhumanist 'space' is still scientific-mathematical, what I would like to add to that space is the mythic-poetical if you get my drift. I'm going to start a new collaborative blog/site, but which is still only an 'idea', called Upverse (upverse.org). I'm waiting to get over some medical problems before launching it.

Mac said...

@Paul

Good luck with the new site! Drop me a line when it's a go.