I wish we could do the modern-day equivalent for a biohappiness revolution. The English cleric and evangelist John Wesley rode over 250,000 miles on horseback - equal to ten circuits of the Earth - and preached over 40,000 sermons to spread the word. Neanderthal gene linked to increased pain sensitivity What level of pain-sensitivity is optimal in our future children? The SCN9A connection: ('The Mind-Controlled Bionic Arm With a Sense of Touch')Īll prospective parents should be offered preimplantation genetic screening and counselling. Should all new babies be created with benign versions of SCN9A? 'Who, except the gods, can live time through forever without any pain?” ('Tor Wager lauds a book on the hunt for an elusive root of sensory suffering.') Mutation in Na v 1.7 causes high olfactory sensitivity Intriguingly, people with SCN9A gene nonsense mutations completely lack both pain- and odour-sensitivity, whereas some functional alleles of SCN9A are associated with both hyperalgesia and hyperosmia: ('Small but fierce: Grasshopper mice can eat prey that are toxic to other mice.īitter battles between stinkbugs and carnivorous mice could hold clues for controlling human pain') ('France is developing bionic soldiers resistant to pain with microchip-enhanced brain power and superior hearing')Ĭynthia, yes, I hope we can abolish war, not least, the battle between predators and prey. “Without suffering we would need each other less and our life stories would become ever more trivial.”Ĭan all sentience be re-engineered with a more civilised signalling system? Technological advancement could end all human worries and pain, says transhumanist ('Transhumanist argues technology could end all human and animal suffering') Is Middle England ready for transhumanism? A ubiquitous feature of our waking lives should be impossible if textbook neuroscience is correct. The snag is that currently there aren’t any classical options - nothing testable at any rate - that don't simply re-state the original problem. To explain binding, let's explore the sane, classical options instead. I don't blame anyone who thinks the “ Schrödinger’s neurons” (2016) conjecture I investigate is too crazy for words and not worth the trouble of experimentally refuting. Even if consciousness is fundamental in nature, nothing would (non-trivially) matter if we were all micro-experiential zombies. Getting our theory of binding right is ethically vital. 'The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.” Let's hope the darker multiverse stuff I worry about turns out to be risible nonsense. The admirable Sentience Research have just published an interview I did before Christmas. Three laughing philosophers: spot the negative utilitarian? 'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Transhumanism, utilitarianism, aging, superintelligence, suffering, happiness, consciousness. (see too: 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8 : 9 : 10 : 11 : 12 : 13 : 14)īioethics, COVID-19, veganism, philosophy, quantum mechanics, effective altruism,

Transhumanism agenda