WTA News

UK Transhumanist Association Founded
Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Announcing the birth of the UK Transhumanist Association

The UK Transhumanist Association is a new not-for-profit organisation. Its purpose is to inject transhumanist ideas at all levels of British society with a programme of educational and lobbying activities on subjects including stem-cell research, cloning, biotechnology, nanotechnology and, in general, technological and scientific policy-making. The UK Transhumanist Association promotes the rights of individuals and families to improve and enhance their health, through the application of technological developments, now and in the future.

Transhumanism: The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by using technology to eliminate aging and greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

Technological advances taking place today have the potential to radically improve the human condition. Regenerative medicine, genetic intervention, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence have all moved from the realm of science fiction to the scientific mainstream. Are we prepared for the cultural implications of these emerging technologies?

Some are not. Even worse, some do not want to be.

Across the Atlantic, the right-leaning bio-conservatives have manoeuvred themselves into a position of influence as shown by their heavy presence in the President’s Council on Bioethics. Meanwhile, in the UK, the rhetoric of a left-leaning, neo-Luddite movement, which seems to label all technological advance as threatening, has convinced a large section of the British public that science is something to be feared. Yet in the UK, many still dare to be curious about new technologies and their possibilities. Will we have the courage to shape our future, to extend the limits of the body, of the mind, and of what it means to be human? Or will we ban new technologies because they are “not natural”?

New technologies often create new problems while solving many older ones. Transhumanists are deeply aware of the need to implement suitable safeguards to prevent unforeseen disasters. At the same time, we do not discount the tragedy of potential life-saving new technologies failing to materialize due to fear and mental laziness.

Science and technology do not stand still - nor should they. Scientific progress not only creates wealth, but increasingly presents the possibility of improving our own bodies and minds. We foresee and welcome the feasibility of evolving beyond the limitations of the human condition and we support the moral right of those who wish to use technology to extend their mental and physical capacities, to do so. Our goals cut transversally across the left- right political spectrum. Our activities in the cultural and political arenas aim to foster an environment where these rights are widely accepted and seen as worthwhile.



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