Lately as I read blogs and articles from around the web, it begins to feel like we have been transported into the future where science is the greatest hope of mankind. After all, we are in 2015 when according to Yuval Noah Harari, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the amalgamation of man and machine will be the ‘biggest evolution in biology’ since the emergence of life four billion years ago.
Man and Machine Merging Together?
Science Editor Sarah Knapton of the Telegraph quotes the historian as saying wealthy humans are likely to become cyborgs within 200 years as they gradually merge with technology like computers and smart smartphones.
What is a Cyborg ? – Oxford dictionaries
A fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.
The Purpose?
Well the purpose according to the article is for mankind to become like gods with the power over death, and be as different from humans today as we are from chimpanzees. Even though Darwinian Evolution is missing evidence of Macro – Evolution, you cannot deny that this sort of technological evolution (Cyborg-ness) is happening right in front of us.
Why?
Professor Harari argues that humans as a race were driven by dissatisfaction and that we would not be able to resist the temptation to ‘upgrade’ ourselves, whether by genetic engineering or technology. “We are programmed to be dissatisfied” the professor says, “even when humans gain pleasure and achievements it is not enough”.
He goes on to say “I think it is likely in the next 200 years or so homo sapiens will upgrade themselves into some idea of a divine being, either through biological manipulation or genetic engineering or by the creations of cyborgs, part organic part non-organic.”
Babel?
This almost feels like a modern day version of the Tower of Babel where we as humans can reach God or in this case God-hood by applying ourselves. If you remember in the Tower of Babel account, God separated man through language in an effort to preserve him, what will God do this time?