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Aug. 15, 2006 "Beware of false prophets!" You've heard that warning before. "Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing!" You've heard that warning before as well. And so as you read The Eleven Chapters of Life, composed by t411sh, Frederick Smith, and (perhaps) other collaborators, do not fail to read the last chapter in which eternal life by means of transhumanism is anticipated. All these transhumanist true believers fantasize about and anticipate an eternal life for all the transhumanists who manage to actually live long enough to pass The Singularity and enter the Age of Transhumanism and become transhumanoids. Note the hypocrisy: First, these "Eleven Chapters" people write viciously against old religions [as in the quote copied on August 15, 2006: "The most extreme, violent, and intolerant people in our world are Muslim. Muhammad, like the mythological god of the Quran, was an intolerant terrorist (8:65), and is the inspiration for many conservative Muslims." Dammit, but that’s painting with a really broad brush!!!] and then they just try and push a new irrationality on the reader! This is why the "Eleven Chapters of Life" people are wolves in sheep's clothing. But now, what makes them false prophets? Let's consult the source. In t411sh's Eleven Chapters of Life, The wannabe prophet writes: Quote: "Chapter XI New Humanity Carl Sagan - "We are the product of 4.5 billion years of fortuitous, slow biological evolution. There is no reason to think that the evolutionary process has stopped. Man is a transitional animal. He is not the climax of creation." (This is true enough. Most every evolutionist would agree! Carl Sagan is credible.) On the other hand, the Eleven Chapters of Life was not written by Carl Sagan. "1000 years ago we could have never imagined the technologies that we have available today. 1000 years into the future many things that are beyond our comprehension today can become a reality. Today is not the extent of our abilities." (To be convincing, write clear English. Poor writing often reflects poor thinking.) "We will all adhere to a secular philosophy that will give us an unparalleled clarity of ourselves and our world." (All? Who is going to CONTROL all those minds in your Big Brother Society of the future? Also, all this super-clarity won't come without clear writing.) We will begin to explore and travel throughout our galaxy, and unveil the many mysteries of our universe. Our new technologies and new minds will bring the many worlds in our universe within our reach." (What evidence of this do you have? This paragraph sounds like a Gene Roddenberry TV script in need of further editing.) "When the planets we inhabit die from the increase of natural disasters, and from the death of our suns, we will be able to travel to other planets and create new homes for our people." (Suns? To my knowledge there is only one Sun in our Solar System. Furthermore, you have no evidence to back up this claim.) "Negative emotions will cease to exist, and with religion will become a part of our primitive past. We will advance beyond these emotions, and discover new emotions to heighten our living experience." (If no negative on your scale exists, can there be a positive on your scale? If there is no negative, how do you move from a higher to a lower value? New emotions? What evidence is there that new emotions exist?) "Death will become an option after medical science discovers what degenerates our cells, and creates medicines to keep those cells alive." (This is fantasy only, not science. Why should we believe the writer?) "Not even black holes destroy information. (Prove that statement.) The universe, in a very real way, records our lives. Future generations will have the technology to bring us back into existence after we die." (That idea is at least as fantastic as any idea in the Bible. The claim can't be science until it's been tested and verified.) "Our evolution will evolve with our technology and understanding. We will become advanced enough to control everything around us, from our bodies, to the planets in which we live; from the weather, to the nature of the universe." (This paragraph certainly is the expression of a super control freak and I'm glad that t411sh (or Fred Smith et al) wasn't my father or my mother!) "The Eleven Chapters of Life" is trying to get people to replace the old tried-and-true religions with the new untried religion of transhumanism. Caveat Emptor! Let the buyer beware. ====================================== For a good summary of transhumanism, check out this article! Grand as transhumanism sounds to sci-tech fanatics and their callow students, there are some strong arguments warning about the possible dangers of transhumanism. Forget my simple English and forget the hype and often flawed English of t411sh and Fred Smith. Take time and read what some recognized highly articulate experts are saying about transhumanism. To be more certain you are right, read all the books before you make a plea. Here is the posted summary of the article at Wikipedia you will read when you do the investigation yourself: Contents 1 History 2 Theory and practice 3 Currents 4 Spirituality 5 Fiction and art 6 Criticisms 6.1 Futurehype argument (infeasibility) 6.2 Playing God arguments (hubris) 6.3 Peter Pan argument (flight from corporeality) 6.4 Enough argument (trivialization of human identity) 6.5 Gattaca argument (genetic divide) 6.6 Brave New World argument (erosion of morality) 6.7 Frankenstein argument (dehumanization) 6.8 Eugenics Wars argument (specter of old eugenics) 6.9 Terminator argument (existential risks) 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links =================== Transhumanism simply isn't really science and reason, folks. When people claim to be scientific yet they promote transhumanism, they are naive and/or hypocritical. They make claims that they can't really back up. Transhumanism itself is simply a popular faith, a well-promoted philosophy, a bubbly habit of thinking and feeling. It's yet another bubble floating away from the bubble pipe. Soon the bubble will pop. I find some of the ideas of transhumanists tantalizing and fascinating! I am not "against" transhumanism, and I am not "against" science. What I am against is faddists racing ahead on some well-promoted project before understanding the full human potential in today's living humans. Why bet billions (or even trillions) of dollars on the wrong horse? The logico-bit-binary code AI idea of intelligence isn't the whole story about the full human intelligence. Before we trust scientists to cut and splice into human brains and engineer some "master smart digital race," let's have a repeatedly verifiable scientific theory of creative inspiration and creative genius in real people. The techie-wired scientists are chomping at the bit to cut into human intelligence without really understanding what full human intelligence is. This is my worry. You should also be concerned. Think it over. This transhumanism thing is just a bunch of fad-following scientists PLAYING GOD without having the control of a true genius or the wisdom of a true genius. Telling fantastic science fiction tales is not true genius. Let's get the repeatedly verifiable scientific theory of optimal human creative intelligence FIRST, before we start tampering with human brains that we don't even understand! ------------ About the author: sixty-six years young, and vigorous in mind, body, emotions, and spirit, John L. Waters is an independent researcher on self-healing, integration, creativity, and unity. To help demonstrate the effectiveness of his research, John has created thousands of drawings, paintings, instrumental music pieces, songs, prose pieces, poems, and other inventions. John has used his research to help persons remove a mental block and solve a problem. John also gives personal presentations which illustrate his research results. Each one of these works demonstrates the effectiveness of John's research. For more information, read John's letters of recommendation: about John's self-healing and integration: about the mystical energy or yogic force and related topics: about John's independent research: about John's seeking an agent or a publisher: Email: blueguntwo@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. 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