Transhumanism (near-term)

The word “transhumanism” is widely credited to Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist and the first director of UNESCO. According to historical accounts in the literature on transhumanist thought, Huxley used the term in a 1957 essay to describe the idea that humans could use science and technology to transcend biological limitations. Huxley’s framing was explicitly evolutionary: humanity could guide its own development rather than wait for natural selection.
Transhumanism is a social, philosophical, and scientific movement that argues humans should use advanced technology to enhance our bodies, brains, and overall capabilities — ultimately transcending biological limitations like aging, disease, and even cognitive constraints. Encyclopedia Britannica describes it as a movement focused on improving the human condition through technology, aiming to overcome limitations such as disease and mortality.
In this Salon, Michael Korns will explain the meaning of transhumanism and give real world examples of how it is being applied in the world today and it's near-term goals in the future. A little about Michael:
Michael Korns is a retired computer scientist with professional experience at IBM Research, Chief Scientist at Tymeshare Transactions, Chief Scientist at Xerox Imaging, and currently a professional retail investor. His most recent research has explored extreme accuracy algorithms for symbolic regression which are robust even in the face of noisy training data and range shifted testing data. His primary areas of interest are symbolic regression-classification (with an emphasis on investment finance applications), and asymmetric investing using stocks, options, and futures.