I am extraordinarily privileged, even considering I am playing on Easy mode. If people choose Hard for themselves, I fully support that. Having the choice is important.
Transhumanism is a movement which, to me, has numerous parallels. I suspect, but do not yet Know, that most Transhumanists are:
- Progressive (‘liberal’ politics, high openness)
- Overwhelmingly young (Bottom third of normal age distributions)
- Majority male (80%+)
If true, this is interesting and worth exploring. From a psychological perspective, it is, perhaps, predictable. Ping me if you have data on this.
Permissive attitudes to flesh manipulation track closely with these elements.
I hold permissive attitudes to flesh manipulation, but I am also aware that these are relatively minority perspectives when considered against the globus corpus. It’s one of the challenges of being WEIRD,
Predictions
Predictions are hard, especially about future states. The perversity level of the Universe is a relative constant, but as Pratchett (1992)1 notes, it can certainly have localised spikes. I think predictions cause some of them.
Bettable Prediction: If you’re not able to chat, haltingly, over text at least, to a virtual Travel Agent by the end of 2025, I will be surprised, and more surprised yet if it is not fluent by 2030. This outcome would also mean billions of dollars sitting on the table, so I have classical economics on my side of the bet. I’m sure some corporate overlords will disgorge their ominous surveillance logs into AIML soon enough. (this bet has not yet been taken up)
1 Pratchett, Lords and Ladies, 1992 – “… like a garden hosepipe in a shed [Which, no matter how carefully coiled, will always uncoil overnight and tie the lawnmower to the bicycles].”