Building Wings: A Better Tomorrow

Building Wings: A Better Tomorrow is a three part eBook appearing in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The book is written by David Sarif and outlines his personal beliefs regarding augmentations.

Part I
Where we risk allowing our technology to divide us is in the very question of regulation; some would argue that augmentation, which by its nature is a mechanism whereby humans can transcend their limitations, cannot be allowed to be freely available.

''While on the surface, such calls for “regulation” might be seen as a reasonable response, in the long term such stigmatization will work against our society. We already live in a culture of haves and have-nots, those rich or poor in terms of money, those impoverished or affluent in terms of data and knowledge.''

To willfully blockade the spread of human augmentation technologies will add another category - those who are human and those who are transhuman; and as we speak here of futures where transhumanism must be the normative, how can we willingly allow some of us to be left behind?

Part II
''Consider, if you will, a future where technology is unbound. In this environment, human beings are capable of reaching beyond the limits that nature imposes upon them, not just through the use of external technological apparatuses, but also through the merging of the human organism with cybernetic devices.''

''We can, quite literally, build a better person. Life can become something that is not just a voyage where you are the passenger, at the whim of your DNA and the vagaries of an imperfect, random biology. Life can be what we wish it to be, and our minds and bodies the canvas on which we can draw our own future.''

''We can build wings if we wish to, and leave the cradle behind. The only limitations to where our flight will take us are our will and our intellect.''

Part III
''What is transhumanism? A grandiose term, perhaps, but an accurate one. It is a search, a great destination that we, as a species, are approaching as our journey through evolution nears its next great leap. It is no less than the chance for human beings to reach out and take the helm of their own development.''

''For the first time in history, we live in an era where the factors that define the borders of the human condition - death, longevity, disability, and all the other many tyrannies of our own biology - can be surpassed. The advancing science of human augmentation technologies allows us to look to an enhanced future; a better tomorrow where the limitations of flesh and bone can be transcended.''

If I write these words and sound like an evangelist, then perhaps I am; I look to my future enrapt.