20 Feb 2009

Bostrom, "Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up," 9 Commitments


Are we so committed to our humanity that we will not trade it for a better posthuman life?



Nick Bostrom

"Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up"

IX. Commitments

Consider another way that becoming posthuman might not be good for someone. Imagine that someone is committed to their spouse. Their spouse has them promise to never to become a posthuman.

Bostrom notes that we do not normally have commitments that would prevent us from becoming posthuman.

And even those who do have such hindering commitments might actually obtain a new ability to uphold them when becoming posthuman.


[Next entry in this series.]



Nick Bostrom. "Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up." Forthcoming in Medical Enhancement and Posthumanity, eds. Bert Gordijn and Ruth Chadwick (Springer), 2007.
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