In the last four (twenty?, fifty?) years, it has transpired that we are rapidly crushing into a bright transhumanist future, by means of a mediocracy revolution. Let me fill in some details.
Let’s start from “where we are all going to.” According to the Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (2012)
Transhumanism is the position that human beings should be permitted to use technology to modify and enhance human cognition and bodily function, expanding abilities and capacities beyond current biological constraints… Transhumanism has strong descent lines from Queer Theory, Actor–Network Theory, libertarianism, and humanism. Many transhumanists hold that free people should have the right to use technology to alter their bodies, minds, and environments in whatever way they see fit (so long, often goes the caveat, as it does not impinge on any other person’s rights).
Oh wait… Queer theory and Actor-Network theory appear to be incompatible with libertarianism and humanism, but the statement was made the virgin 2012. In any case, by 2024, the last two dissolved away entirely.
Also, by “altering the environment” do they mean bikable cities for the rich, car-pooling for the working class? It is a rhetorical question, dear readers. We are also wondering about the “not impinge on any other person’s right” thingy.
Curiously, the two fundamental principles behind the California Math Framework provide a blueprint for the whole post-humanist paradise. As a quick reminder, these two questionable and rather contradictory postulates are - a. only white men can do math, and b. there is no such thing as innate math ability. Extrapolating from the two postulates we get:
True knowledge and true courage are nothing but the instruments of oppression. In the transhumanist future, our brains will be wired to the Department of Anti-Racism (DOA) and to the Secretary for Mens’ Behavior Change that will provide us with all the knowledge we need. Courage will become unneeded as military conflicts are caused exclusively by males. This is a battle that has been raging already, on multiple fronts:
the War on Mathematics (Jim Gates has something to say about it)
the War on Classics (MLK disagrees)
the War on Culture (this Guardian article, by some Mona Chalabi, while attempting to make fun of the “time spent attending museums or the performing arts,” makes the deeply racist assertion that these activities interest exclusively white people).
the War on Bravery disguised as a War on Men (our heroes, both female and male, would disagree if they haven’t died defending these very post-humanist proselytizers). These very men contribute to 90% of work deaths in the US. Here is Guardian again, some Tanya Gold, who, inspired by the recent advances in creating embryos from stem cells, wants to either eliminate men:
that is my female planet. I can feel you raving now[,]
or (thank you Tanya for your kindness) keep them (men) as sex slaves:
[W]ho would I have sex with? I like women but I couldn't eat a whole one. Seriously, though? The paradise is cracking and crumbling and sundering around my unwashed ears. In truth, I would miss men. I would miss their smell, and their fragile sweetness, and the way they look at Match of the Day 2 in that lopsided manner, like a lion ogling a chicken.
Is she talking about a baby or an adult human being?
Ohh, well, so much for “not imping[ing] on any other person’s rights.” Also, the following question emerges: who is going to defend the posthumanist paradise when only 55% of Americans have not yet been brainwashed into fleeing the country instead of fighting, if invaded; 38% would flee1?
Talent does not exist, abilities are infinitely malleable. Or, maybe it does, but brain chips will be needed… if you are confused so are we, but since competence is illusory, the transhumanists can be as self-contradictory as they wish: We all know that competence is capitalism. The president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association says so.
For the first part, we are more than happy to deploy a “steel man argument.” Ohh, not Guardian again:
Abstract logic… is the sliver of intelligence that IQ tests measure. Some populations are more exposed to abstraction than others, which is why their average IQ scores differ.
Here, for a change, the builders of the brave new world are right. But since they are, why are they working day and night on depriving the African-Americans from the abstract? And, incidentally, why don’t they want the African-Americans to be literate (see War on Phonics, to be addressed by the FB in the future)? Well, we already know the answer to that, thanks to our friend Asao Inoue: “If you want to succeed you’re a loser.” While we’re at it - why are they depriving the Asian-Americans from the university admission spots and National Merit awards that they have earned by learning the abstract? The answer is that our future bosses are bland and mediocre, and they want to surround themselves with even paler beings.
For the second part (the chips), the rich lazy elites will be the first to plug what remains of their brains to what remains of the politically correct, equitable, and non-harmful human knowledge. The poor will be f**ked again.
At last we arrived at “how to get there.” Thank you Ayaan Hirsi Ali for clarifying this: we will drag ourselves to the transhumanist utopia because the iron fist of the “mediocracy mafia” will push us there. And mediocre they are! They can’t write an acknowledgment paragraph without plagiarizing. Their poster girl Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson has no qualms about doubling a 99% newborn survival rate in an argument. (But hey, she also doesn’t know what a woman is.) They confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. They think that two correlated statistical variables can eat each other’s significance. Mediocracy all the way!
The viral graph below makes clear how “bright” our future masters are and how bright they will rule will be. UMass Boston administration is in the ruler pack, close to the right edge of the red zone.
And to hide how mediocre it is, mediocracy inflates grades, abolishes the SAT and MCAS, and makes the ALEKS math placement test unusable.
The next generation of the rulers is even worse. They can’t study. They can’t work. And the more revolutionary they are, the lower their grades in pre-calculus become.
Curiously, young as it is, the mediocracy revolution is already devouring its own children. Indeed, it seems like the posthumanist Eden is not a place for white men, no matter how woke. We wish the revolution best of luck in this endevour endeavor, bon appétit.
A kind reader may ask: “What if you are wrong? What if the future doesn’t need hard work and vigorous exercise, competence and rigor, objectivity and scientific method? What if an identity-based transhumanist order is more optimal than the merit-based traditional one?” Perhaps. But may we ask why the future transhumans are so uncertain about their righteousness? Why rig the game in disfavor of males and Asians? Why suppress all the objective metrics of progress? Ohh, the last one is a part of the logical loop: “objectivity is bad but this can’t be proven because objectivity is bad.” Ouphh, f**k it…
In any case, we are ready for a fair fight: are they?
If one goes party-specific, 68% of Republicans, 57% of Independents, and 40% of Democrats are ready to fight for their country. 25% of Republicans, 36% of Independents, and 52% of Democrats would seek refuge in Canada or elsewhere if their country is attacked.
Another great one Paul.
I know you are trying to help, but I am confused. Am I now permitted to exterminate....? No, that's not it. Um, is our war against white men who engage in objectivity and competence and, if so, if we are competent and objective in eliminating these monsters, are we now white men? And capitalists? Can I be black and Asian because I feel I am black and Asian? This makes me feel very womanly. Finally, am I attractive to other women?