Extreme Makeover Needed!

Extreme Makeover Needed: Why and how transhumanists must transcend their nerdy aura

Valentine’s Day, 2006

Before

In Transhumanism at the Crossroads, Russel Blackford wrote:

One good reason to feel slightly uncomfortable with transhumanism is its unmistakable nerdy aura, the sense that it appeals to a particular demographic, essentially young white males with computers. Its restricted demographic appeal is, indeed, part of the problem.

Really? I guess I’ve been so preoccupied with trying to bury transhumanism’s cyberselfish baggage in the ash heap of history to notice.

A nerd is defined as “an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially if he is slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits.”

Although I’ve always thought of transhumanists as the geekerati of human enhancement tech (since for me a geek is simply a person often of an intellectual bent which is under-appreciated by others), are some or even most transhumanists nerds?

Let’s see…