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Two - Ancestors and Avatars

Immortality Transformed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2020

Jennifer Huberman
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, Kansas City
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Summary

Chapter 2 explores how the transhumanist attempt to achieve immortality in avatar form through the technology of mind cloning, compares and contrasts with the many attempts our species has made to achieve immortality in ancestral form. It asks: what are the conditions that make certain modes of immortality conceivable and desirable? What kind of practices, understandings, and forms of self-discipline are these modes of immortality predicated upon? What kinds of experiences do, and might, these modes of immortality give rise to? Why are these modes of immortality meaningful to the people who pursue them. By juxtaposing the ubiquitous making of ancestors with the making of avatars among transhumanists, the chapter further illuminates the values and beliefs that animate the transhumanist technological imagination, and once again demonstrates that thinking comparatively can sharpen our abilities to grasp the features of a given social phenomenon.

Type
Chapter
Information
Transhumanism
From Ancestors to Avatars
, pp. 47 - 67
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Ancestors and Avatars
  • Jennifer Huberman, University of Missouri, Kansas City
  • Book: Transhumanism
  • Online publication: 10 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108869577.003
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  • Ancestors and Avatars
  • Jennifer Huberman, University of Missouri, Kansas City
  • Book: Transhumanism
  • Online publication: 10 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108869577.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Ancestors and Avatars
  • Jennifer Huberman, University of Missouri, Kansas City
  • Book: Transhumanism
  • Online publication: 10 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108869577.003
Available formats
×