Bobby Sligh, Matthew Sartain, and Kyle Hutto English 1102 H K. Redding Research Essay 4/24/2016 Transhumanism and the Uncertainty of Human Identity Many of the world’s innovations have come from a need to improve the human condition. However, when, if ever, is improving the human condition going too far? Additionally, if humans are improved through methods such as replacement of almost all body parts with mechanical ones, is that being still human, since biological differences differences to other humans exist? These questions are quintessential in the debate over transhumanism that emerged in the past decade. Transhumanism is the belief that humans can evolve beyond current limitation by means of scientific progress; stem cell research, gene editing, and even disease elimination all constitute transhumanism technology. Despite that seemingly innocuous sounding definition, this ideology has proven to be both bold and controversial, because of its radical proposals of ideas such as life extension (to the point of biological immortality) immortality) and development of artificial intelligence. In the midst of this proposed biological change, serious questions emerge as to what it means to be human if we are changing biologically. Does it mean that humanity has simply been improved or has humanity h umanity been replaced by a different species of being? For this research, we will examine how transhuman ideology in popular media,
specifically the movies Blade movies Blade Runner and RoboCop and RoboCop help help answer the question of what it means to be human in the presence of transhumanist technologies. In Blade In Blade Runner , the transhumanist subjects are known as replicants. Replicants carry out undesirable duties for the rest of society. The y have artificially shortened lives and are intentionally kept away from the planet Earth in order to keep them from questioning their place in society and revolting against societal conventions. The central question related to transhumanism arises from their possession of no authentic memories, so how could replicants possibly be human? The end result, as in Rachel’s case, is that the replicants often often have no way to differentiate their actual past with the implanted. Ultimately, it creates re al emotion in the replicants, who can believe in the false memories wholeheartedly. This is made evident in the use of the Voight-Kampff test which seeks to mea sure emotional response based on heart rate, respiration and other metric gauges. The manual for the test states replicants are determined as such in about 6 or 7 questions. For many replicants, however, it takes a significant number of questions more. In Rachel’s test, it takes over a hundred . Even our protagonist, Deckard, begins be gins expressing doubt doubt in the test’s te st’s ability to determine human from replicant. Eventually, Deckard himself must question his own humanity as it is revealed through the final origami unicorn scene (in the director's cut), that he may have implanted memories. The most compelling evidence that there may be very little distinction between humans a nd replicants, comes from Roy’s “Tears in the Rain” monologue. Roy contradicts contradic ts all of Blade Runner’s societal views that replicants possess shallow emotions. Instead, Instead, Roy expresses a profound desire to find a meaningful existence supported by a longing to be remembered. Although of synthetic origin, the newest model of replicants, the Nexus-6, embody embod y all the characteristics of transhuman technology and are shown to be just as human as Deckard or Eldon Tyrell. By denying replicants their humanity
by treating them as inhuman, characters like Tyrell make a fatal mistake. The Blade The Blade Runner FAQ states that J.F. Sebastian and Eldon Tyrell’s game game of chess “represents “repre sents the struggle of the replicants against the humans: the humans consider th e replicants pawns, to be removed one by by one. The individual replicants (pawns) are attempting to be come immortal (a queen)... Tyrell makes a fatal mistake in the chess c hess game, and another fatal mistake trying to re ason with Batty. It is worth noting that the chess match between b etween J.F. Sebastian is based on the “Immortal “ Immortal Game”, one of the most mo st famous chess matches in history due to the winner’s sacrifice of his most valuable pieces while winning with just his king a few pawns, two knights, and a bishop. The ability to win with pawns, representative of replicants, demonstrates that they are every bit as capable of defying Tyrell as any other human. This lack of difference not only makes the audience and Deckard question how human replicants are, but, if they are the same as Deckard, than who is Deckard? This T his existential question is the crux of Deckard’s development as a character in Blade in Blade Runner . In RoboCop In RoboCop,, the subject of transhumanist technology is RoboCop himself. In a nearapocalyptic, future Detroit, Omni Consumer Products (better known as OCP) serves as the principal antagonist while the senior president, Dick Jones, serves serves as a scheming villain who seeks to gain control of OCP. When OCP is given control of the Detroit police, OCP, an organization that is continuously shown to disregard human -well being in favor of turning a profit, the company demonstrates just how dangerous transhumanist technologies are when placed in the wrong hands. The movie sardonically mocks OCP’s careless approach to using live test subjects by demonstrating the failed prototypes tested (in which a two humans died and one was injured), and the testing of the ED-209 E D-209 robot, which violently murders one of the c orporate board members of OCP. Dick Jones dismisses this as “only a glitch”. Eventually, OCP makes
Alex Murphy, a former human cop who was violently killed by a gang on one of his assignments, into a cyborg crime fighter. OCP dehumanizes Murphy by ne ver referring to him by his actually name and just giving him directives to, essentially, essentially, be a cop. This sleazy corporate mentality that Murphy is more of a produc t than a human is satirized throughout the movie until, at the end, the president of OCP asks RoboCop for his name, to which he replies “Murphy”. This recognition of Murphy’s humanity encapsulates one of the many themes of the movie: that human identity is something that can be retained despite biological changes. This attempt at dehumanizing Murphy is ironic considering Murphy is a Chri st-like figure in RoboCop. Like Jesus, Murphy dies, is resurrected, treads through wate r in a motion resembling walking, causes the fall from grace (literally and metapho rically) of Dick Jones (a character with power second to the OCP president), and is a protector a protector of peace. One of Murphy’s struggles, as evidenced by his return to his former home h ome after becoming RoboCop becoming RoboCop demonstrates demonstrates that he is attempting to come to terms with his new identity and lea ving behind the old Alex Murphy. However, Murphy eventually reconciles his past life with his new life as an android cop and an d protector of peace through his final acknowledgment at the end of the movie that he is Murphy. RoboCop, despite being the most inhuman character biologically, retains his place as the most relatable character in the movie. As a whole, it’s worth noting that the transhumanist subjects of both films, Roy Batty and Alex Murphy, are both portrayed as Christ-like figures that are very relatable and human characters despite being inhuman. On the o ther hand, the antagonists a ntagonists of both films are corporations who control said technology and c are very little about the wellbeing of others. In summary, the supposedly inhuman characters are given the most human portrayal while the supposedly human characters are given an extremely inhuman portrayal. The central question
answered by these films answer is that since humanity has entered an age of change due to technology, what it means to be human is also changing and freeform in nature. It’s almost inevitable that human curiosity will expand to satiate de sires to have transhumanist technologies, so humanity needs to be ready to entrust this technology to the responsible as opposed to those who stand to profit at the expense ex pense of others. If there are any doubts that th at humanity is approaching a transhumanist level of scientific achievement, let the first human heart was grown from stem cells and that Chinese researchers performed genome ed iting on a human zygote using CRISPR CAS biotechnology be evidence that humanity is heading this direction. Additionally, if those who seek to change cha nge themselves with this transhumanist technology shouldn’t be discriminated against or made to feel dehumanized as in Blade in Blade Runner and RoboCop and RoboCop..
Works Cited Brostrom, Nick. Ethical Nick. Ethical Issues for the 21st Century. Ed. Frederick Adams. Charlottesville: Philosophical Documentation Center Press, 2003. Print. Chapman, Murray. "BLADE RUNNER Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)." BLADE (FAQ)." BLADE RUNNER Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). (FAQ). University of Queensland, July 1995. Web. 28 Apr. 2016. . aqs/movies/bladerunner-faq/>. Liang Puping, Yanwen Xu, Xiya Zhang, and Chenhui Ding. "CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Gene Editing in Human Tripronuclear Zygotes." - Springer . Higher Education Press, 18 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. . Blade Runner . Dir. Ridley Scott. Prod. Ridley Scott an d Hampton Francher. By Hampton Francher and David Webb Peoples. Perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. Warner Bros., 1982. DVD.
Robocop. Robocop. Dir. Paul Verhoeven. By Edward Neumeier Neu meier and Michael Miner. Perf. Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, and Ronny Cox. Orion Pictures Corporation, 1987. DVD.
