Transhumanism Archives | Otaku No Culture

Following TheNFB Posthumans Shows Where Reality Comes Close to Fiction

To call individuals with tech implants Posthumans may well be an alternate gender norm when the desire to have machine implants become more commonplace as I continue to look at the transhumanism movement.

Available to view on TheNFB’s website

When Dominique Leclerc wants an alternative method to receive her insulin shots, the options are limited. Currently, there’s no way to automate the process and what she’s searching for may not exist at all. And what she uncovers raises other concerns. In her gripping documentary, simply titled Posthumans, some folks may well have to give up their humanity just to get treatment.

When Marc Roux says many options exist, not all of them are available for every man. Some technologies are not affordable. As the president of the French Transhumanist Association, just what he suggests is not all that scary. But as for who has access to them still requires various communities to accept what’s coming.

Continue reading “Following TheNFB Posthumans Shows Where Reality Comes Close to Fiction”

Is Neil a Man or Cyborg? A Documentary That Questions Humanity’s Relationship With Tech

The question posed in Cyborg: A Documentary concerns how far people are willing to alter their five senses for the sake of improving their condition.

Cyborg A Documentary Movie Poster — **Playing at select cinemas in the UK Beginning Sept 20.**

The augmentation of the human body is controversial. And the question whether one will lose their humanity is in question. In R. Talsorians’s Cyberpunk, the role playing game, this idea is perfectly translated into a statistic. The score tracks when a player character becomes more machine than man. However, there are also valid reasons to allow for some people to become enhanced to improve their quality of life. In Cyborg: A Documentary, first-time director Carey Born dives into the possibilities. Thankfully, there’s people who know when to stop rather than to keep on augmenting.

Although this filmmaker is quite focused on this individual, the discourse concerning who else can benefit really depends. For the most part, Neil Harbisson‘s life is front and centre. Although born without the ability to perceive colour, he’s become an artist who uses sound to help him paint. That’s because of the computer software he helped develop to let him hear how paint works. Although he’s not the world’s first person to receive an implant, to show how he functions as a spokesperson for this movement is rather fascinating. While the idea of inserting a chip into an organic body is nothing new because pets often get an RFID chip, to put that in a human is troublesome.

Continue reading “Is Neil a Man or Cyborg? A Documentary That Questions Humanity’s Relationship With Tech”

Decoding that “Glitch In The Matrix” The Documentary

As for where our reality rests, the documentary also compares this life to video games, like The Sims. The folks looking for a restart or thinking they can get away with breaking ethical codes got a rude awakening (as one segment about Joshua Cooke showed) and perhaps it’s because nobody can unfollow the Ten Commandments.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Premiered at Sundance 2021

Limited Theatrical Screening & Available On Demand Beginning Feb 5, 2021

Are we living in a simulation? The question raised decades ago by celebrated author Philip K Dick was never fully answered. The debate is ongoing and fiercely explored in Rodney Ascher’s fascinating documentary Glitch in the Matrix–and no it’s not about all the bugs in Cyberpunk 2077 that still needs patching. The whole program, according to multiple sources, is simply bugged!

Because this filmmaker includes respected names from the literary and science fiction community, the ideas presented in this 108 minute work aren’t necessarily far-fetched. Or perhaps, Francis Bacon’s Four Idols of the Mind makes more sense. I recognize a bit of his theory seeping into this documentary about altered realities, sentient machines, what we represent in this system (are we programs or independent thinkers?), and if we can escape from it.

Continue reading “Decoding that “Glitch In The Matrix” The Documentary”

Discovering Immortality in Eternal Code

I had to rely on my imagination in considering how souls are moved in the makeshift medical facility Corey infiltrates. The result was more cops and robbers by the end. This movie written and directed by Harley Wallen deserves a part two, but I suspect the Hitchcock-style ending he crafted will be left at just that.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

On Amazon Prime

Eternal Code is a high fidelity thriller with low-fi science fiction ideas as the MacGuffin. In between the exposition is a discussion about the ethics of human experimentation–especially when it concerns being able to move the consciousness of one individual to another. One fact is certain: the recipient of this procedure is better off being brain dead. Another is who deserves this “second chance” more, those who can pay for the procedure or those who truly deserve a second chance at life because of something they did in the past which warrants a complete change of physical identity?

The idea can give hope to Corey (Damien Chinappi, a suicidal military vet) and Stephanie (Kaiti Wallen, a prostitute). It’d be terrible if they got the wrong end of the stick if offered. Instead, by befriending Miranda (Angelina Danielle Cama), they are more like heroes and don’t need any change at all. They can do it all for themselves, which is where this story shines.

Continue reading “Discovering Immortality in Eternal Code”