Episode Resources

The Impossibility of Christian Transhumanism

Transhumanism: A Religion for Postmodern Times

Transhumanism: A Wail of Despair in the Night

The Trouble with Transhumanism

Give Me That New Time Transhumanism!

Summary

Is transhumanism the next frontier of progress or a revival of eugenics in a biotech age?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with attorney, award-winning author, and Humanize podcast host Wesley J. Smith to unpack the growing transhumanist movement, the push to engineer a “post-human” future through AI, gene editing, cognitive enhancement, designer babies, and radical life extension.

From CRISPR gene editing and Neuralink to the “Singularity” and digital immortality, transhumanism promises to eliminate suffering, enhance intelligence, and even defeat death itself. But at what cost?

We explore:

  • Does transhumanism undermine human equality?
  • Are we dividing society into the “enhanced” and the “natural”?
  • Is the pursuit of immortality driven by fear of death?
  • When does enhancement become eugenics?
  • Can AI and biotechnology coexist with human dignity?
  • Is the desire to eliminate suffering leading us toward eliminating the sufferer?

As history has shown, whenever human worth is tied to capacity such as intelligence, strength, and productivity, equality collapses. If some humans are “upgradeable,” are others expendable?

This conversation dives deep into the philosophical, moral, and political implications of transhumanism and asks whether we are quietly waging a war on human equality in the name of progress.

Episode Outline

00:00:00 Bioethics Babe Podcast: Welcome and Introducing Wesley Smith

00:02:32 Defining Human Exceptionalism and Its Moral Significance

00:05:00 Wesley Smith’s Alarm: The Dangers of Transhumanist Ideology

00:07:40 Transhumanism: Fringe Futurism or Serious Cultural Influence?

00:12:16 What is Transhumanism? The Quest for a Post-Human Future

00:15:27 The Role of AI in Transhumanism and the Absence of Love

00:19:03 Transhumanism: Existential Anxiety and the Quest for Immortality

00:26:19 The Danger of Eliminating Suffering at All Costs

00:29:14 Transhumanist Views on Life, Death, and Human Mortality

00:36:54 Embracing Limits, Cognitive Enhancement, and Conflicting Faith Views

00:42:11 Neuralink: Therapeutic Medicine or Merging Humans with Machines?

00:45:12 The Eugenic Risks of Dividing Enhanced and Natural Humans

00:51:10 The Moral Concerns of Manufacturing Future Generations

00:58:27 Distinguishing Neutral Tools from Deeper Philosophical Expressions

01:03:21 The Wild West of Biotech: The Need for Ethical Oversight

01:06:16 Utopian Thinking, Moral Worth, and Historical Lessons

01:11:41 How Surveillance and AI Threaten Fundamental Human Rights

01:19:25 Transhumanist Values Reflected in the Transgender Movement

01:22:25 Why Individual Desire Must Be Balanced with Self-Restraint

01:28:20 The Importance of an Informed Moral Framework for Human Rights

01:31:13 Ethical Innovation and a Vision for Human Flourishing

01:36:43 Embracing Humanity: Key Takeaways on Transhumanism

About Our Guest

Wesley J. Smith

Chair and Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism

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