Before I go into my daring and epic escape, there are a few things that I need to explain to you, dear Reader. First, let me tell you what my ace in the hole is; so, you'll understand a little better when we get to the action. As you know, I have been trying to achieve Enlightenment by using many kinds of Magick and super science. If you've been paying attention, you'd notice that I've only mentioned the Magick side towards Enlightenment; up until now that is. Of course, you might be asking yourselves this question, dear Readers: 'What would be the scientific path towards Enlightenment be like?'
It is one of the unspoken duties of all scientists- both mad and mundane- to strive towards improving life, to try to unlock humanity's untapped potential, to essentially become more than our biological limitations; to become better than what we are now. That is what Enlightenment means to Super Scientists. Not perfection, mind you; simply better. To many scientists, perfection is considered an evolutionary dead-end, with no room for imagination, intelligence, ability, or improvement. Almost all the biggest names in the multiversal Super Scientists community have achieved this goal. Many used lab rats (not all of them being actual rats) before trying their preferred method on themselves, but it's the true Mad Scientists who skip testing and try it out on themselves (and survived) that are considered the rock stars of the community.
Naturally, no Super Scientist worth their lab coats would never call it 'Enlightenment.' Truth be told, there isn't one official designation for Enlightenment in the multiversal Super Science community; each member uses one term or another, depending on their field of expertise. I, for example, use two more popular phrases that are close to this higher state of being, if not similar: posthumanism and transhumanism. You may remember that I used the latter word when I talked about my philosophical beliefs. Or even earlier, at the No-Warehouse; when that cyberpunk, Shinji, mentioned both Transhumans and Posthumans.
Seeing that Sims is the authority of all things scientific and technological inside my noggin, I'll let him explain that part for me. I'll explain what posthumanism is afterwards. Sims, the floor is yours.
*About damn time, Al. Being the representative of this belief of yours, I've been looking forward to this one. *
Yeah, I know. You're immensely proud of that position. A position that you appointed to yourself, I might add.
*Ah, semantics. Okay, cretins, class is back in session. The lesson for today is about transhumanism and posthumanism; something near and dear to my metaphoric heart. Basically, the philosophies of both transhumanism and posthumanism share the same fundamental truth: the belief that the human condition can be expanded and that humans can become more than what they currently are now. However, both go different yet parallel paths: the philosophy transhumanism advocates, predicts and glorifies the physical enhancement of the human condition via the use of sophisticated technologies, such as cybernetic enhancements, nanotechnology, genetic engineering and splicing, cloning, the list goes on. Whereas the philosophy of posthumanism is about moving past the human condition, specifically its mental and spiritual aspects. It basically means that humanity must reconsider what is truly means to be human. For obvious reasons, I think transhumanism is the cooler of the two. Not just because of the awesome tech, of course, but also that transhumanism deals in the material, the concrete, whereas posthumanism deals in the theoretical, the abstract. Which is ironic, coming from a guy who only exists in another guy's mind. *
*As the self-appointed representative of Al's belief in transhumanism, I believe that transhumanism is the future of human evolution. 'Why, Oh Intelligent One,' you ask? Because, out of humanity's evolutionary and sociological development, one of the things that sets us apart from animals is the use and development of tools. Humans first started out with rocks and sticks, and now they use computers with processors the size of a fingernail or smaller. So, it's only logical that humanity should reach the point in its evolution where they become one with their tools and instruments. My only concern is that the corporations will try to hijack transhumanism for their own nefarious purposes, so they can turn the masses into corporate property. I don't care if they're long, read the Terms of Agreement before clicking 'I Accept', people! YOU MIGHT BE CLICKING AWAY YOUR FREEDOM!!! *
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The Double Cult Cha-Cha: An Al Squires of the Protectorate Story (Book 1)
FantasyIf you met ever met Al Squires, you'd never know that this eccentric, mercurial, irreverent, snarky, arrogant, occasionally accident prone, half-crazed (self proclaimed) genius son of a witch and mad scientist was a special secret agent. One that an...
