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What is transhumanism? Thanks for asking!

Transhumanism is all about improving the human condition by enhancing our intellect and physiology. 

From 2021, billionaire Elon Musk is planning to test brain implants on human beings. With his Neuralink device, he is looking to create an interface to treat and enhance our brains. So is the merging of man and machine just around the corner?

The transhumanist movement advocates surpassing our biological limits through technology. That means using tools such as implants or chips to cure illnesses, improve performance and even prevent death. And humans have been dreaming of immortality since time began. Transhumanism is a bit like the digital version of the fountain of youth or the philosopher’s stone.

But this time around, it’s not a fantasy - are we really are going to become transhumans?

Elon Musk, head of Tesla and Starlink, believes strongly in transhumanism. His Neuralink project promises to create a neural interface which cures epilepsy or Parkinson’s. With time, the aim is to allow our brains to communicate directly with computers.

In late August, he introduced a pig called Gertrude at a press demo. The Neuralink brain-machine interface was implanted in her brain, with her brain signals analysed by a computer which could predict her movements. Musk used the occasion to announce that American health authorities had given permission for similar tests on humans to begin in 2021.

But beyond PR and marketing, the reality is that Musk himself hasn’t really invented anything. Such techniques have been around for years. One of the first examples dates back to 2006, when scientists helped Matthew Nagle, a young paralysed man, to control a mouse cursor using a chip in his brain! Since then, mind-controlled prosthetic arms and hands have also been developed, sometimes without the need for a brain implant. Thanks to these transhuman inventions, scientists hope to make blind people see again and help paralysed people to walk.

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