This blog post explores the impact of rapidly advancing science and technology on the human mind, analyzing the future and potential of technological humanism through Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Homo Deus’.
Rapid scientific and technological progress will bring a major revolution in the near future. Even the human ‘mind’, long considered an inviolable domain in science, will become manipulable through powerful chemical drugs, genetic engineering, and brain-computer interfaces. Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Homo Deus’ prophesies this future enabling such changes to the mind and describes a new religion called ‘technological humanism’. He argues that while this new future may initially appear like an upgrade of the mind, it actually risks downgrading humanity’s consciousness, revealing the inherent contradiction within techno-humanism. Reading the book, this argument seems plausible, yet it raises the question: can both an upgrade and a downgrade of the mind occur simultaneously? Will technological progress truly upgrade the human mind, or will it downgrade it? To state the conclusion upfront: future technology will thoroughly upgrade the human mind, and the contradictory situation feared by techno-humanism will not materialize. Before discussing this, let’s precisely analyze Yuval Noah Harari’s argument.
According to Yuval Noah Harari, current research on the human mind focuses on the ‘substandard’ realm of those suffering from mental illness, leaving us with little proper understanding of the healthy mind. Therefore, even if we acquire the technological capability to upgrade the mind, we might find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know what a normal human mind should be like. Harari predicts that as a result, advanced technology will only enhance the mental capacities required by current political and economic systems, while diminishing other abilities.
The first question that arises here is why ‘other abilities’ not required by the system would be diminished. Yuval Noah Harari attempts to resolve this question by citing examples like the diminished sense of smell in primitive humans, the heightened sensitivity of hunter-gatherers, and the reduced concentration of modern people. However, these are all examples from before technology could upgrade the mind. If drugs and technology can upgrade mental capabilities, there is no reason why we couldn’t restore the diminished sense of smell of primitive humans or the heightened sensitivity of hunter-gatherers. The reason modern humans lack these abilities is the absence of situations and leisure to develop them, but advanced technology will resolve this issue instantly.
Hearing this argument, Yuval Noah Harari might counter: “Why upgrade abilities unnecessary in our current lives?” However, in humanity’s future, the criteria for distinguishing necessary from unnecessary abilities will no longer rely solely on social systems as it does today. As Yuval Noah Harari prophesied in the opening of Homo Deus, the future brought by technology will see humanity living lives approaching immortality. In such circumstances, the relationship between humanity and society will unfold differently than it does now. According to Spinoza, the initial reason for the emergence of the state was for humanity to overcome misfortune through stability and order. Moreover, one major reason humanity formed states and societies was for the efficiency of production. In a life of near-immortality, ‘efficiency’ will no longer be considered a crucial value. Therefore, the decision-making power held by social systems will undoubtedly diminish compared to today, and mental abilities deemed unnecessary by the social system will not be disregarded if they hold meaning for the individual.
Yuval Noah Harari argues that the degradation of marginalized mental abilities during the upgrade process will ultimately lead to a downgrade of the mind. However, as previously considered, a situation where specific mental abilities are completely marginalized in future society is unlikely to occur. Rather, due to the diversity of mental abilities valued by individuals, humanity will experience the various mental states existing in the world and find its own optimal mental state. The current debate, also mentioned in ‘Homo Deus’, about whether animals should be respected and treated like humans can also be naturally resolved through mental upgrades.
Current human science and technology cannot determine whether animals think like humans. Advances in biotechnology allow us to know that animals feel physical pain, but physical pain functions merely as a means for organisms to detect danger. Whether animals suffer mental illness due to physical pain like humans do remains unproven. However, if future technology grants humanity the opportunity to experience the minds of animals, we will be able to clearly judge whether we should treat and respect them as we do humans.
Thus, the advent of future technology will not downgrade the human mind but rather upgrade it to levels previously unimaginable. By upgrading various mental capabilities, humanity will gain the ability to control itself without dependence on social systems. Moreover, by accurately understanding the minds of other creatures, we will become beings even more deserving of the title ‘lord of all creatures’ than we are today.
