Rhetoric of Risk

Abstract

Some individuals can’t bear the thought of a transhuman future. They can’t see a place for themselves among the transcended and transformed. Nor can they see transhumanity supporting their beliefs and values. They feel an anticipatory anomie—an expectation of being displaced from a changing culture and society. The possibility of physical harm, the type of risk that comes quickest to mind, is not a primary consideration. In other words, absent personal risk they still would oppose transhumanity. Others can’t bear the thought of a future without transhumanity. Their hope for self-transformation is kept alive by this prospect. It would be better if risks were low, but they would accept elevated risks in light of expected rich returns.