The rise in reported cases of people being born with conditions on the Autism Spectrum indicate a possible evolutionary trait: a mutation that enhances the ability of the most powerful tool the human animal has – its mind. Instead of working toward a cure for ASD, we should be harnessing the collective power of these genius minds to fundamentally change our society. We need to evolve or die.

Travis James Leland, a science and science fiction writer with ties to IEET, Humanity + and Transhumanity.net, is conducting a short survey. This is an informal survey to determine if there is a higher rate of autistic behaviors among the transhumanist/H+/Singularitarian/futurist community.

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Why doesn’t everyone get excited about transhumanism? Why aren’t all people fascinated by augmented and virtual reality, radical life-extension, brain-uploading, and The Singularity? “The Casual Transhuman” examines H+ topics from the layman’s perspective and give suggestions on how transhumanists can spread their ideas without looking like crackpots to the world-at-large.

Transhumanists as a subculture, are a rather underrepresented group in the media. While we often get transhumanist ideals in films, television, etc., we rarely see someone on the screen that we can look up to as an ideal transhumanist.

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IEET Contributor Travis James Leland offers the first chapter of his current work-in-progress, about the world’s first posthuman being and how he impacts the world. In this selection, we meet Alpha and his online girlfriend, ‘Loo. They are attracted to each other online. Should they risk a meat-meeting?

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What does the word “post-human” actually mean? Of course, we’ll be merging with machines, but what’s the final product? Do we need focus? Is this worrisome?

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Is the Future already upon us, but we just don’t see it for what it is? We already have an augmented lifestyle, don’t we?

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One of the most difficult and polarizing concepts for my non-transhumanist friends to discuss is non-human personhood.  For those who haven’t kept up on it or need a refresher, here are the basics:

Let’s be real. The majority of transhumanists, scientists, astronomers, computer specialists, etc. became interested in their fields of study through their interest in science-fiction.  We know the story of how cellphones were designed with Star Trek‘s communicators in mind, as were tablet computers, ebooks, and other new technologies. That has all been well-documented and I’m relatively certain that it is not news to most of us.  Star Trek has been very influential in my life, guiding my thought processes in many areas, like physics, astronomy, quantum mechanics - even politics and economics.  Part 2 of the Casual Transhuman.

Why doesn’t everyone get excited about transhumanism? Why aren’t all people fascinated by augmented and virtual reality, radical life-extension, brain-uploading, and The Singularity? This essay is the first in a series of articles, entitled “The Casual Transhuman” - it will examine h+ topics from the layman’s perspective and give suggestions on how transhumanists can spread their ideas without looking like crackpots to the world-at-large.