In an ancient Greek mythic story, the renowned craftsman Daedalus and his son Icarus found themselves trapped in a tower by King Minos. The ingenious Daedalus, however, took wax and bird feathers and used them to fashions wings with which to escape. He taught his boy to fly, but warned him not to fly too close to the sun. Together they took to the air and escaped from Crete, but Icarus soared so high that the sun melted his wings, and into the sea he fell. Icarus died, but for one brief moment he had become more than human. With the extensions of wings on his human body, Icarus soared higher than the gods of Olympus.

Transhumanists believe that in the not so distant future humans will be able to use science and technology to dramatically enhance themselves, to such a degree, in fact, that an enhanced human being will warrant the use of the label “transhuman” to distinguish them from someone who is unenhanced. Opinions vary within the movement, so while some transhumanists believe that those who are enhanced and those who are unenhanced will peacefully coexist, others expect the transformation to be so dramatic that they speak of a “post-human world.” The extent of the transformation of humanity and the timeframe in which this will take place is debated, but the transhumanists all agree that new technologies will open up many new and exciting possibilities for the human race.

Transhumanism comes in several different flavors and is divided into several different groups, such as the Extropians and the World Transhumanist Association. Eusocialism is another one of these variants and has its own unique emphases and organization, being particularly influenced by ideas drawn from social biology and religion. Based on these influences, the focus of eusocialism is upon developing a social network involving friendship and cooperation that both personally benefits those who are involved at the same time that it collectively makes a contribution to the wider process of humans becoming more than human.

The word “transhumanism” is relatively new, as are all the groups which apply it to themselves, but ultimately transhumanism has very deep roots. Indeed, transhumanism is a longing as ancient as days. It is a universal manifestation experienced by humans of every race, every culture, in every time period of human existence. Every human being has experienced suffering. Every human being has struggled. Every human being has encountered the limitations of their world. And many if not most of the members of the human race have at some point or another dreamed of transcending those limitations.

Whether manifested in the form of a story about a man who rises from the dead or in the form of a graphic novel about a teenager who gets bitten by a spider and gains superpowers, the dream of rising above the barriers that confine humanity, the restrictions which trap them on the earth and prevent them from rising to the stars, has filled the hearts of humans from every age with the determination to fight against these barriers:

“One day, one day,” they say, “we will triumph, we will transcend. Rising above the earth and flying with the angels in the heavens, that is where we wish to be, that is our destiny!”

And whether it is Olympic athletes striving to set new world records, medical researchers working to extend the human lifespan, or NASA putting men on the moon, the quest to transcend normal human experiences and push humanity to new heights is universal. And whether it is referred to as transhumanism, self-improvement, science, or something else, the pursuit of a higher world is a human yearning which cannot be suppressed. If the story of Daedalus and Icarus also contains within it a warning about the perils of trying to become more than human, it is a journey we will attempt anyway, for to be human is to desire to be more than such!