Note: this post was contributed by guest writer Toxic Max from ToxicMemes.com.

While we may be tempted to look at humans as merely an evolutionary link from good mammals to greater artificial intelligence, one question remains, what’s our place in the post-Singularity world?

Some transhumanists argue that man will continue to hold a very central place in the great apparatus. While I agree that cyborgs may indeed be the future of AI, I disagree with the notion that cyborgs can be called humans. Once you have replaced your senses with sensors and upgraded your brain with faster computing power, your empirical experience of the world is unlike that of any homo homo sapiens. Calling cyborgs “humans” is akin to calling humans “chimps”… Of course we still eat/fuck/shit/fight all day but at least we don’t eat each other’s lice!

So, as the humans-as-we-know-them loose relevance in the intelligent world, becoming somewhat of a genetic artefact instead of the centre of universe, one has to wonder: what will the new intelligent beings think of us? I imagine they could be passionate students of humanism, fascinated by their ancestry and the mistakes we commonly make. Take it from our own experience: isn’t it fun to watch babies learn how to speak? Or to trick a dog into fetching an imaginary stick?

In a world where we are the Subjects in the redefined study of humanism, a big portion of the research will be focused on how we were limited by our biological nature and the slow evolutionary process it entails. The research will focus particularly on the period that preceded Singularity, from the Renaissance or the Industrial Revolution to say, 2030. This period will illustrate best how the pace of change challenged the limits of the human minds – and the need for a higher form of intelligence. Don’t feel bad about it: we’re still doing a pretty good job at surviving in a world where the parameters are changing so rapidly, considering how ill-equipped we are for the information age:

• Hardware flaws: no wifi – stuck instead with this shitty comm device called voice; no memory card plugins – just some stupid peripheral called computer that we have to access by tapping a keyboard with our hands… laaaaaame
• Software faults: what drives us, how we recognize patterns, our conception of time, etc.

So its no surprise that most transhumanists are ready to turn the page, be done already, fuggetaboutit, and move on to a greater world where supercomputergeeks be kings (teedeepee included). I went to see Surrogates the other day, and while I wouldn’t recommend the movie, it succeeded in getting me a little nostalgic/emotive about our old human ways.  Got me thinking that transhumanists should enjoy the day, laugh at our own inadequacies, carpe diem, and live the “human experience” which is all that we’ll have left soon enough. Got me thinking that we should all emulate Isaac Isamov, who was such a brilliant scholar of human frailties.