To Be a Machine is a critical inquiry into transhumanism, the movement towards overcoming our biological selves to gain eternal life. O'Connell makes his skepticism clear, not so much as to the plausibility of the achievement, but the motives of those who most want to accomplish it. He often posits transhumanism in religious terms, a religion in which the followers are more or less their own gods, or more broadly adherents of science that will cure their human condition. Transhumanism aside, O'Connell raises compelling questions as to what it means to be human, to be mortal and to be a believer of any stripe.

TO BE A MACHINE

Writer Mark O’Connell offers readers an intimate peek into the broad movement in his book To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death.

For the uninitiated, O’Connell describes transhumanism as “a movement predicated on the conviction that we can and should use technology to control the future evolution of our species.” In this sense, it is merely the logical next step in the continuing progress of applied science. After all, we already use any number of technologies to augment our capabilities, from the way we have outsourced our memories thanks to the ubiquity of Internet search to the any number of cutting edge medical treatments that have drastically reduced mortality rates.

What is surprising, however, is the amount of support such a movement has behind it, whether at the grassroots level or by much larger government entities and business conglomerates. This is principally what O’Connell explores in To Be a Machine. Furthermore, he unearths the varied interests of those involved in pushing a transhumanist agenda, from those keen on pushing the boundaries of human capability to those concerned about preventing “judgment day” should a technological singularity take place. As such, O’Connell is able to articulate what transhumanism is about in a much more nuanced fashion thus:

A broad definition: transhumanism is a liberation movement advocating nothing less than a total emancipation from biology itself. There is another way of looking at this, an equal and opposite interpretation, which is that this apparent liberation would in reality be nothing less than a final and total enslavement to technology.

O’Connell introduces readers to the proponents working for (or as the case may be, against) both extremes of the pendulum, as well as the many gradations in between. There are the scientists working to extend human life, as well as those trying to overcome death through cryogenics or similar means. There are those who seek to augment the human body with implanted electronics, as well as those attempting to build robots whose capabilities can rival those of people (supported by agencies such as DARPA, no less). One individual whom O’Connell profiles even sought to run for President of the United States of America purely on a transhumanist platform by driving what looked like a giant coffin across the country (obviously, he didn’t make the ballot). Others even speak of transhumanism itself in much more cult-like terms as if it were itself a religion.

It goes without saying that To Be a Machine is a little wild and a little weird, which is part of its charm. It’s fascinating to read about people working in and around the nexus of where science fiction becomes science fact–and maybe even vice versa. O’Connell makes for an adept observer in this regard, adopting an outsider’s perspective and thereby asking the kind of questions that anyone on the outside looking would likely do. In that respect, he achieves what anyone writing a book of this kind would hope to for his readership: inform and entertain.

However, if there is a missed opportunity in To Be a Machine, it is this: if the book were to be likened to a film, it’s more like the commentary track instead of the film itself. O’Connell’s writes as if taking readers along his journey to delve deeper into the transhumanist movement as it happens, complete with his own opinions and parenthetical asides when he sees fit. His admitted skepticism, while appropriate, invariably colors his commentary. Hence, rather than allow readers to come to their own conclusions about transhumanism, it’s plain for readers to see in what direction O’Connell wishes to take them. What else would one expect from a skeptic’s foray into the subject?

Indeed, it’s enough to make one wonder why O’Connell didn’t instead write about transhumanism rooted in sound science so as to distinguish it from the kooks and loons who also identify with the movement–unless, of course, the whole point is that the two are impossible to take apart anymore.

All things considered, the question that O’Connell leaves unasked is, “Why?” Whats the point of so many people devoting so much time to doing things like finding a way to develop sophisticated artificial intelligence that can more than a Turing test, or designing implants meant to record all sorts of biological data (while also allowing to you unlock your car doors with a wave of your hand). In a bit of levity while observing a DARPA competition to design better army robots, O’Connell quips that he has seen “thousands of the world’s smartest people were spending their days using the world’s most sophisticated technology to build something that would destroy us all.” Though humorous, it’s a thought that should give us pause.

By focusing on transhumanism, To Be a Machine inevitably focuses on colorful individuals spending all their energies “solving death” or “extending life” rather than living the lives they have to the fullest and appreciating life for what it is: imperfect and finite. One wonders whether any of them will feel that the trade off was worth it in the end.

In a world where the growth of technology is exponential, the span of time between science fiction and science fact becomes increasingly shorter. Things that seem like the height of speculative fantasy become commonplace in just a generation or two.

That rapid expansion of scientific capability has led to the development of a subculture devoted to accelerating human evolution – and ultimately conquering death itself - through technological means. These people, with varied ideas and attitudes regarding what that acceleration means, are loosely grouped under the umbrella term “transhumanism.”

Journalist Mark O’Connell spent some time with assorted members of this movement; the result is his new book “To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death.” Through encounters with people that run the gamut – from Silicon Valley billionaires to basement-dwelling hackers – O’Connell discovers the wide array of motivations that drive this unique (and often strange) group.

Much of the book revolves around the notion of the Singularity. The term - coined by mathematician and physicist John von Neumann in the 1950s and popularized in recent years by the futurist Ray Kurzweil – represents the hypothesis that the development of artificial intelligence springing from scientific acceleration will trigger a technological explosion far beyond anything that we can currently comprehend.

Those who believe in the inevitability of the Singularity can go to drastic (and drastically different) lengths to prepare for it. But all share some variation on a particular belief – that the human body is a machine, one which technology will someday allow us to move beyond. And almost all of them truly believe that their path can lead them in escaping death itself.

There’s the Alcor cryonics facility in Arizona, for instance. Alcor – perhaps best known as the final resting place of baseball legend Ted Williams – believes that they are capable of freezing a person in a state between life and death, preserving them until such time as science has determined a way to bring them back. O’Connell also speaks to people who have devoted their life’s work to the notion of mapping the human brain to such a detailed extent as to be able to digitally replicate a person’s consciousness.

O’Connell meets with people devoted to preparing for the worst-case-scenario of artificial intelligence, believing AI to be a potentially existential threat to humanity, and young self-styled “biohackers” whose rough-and-ready work is based around turning themselves into literal cyborgs.

To each of these encounters, O’Connell brings a keen and empathetic journalistic eye that conflicts nicely with his personal distaste for the concepts being presented. That’s not to say that he’s judging these people. He’s not. Quite the opposite – his interest, engagement and even admiration for their passion comes through.

Essentially, he allows his own feelings about what it means to be human to help balance the singular zeal presented by the people he dubs (not without affection) “Singularitarians.” That balance turns something that could have been fairly dry into a compelling narrative, one populated with outsized characters who are brilliant, eccentric or – most often – both.

“To Be a Machine” is flat-out fascinating. O’Connell’s journey is a layman’s adventure through the technological looking glass, an opportunity to meet with a subculture existing on the fringes of the tech scene and a compelling peek at one possible future. Sharply-written and thought-provoking, “To Be a Machine” is a book that will undoubtedly set your mind to racing and your gears to turning.

A fascinating look at transhumanism told with introspection and mirth.