Religion and the Technological Future: An Introduction to Biohacking, Artificial Intelligence, and Transhumanism

Product Description \nWe live in an age of rapid technological advancement. Never before has humankind wielded so much power over our own biology. Biohacking, the attempt at human enhancement of physical, cognitive, affective, moral, and spiritual traits, has become a global phenomenon. This textbook introduces religious and ethical implications of biohacking, artificial intelligence, and other technological changes, offering perspectives from monotheistic and karmic religions and applied ethics. These technological breakthroughs are transforming our societies and ourselves fundamentally via genetic modification, tissue engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, the merging of computer technology with human biology, extended reality, brain stimulation, and nanotechnology. The book also considers the extreme possibilities of mind uploading, cryonics, and superintelligence. Chapters explore some of the political, economic, sociological, and psychological dimensions of these advances, with bibliographies for further study and questions for discussion. The technological future is here – and it is up to us to decide its moral and religious shape.\nReview
“It is vital that we begin to analyze these difficult questions before, not after, they become reality.” (Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College, USA, and author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?)
“Human yearning to prevent morbidity and mortality is so intense that we mostly put it out of our minds, in any way that works―including religion, for some people. But this is just one of many ways to relate to our future and our, and higher powers’, control over it. This outstanding textbook comprehensively surveys the ecosystem of such thinking. Whatever your stance on these issues, you'll find extensive food for thought here.” (Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer, SENS Research Foundation)
“Mercer and Trothen have laid down the intellectual infrastructure to enable theology to make a smooth transition into the transhuman future. And precisely because the book is firmly grounded in the religious world-view, it should also prove attractive to secular ethicists who approach their topic from a deep metaphysical perspective that wonders how the ongoing developments in science and technology are transforming what it means to be 'human.'” (Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, UK, and author of Humanity 2.0)
“Like a weather reporter daily checking our atmospheric pressure, for nearly two decades Mercer and Trothen have been monitoring biohacking at the frontier of the human and the posthuman. They forecast a coming storm of theological and ethical conundrums. Religion and the Technological Future tells us how to ready ourselves for the storm.” (Ted Peters, Co-editor of Theology and Science and Distinguished Research Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics, Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Graduate Theological Union, USA) “
Religion and the Technological Future is the first comprehensive and deeply-considered textbook on the intersection of religious thought and twenty-first century technology. It's lively prose brings to life the intellectual, political, and ethical debates that frame our progress into the next stage of human culture. Mercer and Trothen take their years of leadership in the study of radical enhancement and transform that into a textbook that will inspire thoughtful engagement from students, scholars, and the general public.” (Robert M Geraci, Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College, and author of Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality)
“This timely textbook provides a valuable overview of the profound challenges and potential benefits that contemporary technology poses to humanity. Written by pioneering scholars in the field of religion and technoscience, this book introduces