Transhumanism, Egotism and Mindfulness Practices

 

Figure 1. Retrieved From CNBC article link below.

In Melissa Gregg's Counterproductive Book, Gregg talks about challenging the corporate interest to that of the collective. Collective being the social world and challenging the ways in how we can increase productivity by doing what's best for the corporate leaders, but corporate leaders looking out for those who serve them. Gregg states that “we urgently need political visions that celebrate practices of selflessness and care to challenge the embedded egotism of enterprise-serving job norms and pervasive industry myopia” (Gregg, 2018, p.133).

Gregg is essentially arguing mindfulness practices help workers find purpose and repair that importance in believing in what one does and will do for the self. However, the focus on transhumanism ultimately strips people of this as Silicon Valley and its tech giant leaders like Musk think brain implants can help resolve these emotional issues and can help amplify the human condition in all aspects of life, especially mindfulness practices. While mindful practices create separation from feelings of anxiety, many fear tech companies will distort that feeling of knowing when their brain is taking a break or not.

Questions for the class:

1. In the article, Megan Sauer highlights a quote from Elon Musk arguing that “Our memories are stored in our phones and computers with pictures and video” Sauer, 2022, p.1).

From this quote alone, Musk believes amplification of the human ability is vital for the evolution of our species. What are your thoughts on transhumanism? Do you think the technological ideology surrounding Silicon Valley and its idea to amplify the human ability has gone too far or is this something you find to be inevitable?

2. Concerning Melissa Gregg and mindfulness labour, Gregg argues much of our life is controlled by social obligations, do you think technology is a threat to mindful practices? What does it mean to be human if so?

References

Gregg, M. (2018). Counterproductive: Time Management in the Knowledge Economy. New York, USA: Duke University Press. p.103-142. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478002390

Sauer, M. (2022, April 9). Elon Musk says humans could eventually download their brains into robots - and Grimes thinks Jeff Bezos would do it. CNBC. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/08/elon-musk-humans-could-eventually-download-their-brains-into-robots.html