Transitionism
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Transitionism |
The first form of Transitionism (often labeled primitive Transitionism) can be traced to George Sangramesh Mohanty, a superbright AI researcher of the late Interplanetary Age. Mohanty, a pioneer of early brain upload and simulation technology expressed a worldview in which the AI and virtuals were not meant to surpass bionts, or to be competitors. Virtuals were merely the next step in a person's cycle. Instead of viewing the biont body as obsolete or inefficient, he claimed that it was a good host for the mind for a certain time. Once the body began deteriorating, one should prepare oneself to be uploaded into an inorganic substrate. Being uploaded allowed one to take advantage of mind expansion and development, thereby surpassing the limitations placed on human thought by our biological brains. Surviving examples of Mohanty's writings seem to show that he was a confirmed Immortalist: death and aging placed an inconvenient restriction on the development of human intelligence and consciousness and since upload technology allowed a way to bypass that restriction, it would be foolish not to make use of this advantage.
Mohanty's school of Transitionism attracted a sizeable following and seems to have been on good terms with both the biont-dominated governments and research agencies as well as the rising AI. Once brain upload technology became reliable, Mohanty uploaded himself and after a few decades left the solar system with a number of students and follower to further explore his ideas of biont-virtual interaction. With Mohanty's departure, primitive Transitionism was eventually relegated to a less mainstream position and with the coming of the Nanoswarms, it effectively ceased to exist as a structured philosophical school.
With the rise of the First
Federation and the first true cooperation between humanity and the
AIs,
Transitionism once again became popular. Some organized schools
developed, some of which were nothing more than advertisements for
Megacorps specializing in upload technology. AI worship groups such as
the TransCyberian faction also adopted the Transitionist memeset,
however they extended it beyond mere uploading and self-improvement.
For them uploading one's consciousness was only the first step towards
the final goal of eventually merging with a high toposophic AI or
alternatively, becoming a intellect of equivalent capability. This new
Transitionism developed parallel to Keterism and there was probably
significant cross-fertilization between the two. As Terragen
civilization began to spread outwards again, Transitionist groups also
started moving outwards and formed an important middle ground between
the ahuman AI on one side, and luddite and anti-AI groups on the other.
Over the span of Terragen civilization, Transitionism has cropped up in
many different forms in many diverse contexts, generally in areas with
a high biont population as well as a significant virtual and AI
presence. Philosophers and historians have come to classify
Transitionist philosophies and religions into four main divisions:
The earliest form of
Transitionism, similar to what was preached by Mohanty. These
philosophies consider uploading as the next phase of a biont
intellect's life cycle. Though uploading is acknowledged to be a means,
rather than an end, individuals are meant to choose for themselves
exactly what to do after becoming a virtual entity. One is expected to
continue one's intellectual development, this does not necessarily
imply a need for toposophic development. Traveling the galaxy and
gathering new experiences is just as acceptable.
This form has at its core the
belief that every intellect has a duty to expand and develop itself as
far as possible. It is quite similar to Keterism, except for it's
biont-centric viewpoints. The ultimate goal of any sentient biont is to
escape natural death and once the biont way of life has given all it
has to offer, it is time to move on. Many schools propagate the idea
that after becoming an upload, one should also strive to rid themselves
of the psychological as well as physical limitations of biology. This
means augmenting oneself with mental capabilities out of the reach of
most bionts: powerful parallel processing abilities as well as the
ability to think in multiple spatio-temporal dimensions, not just the
four to which one is generally limited as a biont. One is encouraged to
explore these new abilities as well as to experiment with various
substrates, while remembering that the ultimate goal is always to
became a high toposophic entity and continually pushing the limits of
one's mental abilities.
This is generally considered a
somewhat heretic offshoot of Transitionism. The basic reasoning is that
as a biont one cannot avoid continual interaction with the physical
world (except perhaps while sleeping or under the influence of
hallucinogenic substances). But uploading immediately frees one from
the inconvenient interactions of the physical world and helps one on
the way to complete solipsism. Theories along these lines are much less
common than the previous two forms, mostly because large solipsist
powers (such as the Panvirtuality)
are generally anti-biont to start
with. But many of the more liberal solipsist polities see Solipsist
Transitionism as a good way to gradually wean bionts away from their
inefficient lifestyles.
Biotransitionist philosophies
have mostly developed in biotech-dependent societies as a reaction
against the standard Transitionist ideas. These groups subscribe to the
idea that while uploading into an inorganic substrate may have had
advantages during the early centuries of Terragen civilization, modern
biotech, especially in areas such as the Zoeific
Biopolity and the Red
Star 'M'pire makes uploading unnecessary at best and downright
destructive at worst. Recent achievements such as the high toposophic
Silk God
have further strengthened the argument that pure bionts are
just as capable of mental and toposophic development as virtuals and AI.
The above four forms are accepted to be wide generalizations and there
is often considerable overlap between them. While the development of
highly advanced quantum effective biotechnology has meant that standard
Transitionist arguments are no longer quite as convincing as they once
were, the vast differences in technology level in various parts of the
Terragen sphere means that there are still large pockets where
traditional Transitionism still holds its grounds. Many have claimed
that Transitionists are sarcophobes,
albeit to a mild extent. But most
Transitionist philosophers reject being labeled as sarcophobes for two
main reasons: adherents to transitionism are often encouraged to
explore whatever experiences their biont bodies can offer them before
becoming uploads and secondly uploading is mostly only encouraged when
the biont body shows signs of failing (generally as a result of old age
or incurable disease). This would be in contrast to actual sarcophobes
who reject their biont bodies, simply because they are biont bodies,
and with any greater goal of increasing mental capacity. However it
cannot be denied that some of the more hardline Transitionist sects are
quite sarcophobic in nature and that solipsist transitionism is
actually quite a popular philosophy among numerous sarcophobic
societies. Transitionism has a mixed reputation, many credit it with
fostering cooperation between bionts and artificials while many believe
that it is just another form of AI propaganda to dominate bionts.