El Transhumanisme Sota La Lupa Francesc Torralba, Coordinador Conferències Curs 2017-2018

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El Transhumanisme Sota La Lupa Francesc Torralba, Coordinador Conferències Curs 2017-2018 El Transhumanisme sota la lupa Francesc Torralba, coordinador Conferències curs 2017-2018 T E H E M O C R L U B O F BARCELONA Francesc Torralba Roselló és filòsof i teòleg. Neix a Barcelona el 15 de maig de 1967. Casat i pare de 5 fills. Doctor en Filosofia per la Universitat de Barcelona (1992). Doctor en Teologia per la Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya (1997). Doctor en Pedagogia per la Universitat Ramon Llull (2018). Amplia estudis a les Universitats de Copenhaguen i Berlín. En l’actualitat és catedràtic acreditat a la Universitat Ramon Llull, i imparteix cursos i seminaris en altres universitats d’Espanya i d’Amèrica. Alterna la seva activitat docent amb l’ofici d’escriure, i divulgar el seu pensament. Francesc Torralba és un autor prolífic, amb més de 1.500 articles i 100 llibres publicats dels quals destaquem: "El sentit de la vida" (2008), Biblioteca Francesc Torralba dedicada a valors amb títols com "La Tendresa", "La Paciència" o "L'Amistat", (2008), "Inteligencia Espiritual" (2010), "Jesucrist 2.0" (2011), "El valor de tenir valors" (2012), "Un mar d'e- mocions" (2013), "Córrer per pensar i sentir" (2015), "Saber dir no" (2016) i "La vida secreta de la pregària" (2017). Part de la seva obra ha estat traduïda al castellà, l'a- lemany, el francès, l'italià, el portuguès, el romanès i l'anglès. ament. EL TRANSHUMANISME SOTA LA LUPA Conferències curs 2017-2018 Amb la col.laboració de: Disseny i impressió: Vanguard Gràfic, SA ÍNDEX Introducción, de Jaime Lanaspa . 5 ¿De què parlem quan parlem de transhumanisme?, de Francesc Torralba . 9 Transhumanistas versus bioconservadores, de Emilio Muñoz . 43 Al segle XXI, l’avenç tecnològic ha d’anar acompanyat de decisions col.lectives sobre el seu objectiu i conseqüències, de Lluís Torner . 101 Transhumanismo: arquetipo, mímesis y mejora, de Begoña Román . 117 Deporte y transhumanismo: atletas, máquinas y cyborgs (Hacia una maratónica posthumanista), de Conrad Vilanou . 137 Capacidades humanas aumentadas, de Albert Cortina . 201 El perfeccionament genètic de l’espècie: expectatives i realitats, de Salvador Macip . 231 Transhumanismo, de Mateo Valero . 249 Longevidad indefinida: Sueño o pesadilla?, de Margarita Bofarull . 263 Consecuencias sociales del transhumanismo, de José Félix Tezanos . 273 Consecuencias económicas del transhumanismo, de Alfredo Pastor . 303 Del espejismo actual al desafio posthumanista, de Miquel Casas . 317 La singularidad de la condición humana, de Urbano Ferrer . 337 ¿Qué alternativas existen al transhumanismo?, de Elena Postigo . 353 ¿Hay alternativa al culto a la técnica en nuestra sociedad?, de Albert Florensa . 367 INTRODUCCIÓN Jaime Lanaspa A mediados de 2016, desde la Oficina del Club de Roma en Barcelona constatamos que, frente a la emergencia de una nueva ideología “mesiánica”, el transhumanismo, apenas había debate en nuestro país. A diferencia de lo ocurrido en otros paí- ses, especialmente los anglosajones, la cuestión apenas ocu- paba ni preocupaba en nuestra sociedad, en la que eran prác- ticamente inexistentes las polémicas entre “transhumanistas” y “bioconservadores”, apasionadas y apasionantes en otras lati- tudes. Por ello, organizamos una mesa redonda transdiciplinar, en noviembre de 2016, con un título conscientemente provocativo: “Transhumanismo e Inmortalidad: ¿Sueño o Pesadilla?”. En ella participaron, desde su propio ámbito del saber, Miquel Casas, Armand Puig, Luis Serrano, Francesc Torralba y Mateo Valero. El resultado de la mesa redonda superó nuestras expectativas, tanto por el interés suscitado, como por la profundidad de las cuestiones abordadas y los interrogantes que se alumbraron. Por ello, nos conjuramos con Francesc Torralba para organizar un ciclo completo, bajo su coordinación, en que se abordaran exhaustivamente los diferentes aspectos del tema. La iniciativa se concretó en las once sesiones que se llevaron a cabo, con precisión “germánica”, entre octubre de 2017 y mayo de 2018, cuyo contenido es el objeto de esta publicación. En definitiva, se trataba, bajo el título genérico “El transhuma- nismo bajo la lupa”, de analizar a fondo esta nueva ideología, 5 cuya pretensión, sin demasiada fundamentación teórico-filosó- fica, es la mejora ilimitada de la especie humana, incluida la superación de su “atávica” condición mortal. La utilización conjunta, y sin ningún tipo de restricción, de las “NBIC” (nano- tecnología, biotecnología, informática y ciencias cognitivas) permitirá “construir” una especie mejorada, la transhumana, más sana, más inteligente y liberada de todas las enfermeda- des, incluida la muerte. A lo largo de las diferentes sesiones se han puesto de mani- fiesto multitud de interrogantes, como puede constatarse a la vista del texto. Algunos tienen que ver con “la condición huma- na” y su naturaleza: “¿Hay límites para su “mejora”? ¿Generará ésta más felicidad, más dignidad, mayores grados de libertad? Otras cuestiones son de naturaleza socio-política, especial- mente, quién decide, con qué nivel de control ético y demo- crático y con qué grado de universalidad (o, ¿tendremos que resignarnos a la sumisión de los seres humanos respecto a la minoría de nuevos “superhombres”, hijos del control genético y de la inteligencia artificial?). También se suscitaron interro- gantes filosóficos: ¿Es “lícito” cambiar, de manera irreversible, la especie humana, tenemos derecho a “diseñar” una nueva estirpe? Y, nuevamente, ¿quién estaría legitimado para tomar las decisiones?, ¿con qué finalidad? En cualquier caso, el hecho relevante es que los actuales pro- tagonistas del movimiento transhumanista y sus posibles apli- caciones (grandes multinaciones americanas, especialmente Google, y la China) no rinden cuentas a nadie. Aunque parezca aventurado afirmarlo, es de temer que la “pausa ética” autoim- puesta que propugnan los científicos más responsables no lle- gue nunca a concretarse, y que amanezcamos algún día no muy lejano con la noticia de la primera clonación humana. 6 A diferencia de otros grandes retos que afectan a la humani- dad, como la desigualdad o el cambio climático, en el caso de movimiento transhumanista no hay, ni conciencia universal de su existencia y posibles implicaciones, ni decisión colectiva e informada por parte de los ciudadanos. Una vez más, hemos de poner nuestra esperanza en Europa, en la firmeza de sus valores, y en su capacidad de promover una adecuada Gober- nanza Global. Llegados a este punto, únicamente resta reiterar la gratitud del Club de Roma al Director del ciclo, Francesc Torralba, por impulsar y coordinar eficazmente este ambicioso proyecto, y a todos los ponentes, por su saber, su rigor, y su manifiesta generosidad. 7 8 ¿DE QUÈ PARLEM QUAN PARLEM DE TRANSHUMANISME? Francesc Torralba 1. Un moviment emergent: el transhumanisme Des del transhumanisme es proposa un canvi de la naturalesa humana mitjançant el seu millorament biotecnològic i, d’aques- ta manera, es pretén accelerar i dirigir el procés evolutiu humà envers un horitzó dibuixat de bell antuvi. Les primeres manifestacions d’aquest corrent de pensament es remunten a la dècada dels vuitanta del segle passat, enca- ra que, com veurem, el terme ja fou emprat, en 1966, per F. M. Sfandiary (1930-2000) quan ensenyava a la New School of Social Research de Nova York. També trobem l’ús del vocable en l’obra d’Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), Towards a Psycho- logy of Being (1968) i en la de Robert Ettinger (1918-2011), Man into Superman (1972). En el nucli de la qüestió s’hi entreveu un ventall de temàtiques molt difícils de dilucidar a priori: ¿Què significa naturalesa humana? ¿Quins són els límits de la millora de condició huma- na? ¿Què vol dir, pròpiament, millorar una persona? En aquest debat hi entren qüestions tan apassionants com el valor del cos, la ductilitat de la carn, la identitat personal i la lli- bertat de l’ésser humà, així com la relació entre cos i ment i la diferència substantiva entre l’ésser humà i l’artefacte tècnic, però també s’hi entrecreuen qüestions d’ordre polític, jurídic i, fins i tot, teològic. 9 Com escriu Robin Hanson (1959), el transhumanisme és un moviment segons el qual les noves tecnologies canviaran, pro- bablement, el món en el proper segle i en els següents, fins a tal punt que els nostres descendents ja no seran, en molts aspectes, éssers humans com nosaltres. Seran, més aviat, éssers transhumans i, fins i tot, éssers posthumans, però, en qualsevol cas, postdarwnians. El transhumanisme es nodreix intel·lectualment del darwinisme clàssic, però sensiblement transformat, perquè Charles Darwin (1809-1882) en L’origen de les espècies (1859), no va imaginar mai que l’ésser humà pogués arribar a esdevenir l’artífex de l’e- volució, la causa eficient dels canvis evolutius del futur. Els pensadors transhumanistes consideren, en canvi, que l’ésser humà no solament és la resultant d’un procés evolutiu de milions d’anys, sinó que, en virtut de la seva intel·ligència, és capaç de dotar-lo d’una orientació, en definitiva, d’una teleolo- gia immanent. El punt omega de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), tal com l’interpreten els ideòlegs d’aquest movi- ment, no és la cristificació del món, com l’havia imaginada el poeta, paleontòleg i jesuïta francès en El fenomen humà, sinó l’adveniment del posthumà, un ésser que ha vençut, mitjançant les biotecnologies, la finitud. Si pouem en la història del concepte, en allò que els filòsofs alemanys en diuen la Begriffsgeschichte, cal dir que la primera referència del mot transhumanisme deriva del verb s que empra Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) en la Divina Co mèdia1. Segons el poeta italià, transhumanar és la fita última de la condició huma- na. Es refereix a una experiència que no es pot expressar mit- jançant paraules (per verba non si porià). L’ésser humà és ele- 1. Cf. DANTE ALIGHIERI, Paradiso, I, 70-73: “Trasumanar significar per verba/ non si porià; pero l’esemplio basti/ a cui esperienza grazia serba”. 10 vat mitjançant la gràcia de Déu a la plena realització del seu ésser, a la seva total plenitud a través de l’acció amorosa de Déu sobre la persona.
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