Transhumanist Wager, The by Zoltan Istvan Read Free Book Online Page B

National Association of Health to
repeal the rules it has made, or to freely dole out money for transhuman
scientists and their research. Government is an important player in this,
regardless of how you feel about it.”
    Over the last decade, the National
Association of Health—or NAH, the U.S. Government’s health arm—single-handedly
squashed most public funding for transhumanism and experimental life extension
ideas. But far worse, it also imposed esoteric laws passed by Congress that
forbade testing of many of those ideas in the private sector. The industries of
cryonics, cloning, stem cells, genetic alteration, and human enhancement were
drowning, half dead in the water. A rogue group of right-wing politicians,
those who considered Sunday church a central part of their existence, pieced
together the new anti-transhumanism research laws—largely under the radar of
the public. They became caveats of larger political agendas, as the country
withdrew into a deep, enduring economic slowdown. One year it was to limit the
stem cell strains to five variations. The next year it was to retract millions
of dollars of government funding for cryonics until more ethics reports were
completed on the subject. The following year a massive government institute,
the Fountain Center, which focused on downloading consciousness into
computers—the pinnacle of neurotech—was shut down indefinitely.
    Politicians said the institute and
its programs were of no immediate help to the public, despite its being the
world leader in the neurotechnology field. Eighteen months later, the institute
was remodeled into a development center to care for American children with
severe autism. The lead senator who pushed the bill through told the press how
proud he was to create 318 jobs at the new autism institute. He failed to
mention that an independent study group believed the Fountain Center’s research
and technology, if allowed to develop over the next quarter century, would
eventually spawn over 500,000 new high-paying jobs by utterly transforming the
field of neuroscience—let alone what benefits it might have brought to many
millions of people and their brains.
    Scientists cried wolf and lobbied
against the NAH’s anti-transhumanist ways. But amongst the deteriorating
economic conditions around the nation, the public shrugged. It was easier to
worry about discount superstore yellow-tag specials, what new free voucher the
government was issuing, and which married Hollywood star might be having an
affair. The brazen television behemoth IMN wouldn’t even comment on the cutbacks
or new anti-transhumanism laws. It was their method of contributing to the
decline of ideas that were in opposition to conservative politics and what
their leading news anchor famously trumpeted “the very smart word of the
Bible.”
    The damn 2,000-year-old Bible, Dr.
Cohen thought with absurdity, remembering the anchor's popular words;
meanwhile, he watched Preston Langmore try to talk sense into the President and
the crowd in the rotunda. Cohen already knew the town hall forum wasn't going
to make any difference at all. The scientist closed his eyes and rubbed his
temples, wondering if anyone could win over these people, if anyone could make
the struggling tide of transhumanism wash over the ignorance and fear, and
bring about a new world.
    Then, abruptly, a voice shot out
and filled the entire building, bouncing off the thick century-old walls. A
voice not called upon to speak, but booming, baritone, and sharp—without a hint
of respect for its listeners, or pretense of it. It came from the far end of the
hall and set a strained silence upon the rotunda. People turned their heads to
see who it was.
    “Are all the politicians here
totally insane? Or just plain stupid?” the voice asked loudly. “Or maybe just
cowards? Trying to patch the NAH to work is a waste of time. What you need to
do is abolish the NAH—just totally get rid of it. And let scientists do