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A Prophetic Seer Potentiating Us in the Present
Research Articles
A Prophetic Seer Potentiating Us in the Present
Research Articles
A Prophetic Seer Potentiating Us in the Present

Abstract

In his book Radical Evolution Joel Garreau functions as a prophet and a seer. In presenting a narrative of the future that includes an optimistic view of human nature, he warns that because of the GRIN technologies (genetics, robotics, information technology, and nanotechnology) the quickening evolution of “The Curve” is upon us and could well soon culminate in the mind‐boggling social change of “The Singularity.” Garreau considers three scenarios of the technological future: the Heaven Scenario, the Hell Scenario, and the Prevail Scenario. The third wins favor because the heavenly envisionment with its evolution of a superintelligent human who could engineer a species with a greatly extended lifespan is too blissful and the hellish prognostication with its destruction of the human species within the next quarter century is too pernicious. Just right is the middle‐of‐the‐road perspective of the Prevail‐Transcend depiction of the future. This third view is indeed more appropriate than the first two scenarios, but a more nuanced form of the third perspective—emphasizing similarly the role of human freedom and responsibility in continuing to reshape human nature but drinking less deeply of the transhumanist elixir and more deeply of a pantransentheistic potion—would constitute a more suitable vision of the future.

Keywords

robotics, The Curve, scenarios of the future, genetics, evolution, transhumanist, human nature, nanotechnology, possibilizing, The Singularity

How to Cite

Thompson, C., (2007) “A Prophetic Seer Potentiating Us in the Present”, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 42(4), 1009–1013. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2007.00886.x

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© 2024 The Author(s).

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Authors

Curtis L. Thompson (Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science)

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Issue

  • Volume 42 • Issue 4 • December 2007

Publication details

Pages 1009–1013
Published on 2007-12-02

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Identifiers

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2007.00886.x

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  • PDF: 36878172c3baf4b821353e47ee89f0a0
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