https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1si1.001
Neuro-Technical Enhancements and the Human Condition: A Critical Reading of Sarah Pinsker’s We Are Satellites
SONIA THOMAS
Assistant Professor
PG & Research Department of English
Mercy College, Palakkad
soniaresearch123@gmail.com
DR. SHEENA JOHN
Associate Professor and Head
PG & Research Department of English
Mercy College, Palakkad
sheenagean@yahoo.co.in
Abstract: The pursuit of human optimization has been a persistent vision throughout history, with various ideologies and philosophies offering ways to transcend limitations and enhance human nature. Leon Trotsky’s socialist notion of the “New Man” and Nietzsche’s vision of “Übermensch” share a common belief that human beings can be transformed into something better and more capable. Over the last three decades, with the futuristic glorification of technology, transhumanism emerged with an aim to transform the “imperfect” and “incomplete” human nature through science, technology, and innovation. Futurologists have predicted our slow transition into the age of technological singularity in which artificial intelligence and biological enhancement are combined, facilitating a shift from Homo sapiens to “Homo Optimus,” a technologically enhanced being. Critical responses to transhumanist thought arise from various ethical and philosophical positions; the spectrum is broadly categorized as bioconservatism. This paper explores the intersection of technology and humanity in Sarah Pinsker’s novel We Are Satellites, examining the implications of neuro-technical enhancements on individuals and society. Through a critical reading informed mainly by Thomas Fuchs’s critique of transhumanism, this study investigates how Pinsker’s depiction of a near-future human condition with widespread brain implants and cognitive enhancement challenge the dominant transhumanist utopian narratives around human intelligence and embodiment.
Keywords: Übermensch, Technological Singularity, Transhumanism, Bioconservatism, Cognitive Enhancement
Read Full Manuscript PDF