About
(This is a little out of date)
NormalHumanHeroes.com is a website devoted to efforts to put humanity and the world before our individual pleasure. In a word, self-sacrifice. NHH is currently a blog of my own thoughts, reasoning, and inspiration, but if there is sufficient interest, I’d love to turn this into a community with multiple authors or a forum. Let me know if you’re interested in that.
This site is primarily intended for those with a belief in the potentially extreme effects of emerging technologies, namely transhumanists but including anyone concerned about these future developments. The reason for this is that the radical advancement of science and technology often discussed by transhumanists presents a uniquely motivational atmosphere with similarly unique perspectives on the best ways to do the most good. To give an idea to those unfamiliar, the fields of science most often discussed include biotechnology, nanotechnology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence.
At heart technology increases our ability, ability both to improve our world and harm it, though of course certain technologies offer more of one than the other. Some of the effects of these emerging technologies could be quite wonderful, such as an end to world hunger, but they also hold the power to bring about tragedy on a scale human beings have never experienced. We already are familiar with both the benefits and negative side effects of large-scale industrial production, and have grappled with nuclear power for 6 decades with fair success, but it would be premature to assume that these are the most dangerous technologies we will ever invent. The magnitude of future technologies’ ability to transform our world is such that awareness of the possibilities can partially eclipse many common hopes and fears. For an example, while the growing worldwide movement to reduce global warming is exactly the sort of effort this site is about, these emergent technologies might bring about the death of every man, woman, and child on Earth within 50, 20, or even 10 years. We are even now at considerable danger from aspects of synthetic biology. Likewise many transhumanists believe that if we develop and apply future technologies wisely, we might all live lives much better than even the best of us have today, while simultaneously having much less negative effect on the earth than we’ve had for centuries. For more information on these subjects, please see the introductory pages on technology, transhumanism, and existential risk.
In light of these possibilities of how marvelously good or terribly bad things could get, my focus is on avoiding the dangers and realizing the promise of these technologies as best we can. However if you don’t believe these technologies are at all possible, but find that the more motivational writing on this site inspires you to go out and improve the lives of other beings (human or otherwise), by all means feel welcome to the site! Perhaps in the meantime some new invention or line of reasoning will bring you to reexamine your beliefs on what’s possible, but even if that never happens and we personally disagree on the most worthwhile ways to apply one’s efforts, I’d be extremely happy to have inspired someone to do a little bit more for others, and to include them in a community of others doing likewise.