Posthuman Pathways: Strange And Awesome Destinations On Humanity's Future Journeys

[@blackkittyfreak]

Omg the voice of Isaac Arthur narrating House of Suns is something I never knew I needed

[@AleksandrPodyachev]

"From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me"

[@lukenyhammer2213]

“I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind cling to your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass that you call a temple will wither and youll beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved…”

[@Xxoraa666]

“For the machine is immortal…”

[@eldraque4556]

proper warhammer

[@JackKoff-l8d]

War hammer is a universe where the Honda civic is more reliable then the pancreas but that's not our reality

[@OliverLiangEngTurtle]

​@@JackKoff-l8dapparently 11.6% of Americans have diabetes, so Honda civic might actually be more reliable

[@chronus4421]

Your story about the use of fire is a very close metaphor of our current feelings towards nuclear energy.

[@robertwatkins3602]

Nuclear is the future

[@tukkajumala]

Let's be honest, most of us would use the eternity to clear our Steam backlog. ...and never finish, because of all the cool new releases...

[@alexsiemers7898]

As the saying goes, the factory must grow

[@EliasMheart]

I think over enough time, I'd want to create games, too. But that's not exclusive, I suppose ^^

[@EvelynNdenial]

@@EliasMheart with the mind/computer barrier annihilated we'd all fall into eternally modding our favorite games for sure. skyrim would be completely unrecognizable in no time at all.

[@AkkarisFox]

well maybe spend an eternity with an ai that codes and generates games due to what you think about while playing games

[@AkkarisFox]

@@EvelynNdenial no way i was thinking the same thing!!!

[@PyrrhicPax]

Replacing lungs with O2 tanks sounds freaking awesome tbh. Imagine being able to sprint without getting winded or needed to catch your breath. Muscle mass and bone density would still be an issue, but having literal lungs of steel would drastically increase one's stamina. Imagine victims of Asthma, COPD, or other respiratory issues not only being cured, but improved!

[@masterpython]

Just a layer of duck tape and a face mask and you are ready for space

[@grandotaku2501]

more likely even if your body is receiving oxygen you brain recognizes there is something very wrong with your lungs you might feel like you're constantly choking and unable to breath

[@PyrrhicPax]

@@grandotaku2501 that feeling comes from a lack of air in the lungs. So as long as the tanks have air in them I don't think that would happen. The idea of no longer needing to compress and inflate your lungs though, might definitely play some tricks on the brain. My assumption is that this would manifest as chest pain, rather than choking, because the muscles that would otherwise be working the lungs would suddenly be trying to move solid steel.

[@grandotaku2501]

@@PyrrhicPax but you don't have lungs, they have been removed, you brain would think you're not breathing and the effect would be the same as choking

[@PyrrhicPax]

@@grandotaku2501 no it wouldn't because it's still receiving air. Your brain wouldn't think your not breathing because it doesn't have lungs, it would think you don't have lungs because your not breathing. As long as you're breathing, it has no reason to think that. Humans have been kept alive through artificial breathing machines already, my guy. It's not the lung that the brain worries about, it's air, as long as it's getting air it doesn't care about the lungs.

[@iainballas]

I am a Millennial, born in 1994. If we achieve biological immortality in my lifetime, I can't help but wonder what it'd be like in the far-far future when I'm one of a few hundred milliion left among QUINTILLIONS of people, and my group is defined by having '19XX' in my birthdate. Being able to say "I was born before the year 2000" would distinguish me as some kind of exalted elder, with centuries or millennia of wisdom and insight. God I hope no one listens to me if that's the case. I will be the textbook example given of "Age does not always bring wisdom".

[@PappaTom-ub3ht]

I do think that in time humans will live to be thousands of years old. But i do suspect us born in 19xx will die of old age before that becomes reality.

[@somerandom3257]

“This is our guest speaker today born in the ancient time period known as the 1990’s and today they will explain to you the spread and common usage of the first world wide networks demonstrated through their social media posts, all of which you can see here.”

[@Libertaro-i2u]

You'd likely be extremely rich at that point.

[@iainballas]

@@somerandom3257 Oh god no.

[@ivanvukasovic1371]

Reminded me of the Yuppie Futurama episode lol.

[@TheMysticGauntlet]

All Tomorrows: Isaac Arthur Edition.

[@vincentcleaver1925]

The future comes at us piecemeal and slantways

[@nomadicsynth]

Mannequins creep me out because I grew up watching Dr Who. That show introduced me to so many existential crises. So many great memories.

[@evenground8851]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours over the last 10 years. Please make more content in this vein!

[@LaserGuidedLoogie]

I can never watch these episodes about Deep Time, or Post Humanity, ect, without a strong feeling of melancholy. Perhaps it is my jaded worldview from reading so much scifi growing up, but it no longer makes me excited for the future. Instead it fills me with a sense of dread. I always end up asking myself, " ...and then what?"

[@Twisted_Logic]

I just recently got into the Bobiverse series. Cool to see a shoutout on SFIA!

[@mjk9388]

I'm jealous of you. I just finished the most recent Bobiverse book put out about a month ago. It has risen to my favorite fiction series of all time. I think what holds my interest is the exact kind of topics that Isaac gets into within this episode.

[@josephdocis1488]

This is like catnip for my imagination

[@cannonfodder4376]

Another superlative episode on a topic that gets surprisingly little attention in Sci-Fi. Fantastic work, Isaac.

[@brycehunter3457]

It's usually skipped because most authors have a hard time with such alien perspectives and the culture changes that would result

[@فارسليبورد-ك8و]

في المستقبل البعيد وبفضل التكنولوجيا المتقدمة سوف يتساوى الخيال مع الواقع ويمتلك الإنسان قوى الآلهة ليحول الكون والأكوان المتعددة إلى جنة خالدة ❤

[@mrboobiesrider9212]

الله كريم

[@yurkdawg]

Given the fact that I have not only read most of the books/series mentioned in this video, but that I both sought those books out, and also that they became some of my favorites, I guess I am particularly fascinated with these kinds of ideas.

[@lgjm5562]

Epically mind-blowing. I inhibited myself from saying "literally".

[@Jearrod]

House of suns in my favorite book of all time!

[@iExploder]

It's definitely one of mine as well!

[@youthecube]

House of Sons is such an interesting book especially Hesperus And the spirit of the air .

[@michaelhamar3305]

house of suns posthuman option is somewhat similar to what downstreamers(Manifold Trilogy) to survive heat death of the universe in first book they are 10^117 years ahead of us it would be cool to see if what is shown in Manifold Trilogy could be done in IRL?

[@nerfherder33]

WOOOOOOOOT Thanx yet again Isaac 🤘 Best KZbin channel ever!

[@ilkoderez601]

This episode was really good! Love the book references. The narration was relaxed and the script was good too, those things usually make for a good episode.

[@jamesa6693]

Isaac is so extremely optimistic about the near and far future of humanity. He talks of curing mortality in a century and I don’t think we will have homelessness or much else solved in a century😂. Excellent video indeed.

[@djj949]

Great vid. All the shout outs have me excited to go to the library, which I have neglected to for far too long. Always love a 40k reference. Thanks

[@billymays81]

Chasing Ice is another excellent Alistair Reynolds book dealing with deep time

[@ukaszgrzesik7231]

Literary I never clicked faster.

[@Soykuya1]

Same here

[@garypalmer1122]

We have all been born too soon. Sigh...😒

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

Literary: "Of, relating to, or dealing with literature." Well, I guess this episode did deal with literature a lot.

[@babyboy12003]

You had me at “post-human” - didn't finish reading the title before clicking

[@babyboy12003]

Bobverse books are great reading on flights

[@KillAllCops88]

I also love bring me the horizon

[@Redacted-NA]

These videos always give me so many ideas for my TTRPG's. lol

[@69Kazeshini]

Yeah i like the idea of playing as a sentient ship but in terms of game mechanics, it might be difficult to implement posthunans. Rpgs need stats, and having the ability to resleeve into different bodies with different stats need a workaround unless you take from eclipse phase.

[@Redacted-NA]

@@69Kazeshini My favorite system for this level of sci-fi shenanigans is Mutants & Masterminds. Despite being a "Superhero" game, the system and mechanics are surprisingly versatile for all manner of settings and characters.

[@EliasMheart]

This was beautiful. Thank you ❤ Lately, I have been looking more on the short term side of things - this has been a wonderful opportunity to revisit the topic (:

[@hibbs1712]

Post-Human pathways includes Muscle Man

[@annoyed707]

Hans and Franz enter the chat.

[@badabing3391]

you know who else gets included by post human pathways?

[@Firepowered]

​@@badabing3391 MY MOM

[@JP-nt5vb]

​@@badabing3391 Who would that be, huh?

[@badabing3391]

@@JP-nt5vb MY MOM! 👻🫸🫷😎

[@modtick]

this was defiantly a topic i was hoping for. glad to see it happen.

[@AxeMan808]

David Brin's "Kiln People"; you print out an android copy of yourself and imprint it with your current self-state, then send it out to run errands/do your job. It returns within 24 hrs and you update memories from it.

[@David-xl2hq]

Good channel I enjoy it

[@JohnBoen]

It's another great video. At about 15:00, you discuss the Uncanny Valley. Wow - that thoroughly explains why people treat autistics the way they do.

[@curtisalanmcgee]

Isaac Arthur, the God emperor of man.

[@djj949]

Ooh, now that would be a hella cool video idea. Totally lore-compatible too. Are you seeing this Big E? Pretty please

[@JB-kk4pv]

I own every book by Reynolds. Have been with him since Revelation Space was published. One of my favorites, and my favorite of authors of my generation.

[@DG-iw3yw]

Lets bring The humbolt squid with us. For the banter.

[@GabrielSakalauskas]

I saw a video about "all tomorrows" not to be confused for a random sentence but an actual book-pop up aside this one which makes sense because that's posthuman

[@EddyA1337]

Drink? ✅ Snack? ✅ Let's do this!

[@M1AIN40]

My dyslexia kicked in, I thought you said dick and snack

[@TheMysticGauntlet]

About the Time Lords appearing similar in appearance to humanity, there's a lore explanation of them imprinting their image into the other humanoid species of their multiverse during the very beginning. They basically created humans and humanoid aliens in their image, not the other way around, so it actually makes sense in this case rather than a hand wave.

[@GhostOfSnuffles]

I now want a post-human future where all the humans are posts.

[@sarcasmo57]

House of Suns really was amazing.

[@degeneratedoctor8481]

Never stop making videos

[@MacroLore]

Hey Isaac, long time viewer. Have you ever considered actually make a full length video going over some of the 40k tech that you believe could actually exist within outfitting understanding of physics?

[@glynnec2008]

I have a lot of interesting science fiction books to explore. Thanks for the recommendations.

[@wade8130]

Love this stuff! Thank you!

[@zico739]

Good stuff as usual.

[@Rafael96xD]

Cant stop thinking about fang yuan in his banned chinese novel Reverend Insanity. He became an inmortal zombie with 8 arms and then it split his counsciousness into at least 8 before they chopped the novel. An amazing one tho.

[@69Kazeshini]

There's a lot of transhumanism/posthumanism in xianxia/xuanhuan works. This is because the process of cultivating for immortality requires altering aspects of the body through mystical means.

[@projectarduino2295]

I want to live long enough to see this happen.

[@DanielGenis5000]

I love that particular book be a it’s not part of his three world building projects, of which I like only the first…. The elephants and the YA stuff can stay home.

[@rayceeya8659]

You go on about breathing masks and completely skip Science Fiction's most favorite asthmatic ever?!? Hello, Darth Vader was right there!

[@erichtomanek4739]

Another variation would be Helva, the Ship who Sings.

[@CurrypkatRamonlab]

I read "house of the sun" that summer, really, really great !

[@kundeleczek1]

That fire analogy is mine Sir.

[@djhotfood]

15:25 Mannikins only thing I think is the fiepisode Doctor who With the ninth doctor

[@lukasbergmann0301]

Me too 😊

[@SnakesAndFunerals]

I can't be the only one that wants a sequel to House of Suns!

[@lipingrahman6648]

Greetings from one CBRN man to another CBRN man.

[@filippe999]

Hey if you want a TTRPG with Transhuman themes try Eclipse Phase, secon edition is much more approachable, it even has interstellar exploration frameworks

[@NexAngelus405]

One means of becoming post-human I read about is transitioning from a carbon-based physiology to a silicon-based physiology. One of the advantages of being silicon-based includes being more durable with bodies able to survive in extreme temperature and pressure environments, such as the surface of Venus. Another advantage is that you'd no longer need to eat food, instead feeding directly on electricity.

[@MikhaelHausgeist]

31:10 It was in TV series. At least it shown in that series as finale as I remember. Unfortunately I don't put attention to any Dune related things, but there was something like several seasons Dune related TV series somewhere around 2005-2010(possibly even earlier) about childs of Paul Atradis. I don't read books and just wagely clicking TV when seen them, but it is solid that it exist and shown not exact moment, but fact.

[@logex621]

Nice!

[@ArticBlueFox96]

I wonder if there are any concepts of a posthuman existence that involves becoming more ghost-like or slime-like (maybe like Star Trek's changelings), or maybe made out of nanobots. I imagine that would offer various means of cheating death and aging, new forms of existence, and new experiences and ways of interacting with ourselves, others, and our environment.

[@alyssondasilva4484]

Love the intro about Valmik. I've read House of Suns solely because seeing it mentioned some times in your channel and Quinn's Ideas. And it is probably my favorite sci fi book along with Children of Time and Three Body Problem. (Didnt read The Foundation yet, and started Dune but didnt quite get it going) By the way, what happenned to the Dead Aliens in the Episode Dead Aliens?

[@name_o_person]

Dividing one's intelligence into a variety of extremophiles and the bandwidth between them slowing processing speed. At what point do we decide communication is too slow to recognize this isn't already the case with some past entity?

[@intevolver]

The game Ashes of the Singularity has a great take on post-human intellects

[@xelasomar4614]

Given that it's 2024 and a considerable portion of humanity is having a fit over just a small % of melanin in just the skin, a tiny tiny difference of what makes us, us, I can picture the never ending wars when we are different in more divergent ways.

[@ErinsAaron]

Good morning everyone!

[@coenistheman]

I think our dear host might enjoy "The Golden Oecumene" by John C Wright

[@PvtSchlock]

16:07 instinct comes first and pist hoc rationalization follows later.

[@glizzygoat]

omg i just read House pf Suns. i love Alastair Reynolds and im haveway through the revalation space series

[@gusty7153]

there is one possible way to alleviate eternal boredome. first the prerequisite is to be in a sort of eternal stagnation where you get immortality, but you don't become anything more complex than a normal mind, and you continue to perceive reality as would a mortal human would...of course you can make your physical body into anything, but the baseline consciousness would be more or less untouched outside fitting whatever body you put yourself into. so with this as the prerequisite for average immortal, any given individual could spend eternity simply consuming media, and producing new media. media in itself could be a commodity that everyone produces and trades in a new form of bartering. learning would gear heavy towards learning as many languages as possible; learning as many art skills as possible, with the main ones being writing, animation, programming; and learning as many practical trade skills as possible to support all the infrastructures for the civilization. i think there could be a time when a civilization may voluntarily choose to stagnate itself technologically and focus more on developing and progressing culturally. new ideas, new trends, new fashions, new aesthetics, new art and media and games, and new hobbies and leisure activities.

[@UrdnotChuckles]

Future gargantuan post-human, reporting in! ^.==.^

[@FesteringGhoul]

That would be such a great death metal album name…

[@jasontoddman7265]

15:30 - the uncanny valley perception may be why one of the more common phobias in society is coulrophobia; aka fear of clowns. Many of us can remember when there was a fad a few years ago of people in creepy clown costumes roamed the streets and made spectacles of themselves. And imo the campy movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space has a large fan following these days partly as a result of this uncanny valley feeling about clowns as well. This despite the fact that most people don't even realize/remember that clowns came about from people dressing up to look like the deceased in Day of the Dead celebrations in various parts of the world especially in Hispanic cultures, leading to often scary Halloween and Margi Gras costume traditions.

[@BrianSheppard]

And yet here we are.

[@Kevan808]

This video reminds me of this passage: 2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

[@marcelgrabowski5939]

So many ways to become something else, or many somethings, through copies of self. Welp, I would opt for dragon body. Must be many-meters long, stylish, durable and armed, like a dragon should. Now that would be a way to spend eternity!

[@momirkotur7878]

HOUSE OF SUNS IS A MASTERPIECE

[@francoislacombe9071]

What about Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men", and "Star Maker"?

[@satadenai9182]

uncanny valley is a remnant of old animal instincts, the ability/instinct to recognize dead, namely dead family or tribe members. should your primitive self ever encounter someone that looks both very familiar yet strangely different (ie facial features), run as it's possibly a dead body whose cause of death is unknown - poison, predator, rotten food? contaminated water? to survive, the best course of action would be to stand back, observe, and do not engage. there's no real mystery to the uncanny valley of you think about it. "Friend or foe?" "Dead or alive?" "Fight or run?"

[@MinerBat]

31:18 does he also love books? And is he filled with schwibbleglibblekind? And is he the yeast of thoughts and mind?

[@tavernburner3066]

Where do you find such cool spaceship videos

[@erichtomanek4739]

Sad Olaf Stapleton noises ...

[@rustyshackleford1508]

Honestly, it makes me glad that true immortality is impossible by human means. The sorts of people that would become matryoshka minds are the kind that need the humbling reminder that they came from dust and will return to dust. They would burn in the brilliant light of God's judgment all the more for their intensified hubris.

[@ze_kangz932]

I got introduced to the themes of post humans(Not super humans!) kind of strangely with the sci fi book, all tomorrows. Where an alien race genetically modifies sapient species across the cosmos into monstrosities. It was horrifying and thought provoking. Do you know about the book, Isaac?!

[@ptonpc]

Darn I need to read House of Suns again.

[@seabeepirate]

Are we sure we’re not Post-human already? We aren’t directly connected to machines in most cases but almost all our lives have integrated technology.

[@richardpavlov442]

I am curious how caveman principle will affect which post-human pathways people will take and how many will choose to do so

[@eitkoml]

Would I want to replace my human body with a spaceship? Preferably a really big one like the Reapers in Mass Effect.

[@69Kazeshini]

I'll be content with flying a smaller ship like the normandy. I would basically be like Edi, able to fly a ship while having a humanoid body to walk on planets.

[@zutai1]

i would not take any one path. analog, digital, and quantum processing, along side biological options like traditional animal mind type structure, working along side and integrating fungal and forest type structures. but, i have no worry of boredom, due to goals of factorio type factories to be built on new planets, and and altering any native life to follow paths it wouldnt have. guiding their evolution to be more intelligent, to survive for longer, and to work well with my goals of the moment, per that instance of me. each planet i manage would have another fragment/copy of me, and they would all share experiences, so we may all grow from our failures. some of us may become data backup hubs between the stars, taking in, sharing, and storing all the knowledge we can, and sharing between the nodes, for the most efficient communication though the network. each task would be of little boredom to someone like myself. and moments that may take longer than i like, i can simply use real data to simulate new paths to take, and share the outcomes per their value. i dont see a path of boredom, within the lifetime of matter.

[@evensgrey]

An evolutionary explanation of the uncanny valley may be our ancestors encounters with the at least two other species of humans that existed when anatomically moderns left Africa, the Neandertals in Europe and the Denisovans in Asia. These encounters must have been very dangerous, and very strange. There may also have been encounters with surviving populations of Homo erectus, which have been described as being like wolves with knives (although I'd suggest TALKING wolves with knives, as the evidence we have that Neanderthals had language is also e evidence that Homo erectus had language). Even earlier, we know that for most of the existence of our genus, there were other, closely related species, many of which would have been dangerous to our ancestors.

[@GadZookz]

Always wonder what happened to that poor Planet in House of Suns address he abandoned them and left the Spirit of the Air on autopilot. The weather there must have really gone to heck. 🤔

[@lordk.gaimiz6881]

Realistically, one of the first things most people would augment is their spine 'cause having a back that doesn't hurt or get misshapen is extremely convenient

[@VulpinetideCuteTimes0w0]

All Intelligent life forms that continue to resist the path of entropy, are on the incomprehensibly long path to evolving the means to survive and outlast the inevitable heat death of the universe.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Posthumans might avoid Boredom by forcing Humans to entertain them with Gladiator Fights to the Death and other Trek Reenactments.

[@UrbanistAstra]

If i could I’d definitely change my gender on a biological level instead of just HRT and surgeries with imperfections, that would improve my life immensely. The extra hands thing would probably be very beneficial for stuff like engineering or building my silly contraptions too I guess but that’s purely optional.

[@planetdisco4821]

I miss the old Alastair Reynolds…

[@ViceCoin]

If humans avoid extinction, transforming bodies into dark energy would allow FTL travel across multiple dimensions, with no need for artifical gravity.

[@shardinhand1243]

im curious about how other people would choose to change theyre form, since starting to think about the idea iv always gone with a still vuagly humanoid design but very different, taking some inspiration from the largest flying animal to ever live the quetzalcoatlus or possibly the shorter more bulky hatzegopteryx, those creatures show the upper limit in size a flying creature could be, very important in designing my own new form. also having extra sets of eyes that see in different ranges of light, four arms, and various defencive weapons like electric eel muscle, and the cone snile's ability to shoot poison barbs, all excellent inspiration, but i decided a naturaly grown internal crossbow mechnisim would be better than air pressure, one in each arm.

[@donaldhobson8873]

It may well be that 2100 is post-human. Either from us wiping ourselves out. Or from most people going cyborg.