https://thegeneralist.substack.com/p/the-post-human-era-begins

Editor's Letter: The coronavirus is hastening the post-human era

In the mid-1970s, Professor Fereidoun M. Esfandiary decided to change his name. From then on he would be legally called "FM-2030."

"Conventional names define a person's past: ancestry, ethnicity, nationality, religion. I am not who I was ten years ago...The name 2030 reflects my conviction that the years around 2030 will be a magical time. In 2030 we will be ageless and everyone will have an excellent chance to live forever. 2030 is a dream and a goal," he offered in explanation.

It didn't hurt that by 2030, he would be 100 years old, an age he was sure he would reach.

Already in his forty-odd years of living, FM — which some speculated stood for "Future Man" — defied easy categorization. The son of an Iranian diplomat, he lived in 17 countries by the age of 11 and would go on to represent his country's basketball team at the 1948 Olympic Games before beginning an academic career. He was educated at Berkeley and UCLA before becoming one of the first professors of futurology at the New School. It was there that he would begin to espouse "new concepts of the human," discussing the steps necessary to transition to post-humanity. FM described this as an epoch in which homo sapiens became "post-biological organisms," transcending the limits of their body through technology.

Much of the 21st century has seen us hurtle towards a post-human future, fulfilling predictions FM made half a century earlier. Over the course of his career, he foresaw the creation of 3D printers — which he referred to as "Santa Claus machines" — along with the advent of telemedicine, teleconferencing, teleshopping, and genetic editing.

While we have been racing towards this future for some time, we may look back on 2020 and the coronavirus crisis as a crossing over. A time in which our relationship to core aspects of our humanity is fundamentally remade. In particular, I believe we are seeing meaningful recalibrations of our relationship to our own identity, labor, and health. In short, the post-human era is beginning in earnest.

Identity

The shift to a locked-in world has accelerated the acceptance of identity as distinct from physical body or place. We still want to communicate, socialize, and play during this time but have only a digital version to offer. Those constraints are forcing new expressions of selfhood. This is in stark contrast to the masked, distant, de-individuated person we show outside our homes. A few examples of synthetic identities coming to the fore:

• Zoom backgrounds are used as a new form of self-expression. Consumers use them to promote their company, show a sense of humor, and express personal interests.
• ​Pragli takes things a step further. Rather than hopping onto a video call, you can communicate with anime-style avatars of your coworkers. Set "happy" or "sad" expressions blur the lines between real and performative feelings.
• Animal Crossing has attracted millions of players during the lockdown. The cartoon game allows users to socialize, trade virtual assets, accommodate tech conferences, bully digital likenesses, and host a wedding in a digital world.
• Travis Scott gave a surreal concert performance inside of Fortnite, attracting 12.3MM concurrent views. It offered another digital instantiation of a "third place" for human simulacra to gather.

Labor

"Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it," said Stephen Hawking. Whether that is an assessment you agree with or not, much of our conception of ourselves is tied up in work. The effect of covid-19 is accelerating a shift away from humans and towards machines, doing so at a time in which we may actually feel grateful for cyborg usurpers as they keep critical services up and running and spare humans from disease. Those humans that remain necessary are viewed increasingly as mechanized systems. Those that are low-income, young, and of color are particularly at risk of displacement.