A classical transhumanist asks why people prefer an AGI god over self-enhancement
zetalyrae · x · 2026-09-11
Engineer borretti lays out his classical transhumanist position: he wants technology to change himself, so he can learn, think and act more — not have a machine do it on his behalf. In that worldview AI is merely a stopgap to unlock the transhumanist tech tree faster.
He finds the current trajectory surprising and demoralizing: we're closer to AGI than to transhumanism, yet the "AGI future" turns out far more popular than the "transhuman future". He expected "becoming as the gods" to beat "building a benevolent god to rule over us".
This has made him more cynical about humanity: most people don't want to be, do, or know more — they want the Culture-style AI-run infinite vacation, consuming content for centuries and dying of boredom. Told that AGI means disempowerment and the closure of the future, they don't care; choice and autonomy are a burden to them. He calls it selling humanity's birthright for a mess of pottage.
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