Biodigital Convergence - The Evolution of Homo Superiorus

I would like to open this posting with a brief observation.  For centuries, mankind has had two desires (among others):

 

1.) to create life 

 

2.) to extend human life

  

Please keep these thoughts in mind as you read through the remainder of this important posting.  As well, I would like to apologize for the length of this posting but I wanted to ensure that my readers had a more-or-less complete picture of what humanity's future will look like if the global ruling class has its way.  To me, the information provided here will help all of us to better understand what has happened over the past year and a half and why it has taken place.

 

Ever since the pandemic began in early 2020, I've had a sense that there is a story behind the story.  Part of this can be explained by understanding the "Build Back Better/Great Reset" mantra that seems to be pervasive among Western political leaders and the great haste that has led to the use of vaccines that are still essentially experimental and the issuance of immunity/vaccine passports.  Thanks to a recent report on the Corbett Report website, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is a fundamental change for humanity that is being planned by our overlords, a change that, if fully implemented, will redefine what it is to be human at its most basic level.

  

Let's start this posting with some background to help us put everything into context.  Here is an early 2020 report which can be found on the Policy Horizons Canada website:

 

Policy Horizons Canada is a very little-mentioned Canadian federal government organization which falls under the purvey of Employment and Social Development Canada, a government department that "works to improve the standard of living and quality of life for all Canadians".  Policy Horizons Canada states this about its role in the federal government:

 

"We are a federal government organization that conducts foresight. Our mandate is to help the Government of Canada develop future-oriented policy and programs that are more robust and resilient in the face of disruptive change on the horizon.... 

We produce content that may attract academic, public, and international attention, and do not publish commentary on policy decisions of the Government."

Policy Horizons reports through the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada to the Minster of Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, currently Carla Qualtrough. Here is the leadership team:

 

The key player at Policy Horizons Canada is Kristel Van Der Elst, the organization's Director General.  Here is her biography as found on the Policy Horizons website:

 

With that background, let's now take a closer look at the aforementioned Policy Horizons Canada study entitled "Exploring Biodigital Convergence" that was released to the public in February 2020, just before the pandemic took place.  Here is an 18 second long promotional video for the study as found on Horizons Canada's YouTube channel:

 

For those of my readers that are Canadians, isn't it nice to see where your hard-earned tax dollars have ended up?

  

Here is the forward to the study written by Kristen Van der Elst:

 

Note these key sentences with my bolds:

 

"Biological and digital systems are converging, and could change the way we work, live, and even evolve as a species. More than a technological change, this biodigital convergence may transform the way we understand ourselves and cause us to redefine what we consider human or natural."

 

The study goes on to define bio digital convergence as "the interactive combination, sometimes to the point of merging, of digital and biological technologies and systems."

Policy Horizons notes that there are three ways in which biodigital convergence is taking place, once again, with all bolds being mine:

  

1.) full physical integration of biological and digital entities:  Digital technology can be embedded in organisms, and biological components can exist as parts of digital technologies. The physical meshing, manipulating, and merging of the biological and digital are creating new hybrid forms of life and technology, each functioning in the tangible world, often with heightened capabilities...By tapping into the nervous system and manipulating neurons, tech can be added to an organism to alter its function and purpose. New human bodies and new senses of identity could arise as the convergence continues.

 

2.) coevolution of biological and digital technologies: This type of biodigital convergence emerges when advances in one domain generate major advances in the other.  The coevolution of biological and digital sciences and technologies enables progress in each domain that would be impossible otherwise. This could lead to biological and digital technologies that are developed as integrated or complementary systems.  Complex living systems – bacteria, fungi, plants, and animal life including humans – are increasingly subject to examination and understanding by digital tools and applications such as machine learning. This deeper understanding, enabled by digital technologies, means that biology is subject to influence and manipulation that was not possible a few years ago.

  

3.) conceptual convergence of biological and digital systems:  A third form of biodigital convergence involves a shift in perspective that could reshape our framing and approach to biological and digital realms, facilitating the blending of the two.  As we continue to better understand and control the mechanisms that underlie biology, we could see a shift away from vitalism – the idea that living and nonliving organisms are fundamentally different because they are thought to be governed by different principles. Instead, the idea of biology as having predictable and digitally manageable characteristics may become increasingly common as a result of living in a biodigital age. Any student of biology today will have grown up in a digital world, and may consciously or subconsciously apply that frame of reference to bioinformatics and biology generally.

 

Note the use of the word vitalism.  Here is the definition of vitalism:

 

"the theory that the origin and phenomena of life are dependent on a force or principle distinct from purely chemical or physical forces."

 

What the authors of the study are saying is that the convergence of biological and digital systems will cause humanity to shift away from the idea that living organisms are distinct from the forces that govern the non-living world.

 

The authors go on to state that it is necessary to study and understand biodigital convergence now because the world is on the cusp of rapid adoption of biodigital technologies.  Here is a quote:

"That year (1985), Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0, Atari released the Atari ST home computer, and the first domain name, symbolics.com, was registered. Computing was entering the mass market, creating value across many more types of organizations and contexts than it had during the decades of giant mainframes.

 

Biodigital convergence is showing signs of a similar trajectory – moving away from the centralized models of pharmaceutical and industrial biotech toward widespread commercial and consumer use.

 

Biodigital convergence involves a rethinking of biology as providing both the raw materials and a mechanism for developing innovative processes to create new products, services, and ways of being.

 

Today’s rapid rate of change and innovation compels us to reassess our understanding and expectations about biological and digital systems. The convergence of these domains could cause systemic change across sectors and have policy implications. Governments can expect to be called upon to help manage the risks and seize the opportunities that could arise."

 

In the most interesting part of this study, we find a "narrative" which depicts some of the innovations that could impact human life in a future biodigital world.  I would suggest that you read the entire narrative since I am only posting part of the document along with screen captures that may be difficult to read on your device:

 

"I wake up to the sunlight and salty coastal air of the Adriatic Sea. I don’t live anywhere near the Mediterranean, but my AI, which is also my health advisor, has prescribed a specific air quality, scent, and solar intensity to manage my energy levels in the morning, and has programmed my bedroom to mimic this climate.

 

The fresh bed sheets grown in my building from regenerating fungi are better than I imagined; I feel rested and ready for the day. I need to check a few things before I get up. I send a brain message to open the app that controls my insulin levels and make sure my pancreas is optimally supported. I can’t imagine having to inject myself with needles like my mother did when she was a child. Now it’s a microbe transplant that auto adjusts and reports on my levels.

 

Everything looks all right, so I check my brain’s digital interface to read the dream data that was recorded and processed in real time last night. My therapy app analyzes the emotional responses I expressed while I slept. It suggests I take time to be in nature this week to reflect on my recurring trapped-in-a-box dream and enhance helpful subconscious neural activity. My AI recommends a “forest day”. I think “okay,” and my AI and neural implant do the rest.

 

The summary of my bugbot surveillance footage shows that my apartment was safe from intruders (including other bugbots) last night, but it does notify me that my herd of little cyber-dragonflies are hungry. They’ve been working hard collecting data and monitoring the outside environment all night, but the number of mosquitoes and lyme-carrying ticks they normally hunt to replenish their energy was smaller than expected. With a thought, I order some nutrient support for them.

 

My feet hit the regenerative carpet and I grab a bathrobe, although I don’t need it for warmth. My apartment is gradually warming up to a comfortable 22 degrees, as it cycles through a constantly shifting daily routine that keeps me in balance with the time of day and season. Building codes and home energy infrastructure are synchronized, and require all homes be autoregulated for efficiency. Because houses and buildings are biomimetic and incorporate living systems for climate control wherever possible, they are continuously filtering the air and capturing carbon. I check my carbon offset measure to see how much credit I will receive for my home’s contribution to the government’s climate change mitigation program....

 

While I’m brushing my teeth, Jamie, my personal AI, asks if I’d like a delivery drone to come pick up my daughter’s baby tooth, which fell out two days ago. The epigenetic markers in children’s teeth have to be analyzed and catalogued on our family genetic blockchain in order to qualify for the open health rebate, so I need that done today.

 

I replace the smart sticker that monitors my blood chemistry, lymphatic system, and organ function

in real time. It’s hard to imagine the costs and suffering that people must have endured before personalized preventative medicine became common.

 

Also, I’ll admit that it sounds gross, but it’s a good thing the municipality samples our fecal matter from the sewage pipes. It’s part of the platform to analyze data on nutritional diversity, gut bacteria, and antibiotic use, to aid with public health screening and fight antibiotic-resistant strains of bacterial infections.

 

Supposedly, the next download for my smart sink will allow me to choose a personalized biotic mix for my dechlorinated drinking water.

 

Today’s microbiome breakdown is displayed on the front of my fridge as I enter the kitchen. It’s tracking a steady shift as I approach middle age: today it suggests miso soup as part of my breakfast, because my biome needs more diversity as a result of recent stress and not eating well last night….

 

The buildings in my neighbourhood share a vertical farm, so I get carbon credits by eating miso made from soybeans produced on my roof and fermented by my fridge.

 

I take my smart supplement, which just popped out of my bioprinter. The supplement adjusts the additional nutrients and microbes I need, and sends data about my body back to my bioprinter to adjust tomorrow’s supplement. The feedback loop between me and my bioprinter also cloud-stores daily data for future preventive health metrics. The real-time monitoring of my triglycerides is important, given my genetic markers.

 

Oh wow – is that the time? I have only 10 minutes before my first virtual meeting. I tighten the belt on my skeleto-muscular strength chair, lean back, and log into my workspace. First I get the debrief from colleagues finishing their work day on the other side of the world. I shiver momentarily as I think about how intimately we’re all connected in this digital biosphere – then it passes. Let the day begin."

  

Just in case they disappear as things are prone to do on the internet during the post-truth era,  here are screen captures showing the entire narrative:

 

Let's look at how the authors predict that biodigital convergence will impact the world:

 

Let's focus on two aspects of how biodigital convergence will impact the world.  First, let's look at the impact on the human body, mind and behaviours and the "new capabilities" that will be produced by the convergence of digital and biological systems by noting some of the ways the the convergence can be used to create or change human beings, using technology to evolve a "homo superiorus":

 

The authors of the study close by noting three key policy questions that could impact the rolling out of a biodigital future:

 

Let's close this section of this lengthy posting by providing you with some additional background.  Just in case you may have thought that the concept of the convergence of biological and digital systems is relatively new, here is the title page of a massive and very thorough 2002 study by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) which looks at the convergence of technologies for improving human performance:

 

Here is a graphic showing how the authors of the report viewed the convergence of nano-, bio- info- and cogno- technologies (i.e. biodigital convergence in today's terminology) nearly two decades ago when much of the technology to achieve this convergence had not been invented:

 

On another note, here is an article that appeared on the Science Alert website back in April 2019:

 

Here is a video showing the invention in action:

 

 

When I first started watching the Corbett Report's video presentation on the subject of convergence, I had a feeling that some of the concepts for the merging of biological and digital technologies seemed familiar.  Back in December 2020, I posted a two part series on the World Economic Forum and transhumanism as you can find here and here.  Karl Schwab, the founder and current head of the World Economic Forum has a clear vision of what lies ahead for humanity as outlined in his books.  Let's look at one key quote from the preface of "Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution" with the bold being mine in both quotes:

 

"These emerging technologies are not merely incremental advances on today’s digital technologies. Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies are truly disruptive—they upend existing ways of sensing, calculating, organizing, acting and delivering. They represent entirely new ways of creating value for organizations and citizens. They will, over time, transform all the systems we take for granted today—from the way we produce and transport goods and services, to the way we communicate, the way we collaborate, and the way we “experience the world around us. Already, advances in neurotechnologies and biotechnologies are forcing us to question what it means to be human.”  

Here is another quote from Chapter 11 of "Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution:

 

"Biotechnologies will change the future, and they will change us. Firms are already engineering bacteria to produce everything from resins to personal care products, and Chinese scientists have used CRISPR to combat cancer. Mitochondrial replacement therapy, otherwise known as three-parent in vitro fertilization, is facing regulatory decisions in several countries, and scientists are preparing for a gene-drive against malaria by targeting mosquitos in Africa. This is just the science present. The future will challenge our understanding of what it means to be human, from both a biological and a social standpoint. Emerging biotechnology agendas promise to improve and augment human lifespans and to enhance physical and mental health. The opportunity for the integration of digital technologies with biological tissues is also growing, and what that portends for the next decades is inspiring a range of emotions, from hope to wonder to fear.”

  

Now, let's end this posting with a look back at the Director General of Policy Horizons Canada, Kristel Van der Elst:

 

And there you have it.  Ms. Van der Elst is a player at the World Economic Forum.  Her views on biodigital convergence (aka transhumanism) pretty much mirror those of her overlord, Klaus Schwab.  With two highly influential Canadians being on the World Economic Forum's Board of Trustees (Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Governor of the Bank of Canada and advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mark Carney) it's not surprising that the government of Canada has spent time and money researching one of Klaus Schwab's pet projects as shown in this video interview of Herr Schwab from 2016 which gives us a hint of his goals for Homo sapiens:

 

While I have not been able to present all of the information that is available to help us see the future through the eyes of the global ruling technocracy, I believe that the information that I have provided gives us a strong sense of what the future will look like when biology and technology merge, at least for the wealthy and powerful.  The only "fly in the ointment" are the hundreds of millions and perhaps billions of people around the globe that live below or near the poverty line as shown here:

 

...since the cost of the technology involved in "augmenting human life" is far beyond their wildest dreams.  But, then again, perhaps it fits into the oligarchs and their plans for global population control as a means of reducing the threat to the world's climate, thus saving the planet and its resources for themselves. 

 

Keeping in mind my opening comments about mankind having the desire to both create life and extend human life, we can see that the convergence between the biological world and the digital world has very nearly reached the point where Homo sapiens will evolve into Homo superiorus, a species with the potential for enhanced capabilities and longer life but, at what cost?  Given that we live in a data-driven world, the technologies involved in biodigital convergence will end up costing humanity what the small vestiges of privacy and personal control that remain.  If the convergence continues as suggested in the Policy Horizons Canada document, the overlords in the technology sector and the ruling class in government will have unfettered access to absolutely every aspect of our private lives under the guise of improving society, health and lifespan.

If you wish to learn more about "Convergence", here are two key resources:

The Corbett Report - Episode 402 - Your Guide to the Great Convergence

Policy Horizons Canada - Exploring Biodigital Convergence report