While most assumed that humanity was the end point of creation or the pinnacle of evolution, Prof. Ted Chu makes the provocative claim that the human race may in fact be a means rather than an end—that humankind will give rise to something new. He joined Dave Schrader (email) to discuss the future of humanity and forthcoming transhuman era. "I strongly believe we're going to be living in a very exciting period of time that's probably the third most interesting time throughout human history," he said, noting that there are more advanced species and intelligences coming after us.

Chu covered misconceptions about the post-human future, including the notion that it will bring about maximum human happiness with little or no ill effects. "The future will not be smooth," he predicted. Even though mistakes will be made as genetics and neuroscience advance, Chu lobbied for people to make their own decisions rather than submit to a system of top down control by the elite. He imagined a coming biological revolution that will take place in the proverbial garage and not in government laboratories, adding that costs to do once expensive research (such as sequencing the human genome) have fallen dramatically and are now affordable to many.

"Humanity is becoming a bottleneck in terms of economic growth," Chu continued, anticipating being stuck in a low-growth state unless humans are liberated from biological constraints. He discussed recent news on 3-parent embryos and sees a time in the future when a baby could have as many as 100 genetic donors. The human genome will be modified to such an extent that the new beings will be unable to interbreed with existing human beings, he suggested. Chu warned against limiting our sights at merely maximizing happiness without developing a higher goal for humanity. In order to march forward into the transhuman era with confidence we must bring back faith and our higher aspirations, he advised.

Strange Creature Sightings

In the first hour, Eric Altman of PA Bigfoot Society shared some weird creature reports from this year. A large unknown canine thought to be a chupacabra has been seen in parts of Texas and Oklahoma, he disclosed. Altman suggested the animal could be the result of deliberate crossbreeding to produce a creature matching descriptions of the mythical monster. Something quite odd was recently filmed in a pond in Lithuania (see video). "This creature or animal is the strangest looking animal I've ever seen," Altman said about the pulsating thing in the footage.

Bigfoot has purportedly been spotted in the suburbs of Detroit, he revealed, adding that witnesses described the creature as a large monkey with a human face. Altman also commented on known hoaxer Rick Dyer's stuffed Bigfoot tour. Dyer was shut out of many places around the country; however, more than 800 people attended his exhibition at the Alamo Drafthouse in Texas, he reported.