Zoltan Istvan connects the dots for us…sort of: If you are an atheist, you must also be a transhumanist:

Sometime in the next decade, the number of worldwide godless people — atheists, agnostics, and those unaffiliated with religion — is likely to break through the billion-person mark. Many in this massive group already champion reason, defend science, welcome radical technologies, and implicitly trust and embrace modern medicine. They are, indeed, already transhumanists. Yet many of them don’t know it because they haven’t thought much about it. However, that is about to change. A transformative cultural storm comprised of radical life improving technologies is set to blow in soon.

There’s nothing like asserting a point instead of proving it. A bit more from Mr. Istvan: “The core of transhumanist thought is two-sided.” (That’s right, a two-sided core! Amazing!)

It begins with discontent about the humdrum status quo of human life and our frail, terminal human bodies. It is followed by an awe-inspiring vision of what can be done to improve both — of how dramatically the world and our species can be transformed via science and technology. Transhumanists want more guarantees than just death, consumerism, and offspring. Much more. They want to be better, smarter, stronger — perhaps even perfect and immortal if science can make them that way. Most transhumanists believe it can.

Sounds like a perfectly horrifying fantasy. I just hope that in addition to perfecting human nature, transhumanists also learn a thing or two about metaphors along the way. Otherwise, this new world is going to be positively teaming with rainbow-jumping unicorns at loggerheads. To wit: “The transhumanism movement is quickly growing. Actually, it’s exploding. Last year, press coverage on the subject soared…The roots of atheism, agnosticism, and the nonreligious go back many centuries. But its foothold became pronounced in the 20th Century…These atheist voices and their writings have paved the way for us, and now the 21st Century will bring the age of transhumanism to the forefront of society.” And so forth, and so forth.