“The most preposterous notion that H. Sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history. The second most preposterous notion is that copulation is inherently sinful.” Robert Heinlein

Heinlein was a storyteller; student of human nature; libertarian; inventor; politician. He had a profound and abiding respect and love for women and cats. He also believed that if humans could live for longer than they do now would be a good thing.

What distinguishes Heinlein from the common ruck of wannabe 'immortalists', 'transhumanists' and their ilk is that he believed that man could live for very long periods of time and yet remain 'human', in the sense that we use the term now. Some in the transhumanist-immortalist camp have ascribed this belief to a lack of imagination; an inability to take an idea to its logical conclusion.

In this, I think, they're profoundly mistaken, and in their dismissal they evidence their shallowness, lack of understanding of and contempt for what they think it means to be 'human'. Heinlein, on the other hand, never did waver from a position of what might be termed 'conservative emortalism': a philosophical position that uses established value systems to provide a framework for the profound changes that will come upon us soon.

He had a fine sense of human existence treading the delicate balance between individualism and social existence and the apparently paradoxical mutual dependence of the two. He also understood, as is evidenced in his prodigious body of work, that a similar balance and mutual dependence exists between one's need to be free to choose one's path and the equally strong need to have that freedom constrained by ethical codes. His protagonists, rugged individualists all, eventually invariably choose to subordinate their personal needs to those of the people who depend on them. In doing this they are 'true' to themselves and their loved ones, dependents, society and ultimately humanity as a whole.

No other writer I know has been so consistent preaching this gospel, which must surely be considered the ultimate humanist manifesto; and also the first that includes a notion that such ethics can indeed be the foundation for a future where significant life-extension has become commonplace.

If you haven't read or don't know much about Heinlein, start here:   

  Time Enough for Love  

 Grumbles from the Grave

You might want to read this article also, penned in 1980 by the science fiction writer Spider Robinson.

Heinlein-related links: 1  2  3  4