Bungacast UNLOCKED: /497/ Are We Living in Fast Times? ft. James Hughes & Eli Sennesh
Nov 4, 2025
Eli Sennesh, a postdoctoral neuroscience researcher, and James Hughes, Executive Director at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, dive deep into technology's future. They critique the TESCREAL acronym, arguing it misrepresents the complexity of transhumanist ideas. The duo discusses how fears of transhumanism overshadow critical tech issues of today, the political divides in futurism, and the impact of AI. They highlight the need for the left to engage with technology to foster real change, rather than getting lost in abstract dystopias.
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TESCREAL Is An Overbroad Label
- TESCREAL lumps diverse intellectual traditions into a single conspiracy-like target, which obscures real differences.
- James Hughes argues these ideas trace back to Enlightenment currents and aren't a unified movement.
Follow The Material Incentives
- Conflating figures like billionaires with a coherent TESCREAL agenda misreads material incentives and factional diversity.
- James Hughes stresses financial and market motives often explain behavior better than ideological labels.
Practical Transhumanism Is Here Now
- Contemporary transhumanism includes everyday medical advances like hormones and weight-loss drugs, not only sci-fi ideas.
- Eli Sennesh and James Hughes frame current biotech as pragmatic transhumanist work needing broader access.
