Note to readers: I considered dividing this essay into seven parts, because it is long and in some places pretty dense. So set aside some time to drop in with it. It weighs in at over 8,000 words — just what they recommend to maximize virality. Or maybe that was 800 words. An audio version will follow soon.

1. The Gospel of Progress

Ever since the archaic divergence of humanity from other hominids, our systems of tools and symbols have developed at an accelerating pace. We depend less and less on the physical capacities of our bodies. We operate more and more in the realm of information: data, words, numbers, and bits.

Quite naturally then, we have conceived an idea of progress that celebrates this development, and a destiny narrative that foresees its endless continuation. Its future is one where we integrate technology ever more fully into our bodies, until we become something more than just bodies.