Transhumanism is a “Western philosophy” - it’s roots can be traced to FM-2030 (born in Iran, but lived and taught in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami) and Max More (born in England, founded Extropy Institute in California, currently CEO of Alcor in Arizona). Transhumanism today is primarily identified with Humanity Plus, a nonprofit affiliated with two California groups - Singularity Institute and Foresight Institute, plus Utah’s Mormon Transhumanist Association.

Humanity+ has dozens of chapters worldwide, but the bulk of them are in the USA. China is listed by H+ as having one chapter, and Japan’s “organizing” a chapter - but South Korea and Singapore aren’t represented.

Does the history of Transhumanism and present-day H+ centralization in the USA/Euro sphere indicate that the rest of the world is far, far behind in “transhumanist” and “techno-futurist” thinking?

To be more specific: Is East Asian (China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan) lack of representation in transhumanist organizations signify that it is lagging in forward-thinking? That it hasn’t grasped the visionary potential of transhumanist philosophy? That it is years behind the West in creating a world that significantly enhances the human species?

No. Quite the inverse, in my research-substantiated opinion.

This essay will assert and seek to prove that East Asia is actually the present Leader in “Transhumanist” ideas and on-the-ground implementation. East Asia will also, in the future, IMO, increasingly guide the rest of the (more backward) planet with its innovative, forward-friendly success.

Here’s a list of “transhumanist” categories that East Asia is triumphant in:

Elevated Brain Power - Empowering human intelligence / mental ability is a preeminent transhumanist goal. To be “superhuman” necessitates that a person is, of course, “supersmart.” Every transhumanist poll, like the Terasem Survey I conducted, also indicates that “increased intelligence” is one of the two most desired goals of transhumanists (the other is longevity). Now, let’s examine which nations have achieved the highest intelligence (IQ) per capita. Here’s the Top 12, according to statisticbrain.com:

1. Hong Kong 107 IQ

2. South Korea 106 IQ

3. Japan 105 IQ

4. Taiwan 104 IQ

5. Singapore 103 IQ

6. Austria 102 IQ

6. Germany 102 IQ

6. Italy 102 IQ

6. Netherlands 102 IQ

10. Sweden 101 IQ

10. Switzerland 101 IQ

11. Belgium 100 IQ

12. China 100 IQ

The Top 5 are all East Asian nations. Although China, with its 1.3 billion population, is “only” #12, it is still far ahead of the USA - #19 with 98 IQ.

Longevity - Living a radically long life, i.e., eliminating death via attaining “immortality”, is perhaps the primary goal of transhumanists. The attainment of this accomplishment will most realistically be accomplished in small bite-sized increments of time. What nations are presently leading in life extension? Who is most effectively chipping away at the power of death?

1. Monaco 89.63 years

2. Macau 84.46

3. Japan 84.19

4. Singapore 84.07

5. San Marino 83.12

6. Andorra 82.58

7. Guerney 82.32

8. Switzerland 82.28

9. Hong Kong 82.20

10. Australia 81.98

East Asian zones take 3 of the top 4 slots here, and 4 of the top 10. (Admittedly, China and South Korea are far behind). The most significant statistic is Japan’s high-ranking, because it’s population of 127 million is approximately 4X greater than all the other nations on the list, combined. Japanese are generally recognized as the longest-living people, with extremely healthy senior citizens that routinely do amazing feats, like the recent 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura who climbed Mount Everest.

Education - Training learners in fields that are required for technological innovation must be regarded as a transhumanist goal. Nations that best educate their children to contribute positively to “enhancing” humanity need to be applauded for their valuable schools. So.. what nations are presently producing the best-educated youngsters? Who will contribute “Human Capital”? What nations are preparing kids that out-compete all others in international tests? Below is the Top 12 ranking for PISA (Program for International Student Assessment)

Math

1. China: Shanghai 600

2. Singapore 562

3. Hong Kong 555

4. Korea 546

5. Chinese Taipei 543

6. Finland 541

7. Liechtenstein 536

8. Switzerland 534

9. Japan 529

10. Canada 527

11. Netherlands 526

12. China: Macao 525

Science

1. China: Shanghai 575

2. Finland 554

3. Hong Kong 549

4. Singapore 542

5. Japan 539

6. Korea 538

7. New Zealand 532

8. Canada 529

9. Estonia 528

10. Australia 527

11. Netherlands 522

12. Chinese Taipei 520

East Asian nations clearly dominate in this category, as they did in the “Elevated Brain Power” (Intelligence) rankings. The results are even more skewed when one considers that the Western competitors generally have minuscule populations - Finland (5.4 million), Estonia (1.34 million), Liechtenstein (36,304).

Per Capita Income via “Human Capital”

The ability to generate economic wealth via one’s intelligence should also be regarded as a “transhumanist” value. This characteristic has been defined as “human capital.” Many regions of the world are wealthy due to exploitation of local natural resources, such as mineral deposits, timber, fertile agricultural land, oil-and-gas. Getting rich doing that is just “lucky” - far more impressive is the generation of wealth solely via one’s ability to create, invent, innovate, discover and lead.

What nations are world leaders in “Human Capital” ? Unquestionably, we’re back to admiring East Asia. Many regions here - Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan - are significantly lacking in natural resources. Their primary method of income is simply their own well-educated, hard-working population.

Take a look at the chart below - it is a forecast - an estimate of the leading nations in the world in Per Capita Income in 2050.

1. Singapore 137,710

2. Hong Kong 116,639

3. Taiwan 114,093

4. South Korea 107,752

5. USA 100,802

6. Saudi Arabia 98,311

7. Canada 96,375

8. UK 91,130

9. Switzerland 90,956

10. Austria 90,158

If you think 2050 is too far away to be relevant, please note that Singapore is already #1 - it has passed oil-rich Norway.

The McKinsey report that produced the forecast, states that, “It is not hyperbole to say we are observing the mostsignificant shift in the earth’s economic centre of gravity in history.”

Another report, by Citigroup/Knight Frank, predicts “nearly half of the world’s economic output—49 per cent—will be in Asia by 2050. Today it is at 27 per cent. Europe and North America’s share, currently at a combined 41 per cent, will fall to a mere 18 per cent by 2050.”

​Scientific Leadership

Transhumanism’s goals need to be guided by leaders who are well-educated and scientifically-literate. Does the West fit this description? Decidedly not.

Out of 44 Presidents in the United States, only one of them received a PhD (Woodrow Wilson, in history and political science). Additionally, only one President - Herbert Hoover - had a science / engineering background. The bulk of USA executive leaders have been lawyers or soldiers.

Meanwhile, in contrast, East Asia is presently guided by leaders who are far more scientifically-trained than their Western counterparts. For example, the behemoth nation of China has a President (Hu Jintao) has a degree in Hydraulic Engineering, the Premier (Wen Jiabao) has an advanced graduate degree in Hydraulic Engineering, and eight of the top nine top officials in China are engineers.

Want more? The current President of Singapore, Tony Tan has a Master’s in Science from MIT in operations research, and a PhD from the University of Adelaide in Applied Mathematics. In South Korea, Park Geun-hye, the first woman elected President, earned her degree in electronic engineering.

Tech-Savvy Populace, Innovators & Investors

The ability of a population to be “early-adaptors”, “tech-literate”, and financially supportive of new research and development is a decidedly transhumanist requirement. In multiple areas of this category, East Asians are also either in-the-lead, or highly competitive. Here’s numerous stats with links:

China leads the world in patent filings

Japan leads in patents granted

East Asia leads in “business funding”

Three East Asian nations are ranked in the Top 7 in Bloomberg’s list of “Most Innovative Nations.” (South Korea #2, Japan #6, Singapore #7)

Singapore is ranked #1 as best country in which to run a business

Japan leads the robotic industry. Hot on it’s mechanical heels are China and South Korea.

China is the “leading nation in the artificial intelligence research field in terms of the number of publications”

China is “soaring ahead in nanotechnology”

Taiwan “Well-placed to be a Biotechnology Leader”

My Conclusion

It seems clear to me that the future, technologically and economically, is rapidly shifting to East Asia. But it doesn’t seem like transhumanists are cognizant of this.

There are occasional exceptions. Ben Goertzel has written about East Asia in essays such as The Chinese Singularity and A Samsung Robot in Every Home by 2020? and he organized a Humanity+ transhumanist conference in Hong Kong. I’ve written about East Asia for Hplus in my essay The Next Global Superpower Is… Korea? and for IEET in the article “Why is “Confucian Culture so Wildly Successful?” Additionally, there have been 2 articles written about Japanese “robot butt-cheeks”… here and here but very little other coverage of anything else East Asian.

What’s my gripe?

I believe transhumanists, and the West in general, need to wake up and examine the East Asian phenomenon with open eyes. In doing so, we might face realities that are jarring, uncomfortable. For example: East Asian success was NOT gained entirely via Western-style democracies. China and Singapore, for example, had authoritarian, one-party governments - defined, IMO, as “Intelliarchies” or Plato’s “Rule By The Wise” systems. Should we consider: is Western-style democracy, with its huge impediments caused by bickering two-party and multi-party systems, and its corruption-via-corporate-billionaires - absolutely the “perfect” form of government? Does East Asia offer any solutions?

I believe Transhumanism needs to acknowledge, respect, and educate itself on East Asian accomplishments, and what-seems-to-be-inevitable East Asian future leadership. If Transhumanism retains it’s blinkered, Western-centric POV, it runs the risk of looking xenophobic, ignorant, and irrelevant.

Cryonics, perhaps ironically, is the main transhumanist technology that presently out-paces East Asia… but will the healthiest way to “thaw-out” be discovered via superior East Asian scientists?