In transhumanist discourse, one issue that frequently arises is that of the significance of configurations (gender phenotype, neurological tendencies, etc.), particularly when technologies already exist that permit people to change aspects of themselves that once sat firmly in the category of “immutable”. Through the machinery of modern surgery and medicine, men can become women, women can become men, shy people can become extroverts, and scatterbrains can become focused engines of productivity. Emerging transformative technologies are likely to dilute the concept of an ultimate, identity-bolstering constraint even further. And the net result of this is going to be that more people than ever before are going to be faced with the question: “What makes me me?”, coupled with the inevitable followup question, “Who do I want to be?”
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