Transhumanists fervently believe that humans, in their current form, are not in the final stage of their evolution, but that various technologies could ultimately augment human capabilities, both in mental and physical terms.  This will ultimately lead, they believe, to a degree of immortality.

There has been concern around things like mind upload technology that it would primarily appeal to selfish individuals who would misuse the technology for personal gain.  A recent study from the University of Helsinki suggests that supporters of transhumanism did tend to rank highly in terms of Machiavellianism.

“We find that Dark Triad traits, and Machiavellianism in particular, are positively associated with the moral approval of mind upload technology, even after controlling for a number of plausible confounds,” the researchers say.

Antisocial tendencies

Many of the technologies being developed at the current time have ethical concerns associated with them, and mind upload technology is certainly high up there, not least as researchers have expressed concern that the technology will be favored by those among us with antisocial personality traits.

The researchers focused specifically on the so-called Dark Triad traits, and Machiavellianism in particular.  They found a strong connection between these and moral approval of mind upload technology, which they argue creates a very real risk that the technology will be exploited by selfish individuals for personal gain.

“Future studies focusing on moral psychological themes of transhumanism and mind upload should examine in more detail the cognitive processes that subserve preferences for mind upload,” the researchers conclude. “Our present work confirmed a certain pattern of associations, but provided limited evidence concerning the psychological mechanism linking sexual disgust, Machiavellianism and utilitarianism to favorable views about mind upload and related transhumanist technologies.”