Abstract
Over the past 200 years, Homo sapiens, a species of mammal, has made unprecedented progress in improving the quality of its life on the planet Earth. There is no ground whatsoever for the argument that any other member of the animal kingdom—even Canis familiaris or Pongo pygmaeus—has ever achieved anything even close to the achievements of Homo sapiens, wise man. Its existence is no longer limited by the abilities of its body as a whole or by its organ of information processing, the brain. It has learned how to artificially extend its physical as well as mental faculties. Within a matter of hours it can now move from one continent to another; it can even leave the planet for the space stations it has placed in orbit around the planet. Space probes have been sent, not only to other parts of the solar system, but even beyond it. Having extended its physical capabilities, Homo sapiens has expanded its mental faculties and learned how to store and make available to the entire population within seconds all the information the wise men have ever created, as well as how to communicate with each other in real time. Although, for the time being, not everyone has been connected to everyone else, the most intelligent representatives of the species have already figured out smart ways to get everybody wired within a few years, including by wireless connection. Men have started preparing to replace their naturally evolved carbon-based organic bodies for more durable and compact silicon-based bodies that would allow them to leave the planet and discover the outer reaches of space, searching for other microchips like themselves.
Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7:56
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Notes
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© 2004 Voldemar Tomusk
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Tomusk, V. (2004). From Lenin to Digital Rapture: The Everlasting Transition in East European Higher Education and Beyond. In: The Open World and Closed Societies. Issues in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403979476_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403979476_1
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