How Much Would It Cost To Become Transhuman?

Most Transhumanists look to the future as the time of enhanced human experience. It's symptomatic of the transhumanist condition; we're all futurists. To our minds, who wouldn't want the shiny new metal arm with the strength of a hundred men, or to be able to quote Neo and utter the infamous line, "I know Kung-Fu!" thanks to a brain-computer interface implant. And this is, of course, the primary criticism of our 'cause.' So, from time to time, it behooves us to recall that improvements to the human condition are already within today's technological reach. And more-over -- they're within the reach of Joe Everyman.

This piece is in many ways a follow-up to a previous article, "The Organic Transhumanist":

As it turns out, it is possible to induce savantism using transcranial magnetic stimulation:

The Medtronic was originally developed as a tool for brain surgery: by stimulating or slowing down specific regions of the brain, it allowed doctors to monitor the effects of surgery in real time. But it also produced, they noted, strange and unexpected effects on patients' mental functions: one minute they would lose the ability to speak, another minute they would speak easily but would make odd linguistic errors and so on. A number of researchers started to look into the possibilities, but one in particular intrigued Snyder: that people undergoing transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, could suddenly exhibit savant intelligence -- those isolated pockets of geniuslike mental ability that most often appear in autistic people.

(More on this here).

There's much more on piece, covering nootropics and transcranial magnetic stimulation in general, but what was distinctly absent was, of course, resources which purported to show the availability of these mechanisms.

Today, I will correct this error.

Another blog, "MindHacks", was in many ways instrumental to accomplishing this goal: it turns out that there are two, closely related, movements to produce my favorite of favorites: open-source (Author's Note: Open Source is Made of Win.) 'hacks' ... of our minds. I know, I know -- who would have ever guessed that a blog entitled "MindHacks" would discuss how to hack our minds? The very idea is just out of left field, yes? Okay... </sarcasm>. Those two 'movements' are the Open EEG group and the Open rTMS group. The Open rTMS has a link to a site that offers TMS devices, depending on the desired level of complexity, for between 65 to 220 dollars, with 5.00 shipping. Unfortunately, in the realm of neurofeedback, the resources are... somewhat less available. As discussed in their FAQ: The current estimate is around 200 USD for the electronics. Parts like a box, electrodes, cables and batteries will raise the cost, but by how much depends largely on what you assemble yourself (e.g cables) or buy.. It's worth noting that a medical-grade EEG device would cost roughly 8,000.00 USD. So a 400.00 expenditure with a few man-hours is no big feat, comparatively speaking.

But still, let's say we're splurging, and not sharing, here: 500 for the Neurofeedback device. 250 (for nice round numbers) for the TMS device. Both of which can produce nootropic effects. So, ask yourself: is 750 dollars worth the ability to periodically sleep for only 2 hours for the day, increase your IQ by up to 30 points, and be effectively 'stress-free'?

If all of this is too much commitment for you, however -- or just not enough -- there's another route one can take: the pharmacological. The nootropic drug touted in The Organic Transhuman was "Modafinil", or "ProVigil". Well, it turns out that Modafinil is a restricted drug in the US; it requires a prescription to obtain. And that can put a cramp in the admittedly quite ill-advised home-brewed self-nootropic-medicator's style. But all is not lost: it turns out that there is a drug, which when digested becomes modafinil, which is not so restricted. In fact, it isn't regulated in the United States at all -- despite the fact that it is manufactured by the same agency. It is called Adrafinil. From Adrafinil's Wikipedia entry:

Adrafinil is a prodrug; it is primarily metabolized in vivo to modafinil (Provigil®), resulting in nearly identical pharmacological effects. Unlike modafinil, however, it takes time for the metabolite to accumulate to active levels in the bloodstream. Effects usually are apparent within 45-60 minutes when taken orally on an empty stomach. [...] Adrafinil does not currently have FDA approval in the United States, although it is used in France and elsewhere in Europe. The drug is marketed by the American pharmaceutical company Cephalon, which acquired Group Lafon in 2001, under the brand name Olmifon.

Also from the Wikipedia entry:

In United States, adrafinil is currently unregulated.

Various resources, uncovered during my research, indicated that the 'best' site to acquire adrafinil within the US is a site called Biogenesis.com. There, one can acquire a 1-month supply for $33.25. Thus, a one-year supply would be in the order of 350 dollars.

Added up, that's ~$1,100.00 USD. Now, ask yourself; is "mild" transhumanity at that price too much to ask?

Now, for the record: This is all stuff that is at the 'leading edge' of medical science. That means, people, that What the drawbacks and side-effects of using TMS, neurofeedback, and pharmacologic nootropics, are -- is unknown.. Do this stuff AT YOUR OWN RISK. This is, of course, all legal -- and thus as a libertarian I can't tell "you" not to do this -- but it is worth noting that, even as a transhumanist, the person writing this entry has not partaken of these items.