“For the dinosaurs of the old generation, innovation still means a better paint on the car. But innovation today simply replaces entire lines of thought…….” (Benjamin Eidam)

Benjamin Eidam is 27 years old and co-founded the TPD, the Transhuman Party Germany in 2015. He studied industrial engineering, counter-terrorism and complexity sciences. Since the beginning of 2017 he has been working in his own online business. He is in the process of developing an app that “should make the user addicted to knowledge”.

How did it come about that you founded the Transhuman Party 3 years ago?

At that time I was in the process of expanding my vision of individual self-sufficiency. By more or less coincidence I found the group of the TPD (Transhuman Party Germany) in foundation on Facebook. Our interests overlapped strongly from the beginning. I took the opportunity to continue working on my vision on the one hand and to make a difference on the other. So I co-founded it. I was its chairman from April 2016 to January 2018.

What motivated you to found this party?

A truly progressive option in the political spectrum is missing. Even the pirates seem conservative against some transhumanists.

What does your utopia of the future look like?

I believe that individual self-sufficiency will solve most of our current problems. From wars and climate change to global disaster for a variety of reasons.

How is autarchy supposed to solve our problems?

I assume that every person has basic needs that must be satisfied. This leads to dependency. The technologies of our time provide us with the means to become self-sufficient.

How can I imagine this “autarchy through technology”?

With technology, your own four walls become an “activotope” – the place you need to unfold. Following this argumentation, your own four walls become self-sufficient. An “Aktiotop” is any place you need to be able to unfold: No matter if it is the library, music school or even the hospital.

It does not matter whether you are sick or alone, not working or anything else. Your basic needs are always guaranteed and covered without dependencies.

The basic idea is not new and the long-term vision behind it I share with Jaques Fresco and his “Venus Project”. A peaceful, prosperous world in which every human being can devote himself completely to his development.

How’s that supposed to work? Complete independence from other people and functions? Aren’t we becoming more and more dependent on technology?

Autarchic in this context means material independence from external suppliers. Guaranteed independence, even more fundamental than that of money. In other words, for example, without the need for electricity suppliers, Internet providers or supermarkets. In short: A world in which every place is self-sufficient offers freedom, security and independence for everyone. This is my thesis and I would like to put it to the test by realizing it.

How can I imagine the complete autonomy of each individual – in practical terms?

Imagine a world where you wake up in the morning and everything is the same. With two major differences: First, you can use the day one hundred percent the way you want to. No matter if you want to support your neighbours in knitting, visit your family, play football or write an app. Every day for the rest of your life. There is no way to force you to do anything other than what you want to do. And second, that your own little vertical farm provides you with breakfast based on your routines, but that’s a gimmick that doesn’t have to happen

Why would humans want to merge with machines? What benefits does this bring to humanity?

The fusion of both worlds is above all the expansion of the horizon by different dimensions instead of kilometres.

If humanity is currently a lighthouse, then this fusion not only allows us to look further out to sea, but also to see the entire light spectrum and perhaps even in multiverse.

In my opinion, the resulting opportunities can hardly be overestimated.

By this I mean the fusion of human creativity, empathy, and emotions with machine speed, scalability, and storage power into an emergent “more”. More options for action, I believe, means more freedom. The fusion corresponds to the divinization of mankind.

The website “Wait but why” has excellently explained this point regarding the brain in an article about the StartUp Neuralink. I can only recommend this article to everyone despite its length!

Who does the Transhumanist Party reach with these ideals?

We are 107 mostly young members and mostly the classic “Techies”, yet many of us are “philosophically influenced”. The TPD is by far the youngest party in the political spectrum in terms of the average age of its members. More and more women are joining in. In principle we want to reach everyone, but above all cosmopolitan, progressive and future-oriented people – as political “early adopters”.

This sounds as if there are only a few “forward-looking and cosmopolitan” contemporaries in our social and cultural landscape?

For the dinosaurs of the old generation, innovation still means a better paint on the car. However, innovation and disruption are now simply replacing entire areas of thought such as “the car”.

This understanding and the resulting motivation for action is completely lacking in current politics. In my opinion, realism in politics today means – in a certain sense – futurism and its pragmatic application and preventive anticipation.

What is the point of an educational system from the 18th century at a time when almost all of humanity’s information is available at any time? What good are hospitals that have broken bones if we can now change the human gene pool itself?

It is time to ask and answer questions in a contemporary way! How do you calculate your chances to get into the government with Transhuman Party?

The social development is just coming to us. Technology and its implications permeate and occupy more and more living environments. And here we are.

We are the contact for future, progress and development in the overall social context in the German-speaking countries. Therefore the chances are getting better and better for us without our help. I am in good spirits for the next federal election.

Read more here about the fusion of technology and man

What project do I run with this blog? You can find out here

Who is the utopia collector? Learn more about me and my motivation here