I've never made it a secret that I'm keenly interested in where humanity may go. I follow transhumanism discussions when I can. I know a few active in the H+ movement that I exchange emails with regularly.

I believe it's inevitable that humanity's desire to tweak will turn inevitably to our bodies and that this will take some very interesting combinations with technopaganism.

For the moment, I'm going to leave all the discussions about genetic modifications on the table. No human hybrids, no new species, no modification of the genome at all. Except the old fashioned way. *grin*

No, for this entry I'm going to focus strictly on somatic changes, body enhancements through the application of technology.

Regular readers know I have an iPad and I use it all the time. It works great to read, surf the web, do email, and watch videos almost anywhere. But the iPad has some serious limitations. One is the physicality of the screen, which doubles as the control surface. Just powering that screen takes most of the power. A user has to touch the screen, which means a trade-off between durability and usability. Without that screen, the iPad would run longer and fill a much smaller container.

Theoretically, if there was some sort of neural interface, the entire functionality of the iPad might fit in something the size of a pack of gum. Give it a few more years, and you might fit the entire thing into a something like a grain of rice.

And it would give you the equivalent of a 40 inch screen if you needed it.

And that is only the beginning.

Immersive virtual environments could substitute for most of how we live today. Your offline home could be much more spartan if a virtual environment could provide entertainment and information. Why work yourself nearly to death for a McMansion if luxury is only a click away?

Neal Stephenson wrote about implanted electrical stimulators that let people maintain muscle tone without paying attention. For a culture that accepts botox and plastic surgery, that doesn't seem like such a stretch. Of course there could be weapon implants and tool implants. There could be regeneration. There could be replacement.

Heck, I would pay a lot for feet that weren't flat, scaly, wide, and didn't hurt all the time.

Imagine tattoos that incorporated circuitry. Jewelry that did more than look technical. Studs that might actually be antennas or data ports. Immune systems boosted to absurd levels of resistance. Eyes that really did see in the dark.

Interesting cultural picture, isn't it? Technology is personal because you wear it or your body has been modified to carry it.

And yes, there is a place for the Divine in all this.

The Pagan gods were makers and workers of wonders. Technology was their gift to humanity. The Gods aren't exiled in some far off memory, They are a part of us and a part of our world. We are a part of them and a part of the world.

This is the world, there is no other.

I've chosen a title drawn from the name of a legendary smith. My tools are words and ideas, but they are no less potent.

I believe that our future humanity may look a touch more savage than today, but we'll still be human and we'll still want to make the world our own.

Call it a Technopagan dream. Feel free to join.