“DIGITAL UPGRADE” OF MAN

Abstract

Introduction. The modern world is characterized by a peculiar “digitalization fad,” whereby digital copies are added to everything in unlimited quantities. In this regard, the authors of the article address the threats and risks associated with digital innovations, as well as the search for ways to understand predictive and preventive ideas in this regard. The processes of computer evolution, the creation of digital twins of not only inanimate objects, but also humans, require a conceptual justification for a kind of “digital upgrade” of a person, which has been gaining momentum in recent years, as stated in these publications. The purpose of the study is to analyze attempts to construct a digital analogue of a person and continuously improve it: from the creation of a digital profile or avatar as a means of identification in the digital world and a digital passport in a medical institution to digital immortality and projects for “uploading” consciousness to an external medium. Materials and methods. The study draws on systemic, anthropological, and axiological approaches, allowing us to identify the relationship between digital technologies, mental forms of influence, and empirical data on their application in various fields. Scientific novelty of the study. A conceptualization of the “philosophical foundations” of “enhancement” of individuals and society is proposed. The article presents a conceptual justification for “digital upgrade”: from computer modernization processes to the creation of digital twins. The specificity and role of “digital mediation” in the inculturation of modern humans is examined in the context of “human enhancement” technologies. Results. A typology of simplifications of humans as systems is formulated, transferred in a reduced form from technical systems (in robotics, cybernetics, computer science, etc.) to humans, where the distinctions between humans and technical systems as objects are lost. It has been established that examples of such simplifications, widely represented in the works of our contemporaries, who use the tools of philosophy to manifest utopian technocratic ideas, are of a socio-psychological nature. It is established that examples of such simplifications are widely represented in the works of our contemporaries, who use philosophical tools to manifest utopian technocratic ideas. The principles underlying the analogies between humans and computers are presented, as well as the application of cybernetic systems principles (the principle of decomposition, openness, and compatibility) to their cognition and transformation. The specific nature of the “digital intermediary” as a technology for “human enhancement” is outlined in the effects of the “digital rift” in the sociocultural development of younger users. Conclusions. Understanding “human upgrade” as a technical and technological transformation of the human body and the consciousness embedded within it, in accordance with the principles of cybernetic system optimization, facilitating the deep interpenetration of the natural and artificial worlds, revolutionizes notions of the criteria for the authenticity and reality of human existence. This challenges humans, in their interactions with digital technologies, to maintain the role of “analog consciousness” as a reflective center, capable of asking questions, doubting, and making choices not predetermined by algorithms.