Does the James Bond genre promote a transhumanist message? You could interpret this essay as arguing yes, in that Bond does many things which you can learn to do in real life which make you more capable than most people, starting with the fact that he went to real places instead of science-fictional places. Like Bond, you can condition yourself physically, learn martial arts, develop proficiency in the use of firearms, study foreign languages, dress well, drive cool cars, play baccarat and so forth. I don’t know the part about hooking up with beautiful women you’ve just met in luxury hotels, however. Apparently you can’t even try to pick up ordinary women at atheist conventions, despite all the christian propaganda about atheists’ promiscuity, without causing unedifying scandals and the creation of new atheist factions like Atheism+.
The argument is fun, but I’m not sure how well it pans out. Most fans of anything probably don’t end up amounting to much. Competent SF fans won’t end up piloting spaceships, but they may end up with a career at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.
The general good point is that being an espionage geek will get you obsessed over history, politics, psychology and linguistics trivia, which is all applicable in many real life areas, while getting immersed in fantasy fiction has you learning lots of stuff that doesn’t tie into the real world in any particular way.
The James Bond fiction isn’t really about improvement though, Bond is just another face in the long lineage of pulp fiction competent men, who already are implausibly good at everything when the story starts.
Does the James Bond genre promote a transhumanist message? You could interpret this essay as arguing yes, in that Bond does many things which you can learn to do in real life which make you more capable than most people, starting with the fact that he went to real places instead of science-fictional places. Like Bond, you can condition yourself physically, learn martial arts, develop proficiency in the use of firearms, study foreign languages, dress well, drive cool cars, play baccarat and so forth. I don’t know the part about hooking up with beautiful women you’ve just met in luxury hotels, however. Apparently you can’t even try to pick up ordinary women at atheist conventions, despite all the christian propaganda about atheists’ promiscuity, without causing unedifying scandals and the creation of new atheist factions like Atheism+.
Why James Bond Fans Are Better Than Sci-Fi Geeks
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/09/13/why-james-bond-fans-are-better-than-sci-fi-geeks/?singlepage=true
The argument is fun, but I’m not sure how well it pans out. Most fans of anything probably don’t end up amounting to much. Competent SF fans won’t end up piloting spaceships, but they may end up with a career at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.
The general good point is that being an espionage geek will get you obsessed over history, politics, psychology and linguistics trivia, which is all applicable in many real life areas, while getting immersed in fantasy fiction has you learning lots of stuff that doesn’t tie into the real world in any particular way.
The James Bond fiction isn’t really about improvement though, Bond is just another face in the long lineage of pulp fiction competent men, who already are implausibly good at everything when the story starts.
I’d say that the article is arguing, if it is at all about transhumanism, that James Bond is “transhumanizing”, rather than transhumanist in itself.