Home. The Hedonistic Imperative - Abstract. This manifesto outlines a strategy to eradicate suffering in all sentient life.
The abolitionist project is ambitious, implausible, but technically feasible. It is defended here on ethical utilitarian grounds. Genetic engineering and nanotechnology allow Homo sapiens to discard the legacy-wetware of our evolutionary past. Our post-human successors will rewrite the vertebrate genome, redesign the global ecosystem, and abolish suffering throughout the living world. Why does suffering exist? The Hedonistic Imperative. The Hedonistic Imperative outlines how genetic engineering and nanotechnology will abolish suffering in all sentient life.
The abolitionist project is hugely ambitious but technically feasible. It is also instrumentally rational and morally urgent. The metabolic pathways of pain and malaise evolved because they served the fitness of our genes in the ancestral environment. They will be replaced by a different sort of neural architecture - a motivational system based on heritable gradients of bliss. States of sublime well-being are destined to become the genetically pre-programmed norm of mental health. Nuclear-powered flying airports would never have to land. When it comes to aircraft, bigger is better.
As size increases, so does efficiency, which is the thinking behind the monstrous Airbus A-380. But to be really efficient, you'd need to go bigger. Way bigger.