Introduction
The relationship between immigration, post-human and globalization is based on the fact that humans, just like every other living being, are prone to change. Additionally, it is based on the theory that living beings evolve with time and are, therefore, obliged to alter their modes of living, thinking and even places of dwelling. Before embarking on further details of this topic, it is important to define and give detailed information pertaining to these subject matters.
Immigration
The term immigration has had quite a number of definitions, some of which have played a significant role in expounding on the push and pull factors that contribute to it. In the simplest terms, immigration may be defined as the movement of persons from their places or regions of birth to regions which are unfamiliar to them or which they are barely native in. In most occasions, people move to different countries or continents. Rarely do people consider movement to neighboring districts, provinces or regions with the same climatic and geographical makeup immigration (Watts, 2002).
There are quite a number of reasons that prompt people to move away from their native lands. Some of these reasons include political unsteadiness, economic aspects, family re-union, poverty, natural catastrophes or merely the urge to alter surrounding. These reasons are further categorized into push and pull factors. Push factors are the negative reasons that make the living environment in native lands unfavorable. Pull reasons, on the other hand, are principally the motivation factors for moving from a locality of origin. In economic immigration for instance, better wages in other countries are usual motives that instigate immigration.
Globalization
Globalization may be described as the increased economic independence by nations worldwide and is instigated by an increase in the volumes of cross-border trade. It is also brought about by free international capital flow, quick absorption of technology and comparatively high levels of education amongst citizens. It is important to note that globalization integrates economic factors, cultures, technology and political aspects all of which interlink. This is because all these aspects play an integral part in determining the quality of someone’s life (Haney, 2009).
Globalization has quite a number of characteristics on the economic status, culture and intellectual aspects. In economics, for instance, globalization impacts by increasing international trade, international flow of capital, creation of more international treaties and the advancement of the relative global financial systems. It also increases the various roles played by international bodies and organizations such as WTO and economic activities and practices (Hamilton, and Wood, 2009). In culture, on the other hand, globalization impacts by enhancing international cultural exchange, widespread of multiculturalism, widespread international tourism and travel and incorporation of foreign foods into other regions. That aside, globalization also impacts on culture by enhancing the infrastructure of world telecommunication and the smooth flow of data. Therefore, globalization is the overall harmonization of world affairs (Bacon, 2008).
Post-human
The terms post-human is a notion based on science fiction and futurology and is used to refer to the future humans. Scientist believe that there shall evolve a speculative being in the form of a human being but with unimaginable intelligence. This has been championed by the speculation that human and computer intelligence can be amalgamated to come up with supper-intelligent beings of the future. Post-humanism does not agree with humanism that asserts that the human nature is self-dependent, open to free-will and is autonomous as an apex of existence. This is an implication that under no circumstances shall the human intelligence be compared to the intelligence of artificial beings (Baofu, 2006).
The interrelationship between post-human, globalization and immigration comes as a result of a process that takes ages to materialize. Many scholars have since disagreed with the scientific theory that post-humanism is a future speculation. They claim that the current humans are post-human to those that came before. To some extent, this may be true while putting into consideration the definition of post-humanism. Post-humanism, in its typical sense, is the advanced version of the ancient human race dated a few centuries ago. It is evident that the current man is intellectually different from the ancient man. However, the incorporation of science fiction to explain what the anticipated post-human is expected to achieve shows clearly that this subject is still a mere theory (Foster, and University of Minnesota, 2005). This paper is meant to give a distinctive relationship between post-humanism, globalization and immigration. It explains the origin of immigration and globalization which in conjunction gave rise to the post-human theory.
Immigration and globalization
Immigration is considered as one of the key contributors to globalization. People have been known to move from one locality to the next for quite a number of centuries now. Despite the numerous reasons why people opt to leave their places of origin in order to inhabit other regions, the impacts of immigration are more or less similar. In this context, the diffusion of ideas makes the basis of the discussion. When people move from one place to another, they interact with people from other races and share ideas; some of which play an imperative role in shaping the economic, technological and infrastructural development of a particular region.
This is an implication that the sharing of new ideas results to general globalization. Immigrants that bring specialized knowledge or skilled labor play an integral part in decreasing the transactional budgets related to international businesses (Watts, 2002). Since the distribution of information must include channels like learning and schooling, education must be incorporated in growing the knowledge-intensive part of this global economy. Students who do well in their class work are bound to maneuver the highly competitive opportunity structure in the global economy. This is a big step towards advancing technology hence resulting into globalization (Nederveen, 2004).
Globalization is not only seen as a way of capturing territories in terms of information, symbols and markets but also capturing people. This implies that the creation of global economies involves unprecedented displacement and immigration of persons. As a result, people acquire new habitats and niches (Haney, 2009). This process pushes the less competitive population to inferior lands and attracts the comparatively competitive population to conducive and favorable lands. Apart from immigration and dislocation, globalization also entails the formation of knowledge-exhaustive and post-national economies that are known to internationalize the manufacture of goods and services. Lastly, global economies also result to the creation of new ICTs that rescue individuals from the autocracy of time and space. When all these are combined, they are all attributed to technological advancement.
It is through technological advancements that people are able to diversify their ethnicity. The rebirth of ethnic groups through assimilation of various characteristics from immigrants has been proven to escalate globalization. It is, therefore, important to note that the escalation of this process is a key factor to the development of post-humanism. This is because globalization is largely associated with technological development that further enhances innovations; the basic principle of post-humanism. The theory of post-human is dependent on technological advancement and innovations in the sense that it amalgamates technology with biology to come up with biotechnology which is the prime subject in post-humanism (Herbrechter, and Callus, 2004).
How immigration relates to post-human and globalization
Just like it has been mentioned above, immigration brings about the sharing of ideas amongst people from different areas. This then results to the incorporation of various innovative information and ideas to come up with technological advancement. It is in technological advancement, especially in biotechnology, that the concept of post-humanism is conceived. It is believed that the inclusion of computers into biology would breed totally different breeds of humans with very high IQs. This statement has sprouted quite a number of debates on whether the current humans have already become post-humans. However, the facts brought forward have not met the intended characteristics of the post-humans.
According to science fiction, post humans are superlative beings with the capacity to detect future discrepancies using the most invisible and undetectable pointers. Additionally, they are able to inculcate the computer intelligence, speed and accuracy into their minds and apply them without further aid. In the contemporary world, this is far beyond expectations and perhaps this is why the whole theory is mere imaginary tale. As a matter of fact, if there are claims that the post-humans already exist then there should be hardly any distinct difference between the trans-humans, post-humans, the anti-humans and the cyborg (Vint, 2006). This is because the post-human is meant to supers the rest of the human nature in every possible way. So far, there is barely any difference between the 19th century human and the 21st century man as far as intellectual variance is concerned. Perhaps this concept of post-humanism would apply to other living creatures apart from humans.
Criticism of post-humanism, immigration and globalization
It is agreeable to deduce that immigrations, both legal and illegal, have increased the intelligence of man as evidenced by the rapid technological advancements across the globe. However, the extent to which biotechnology can be applied to actualize post-humanism is still a subject in heated debates. According to ethical standards, scholars argue that perhaps if the theories surrounding post-humanism are implemented then the resultant beings would have questionable ethics. There are worries of whether they would uphold personhood and human dignity. That notwithstanding, there are philosophical concerns of whether the beings will acquire the expected moral standards and status of a post-human (Miccoli, 2010).
There have also been concerns that the biotechnology, commonly used in post-human researches, would alter the human personality for the worst as opposed to its intended good. This has been championed by the history of moral philosophy that makes us human. Scholars argue that the rights of a person and their moral behaviors can only be pillared on the existence of an identifiable and invariable human nature and his or her willingness to perform actions that conform to them. Therefore, nothing that falls outside the brackets of this argument should be implemented lest we want to jeopardize the code of ethics (Abu-Laban, and Gabriel, 2002).
Even though there are some evidences that support the existence of genuine hereditary universals like in the aggressiveness of adolescent males across all races, critics of post-human theory and its relationship with immigrations argue that such universal behaviors must be accompanied by genetic origin. Due to this reason, they consider the fiction in post-humanism null and void since it holds no genetic origin. They further relate this matter to social regimentation that acts as pills used in controlling the social life of children and manipulation of their social characteristics. Regimentation bypasses the fact that children were not evolutionally designed to remain calm in the company of others especially at school (Miccoli, 2010).
Another area of concern is the use of biotechnology to prolong life with the aim of actualizing post-humanism. This is projected to have adverse negative effects since it would result to an increase in not only life expectancy but also fertility rate. In the event that this happens, demographics are bound to change drastically hence escalating the local effects of immigration and tampering with age-graded hierarchies. The hierarchies are influential administrative positions like tenures and seniority hence adversely affecting politics (Miccoli, 2010). In addition, the prolonged life does not correspondingly reduce the dependency of old people. As a result, the extensive use of biotechnology in a bid to actualize post-humanism with the aid of globalization would further complicate man’s life and much worse undermine his ethical and moral values.
Conclusion
In conclusion, therefore, there is a significant relation between immigration, post-humanism and globalization. Immigration is one of the root-causes of globalization as it brings intelligent minds together to come up with technological advancement and innovations which apparently form the pillar of post-humanism. Post-humanism, on the other hand, is a concept based on how much technology and computers can be incorporated in biology in order to come up with almost 100% efficient beings. This is mostly done through biotechnology that has proven its worth to some extent but has also faced criticism especially after the realization that its extensive use would undermine the human code of ethics. The fear that this might be used to genetically engineer babies with unimaginable high levels of brain performance breaks the moral values of mankind (Dinello, 2005).
References
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