In 2016, a tragic diving accident left Noland Arbaugh a quadriplegic and confined him to a wheelchair.
In 2024, he began moving objects with his mind—or at least the mouse cursor on his computer screen.
Noland’s “superpower” was made possible by Neuralink, a company specializing in implantable brain-computer interfaces that allow people to wirelessly control computers or mobile devices with their minds. On March 20, Neuralink released a video of Noland playing chess on his computer using only his thoughts. The 29-year-old was elated by his newfound ability, which has drastically improved his autonomy and quality of life.
According to their website, Neuarlink’s mission is to “create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.” As life-changing as this technology is for a person with quadriplegia, the end goal is to “unlock human potential tomorrow.”
In other words, they’d also like to “enhance” the minds of healthy people with their technology.
Cyborg Nation or Restoration?
The philosophy driving Neuralink and companies like it is “transhumanism.” An article at Builtin.com states: “This futuristic movement sees the merging of human and machine as the next logical step in our evolution.” As a philosophical and intellectual movement, transhumanism aims to enhance human longevity, cognition, and well-being with sophisticated technologies such as bionics, genetic engineering, cryonics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. Transhumanists want us to become “posthumans” who overcome our bodies’ physical and mental limitations with technology.
Evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley wrote in his 1957 book New Bottles for New Wine: “I believe in transhumanism: once there are enough people who can truly say that, the human species will be on the threshold of a new kind of existence, as different from ours as ours is from that of Peking man. It will at last be consciously fulfilling its real destiny.”
Attaching advanced prosthetics and even implanting microchips to improve and extend the lives of people with disabilities is a noble cause. Believing that we are evolving and that technology will enable us to take the next step in the process? That’s a deadly delusion.
According to Scripture, humans are not the products of evolution but are intelligent beings created in the image of God on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:26, 27). When the first humans attempted to transcend God’s perfect design by eating from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” they corrupted humanity through sin and brought death to the entire race (Genesis 2:17; 3).
What makes us think that transhumanism, a philosophy typically associated with disregarding God, will give us different results? What we desperately need is restoration through Christ, not the false hope of evolution. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Defeating Death
Transhumanists see technology as the key to immortality, expecting to one day upload our minds into computer systems and escape our mortal bodies. Until that day comes, some wealthy transhumanists are having themselves frozen at death in the hope of being resurrected in the future. This is nothing more than a form of chasing after the serpent’s lie, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).
The apostle Paul states that God “alone has immortality” (1 Timothy 6:16). We’ll not find it through cryonics (freezing bodies to resurrect them later), mind uploading, or any other human endeavor. Transhumanism seeks to defeat death while ignoring its underlying cause—sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Jesus, by dying for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), “has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Those who put their faith in Him will “put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53) at His return when “Death is swallowed up in victory” (v. 54).
To Be Like God
After wirelessly tethering the minds of those with disabilities to their computers (not necessarily a bad thing), what’s the next step? Will minds eventually be connected to the internet at all times without needing computers or phones? That can’t be healthy, considering how many of us are already addicted to our devices. Perhaps the wealthy will selectively upgrade their brains with new skills and information.
Here’s a description of what that might be like from the April 1985 issue of Byte magazine: “You awake one morning to find your brain has another lobe functioning. Invisible, this auxiliary lobe answers your questions with information beyond the realm of your own memory, suggests plausible courses of action, and asks questions that help bring out relevant facts. You quickly come to rely on the new lobe so much that you stop wondering how it works. You just use it. This is the dream of artificial intelligence.”
In Eden, Eve gave the serpent a place inside her head when she believed his lie that she could “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5x). Would it be any safer to let computers do our thinking for us? Like the serpent, transhumanism promises to make us all-knowing, thus eliminating our need for God.
Note the sentiments of transhumanist Frank Theys from his Technocalyps film series: “We are going to become Gods. Period. If you don’t like it, get off. You don’t have to contribute; you don’t have to participate. But if you’re going to interfere with me becoming God, we’re going to have big trouble. Then we’ll have warfare.”
The Ultimate Enhancement
God gifted humans with incredible intelligence, but when created beings seek to replace the Creator, it ends in death, not immortality (Romans 1:18–32; 6:23). Science and technology are a blessing to countless millions, but there is only one Savior. Transhumanism seeks to replace Him by defeating death with technology while not acknowledging sin as its root cause. This is a hopeless endeavor. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
What humans need most is “the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). Through a relationship with Jesus, we are freed from sin (Romans 6:22) and become like God by having His image restored in us (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Here’s the end result: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:16, 17).
The greatest enhancement humanity can make is learning to love like God through our connection to Christ. When His self-sacrificing love is reproduced in us, we’ll transcend our self-centered mentality, become truly “like God,” and He’ll grant us the immortality we so desperately desire.
Listen to Pastor Doug’s sermon “Saved From Sin” here.
To better understand what happens at death, visit truthaboutdeath.com.
Check out this Study Guide to learn about Jesus’ return, the time when we will be granted immortality.