# A Letter to Mother Nature **Entity class:** Transhumanist letter / amendment manifesto **Author:** [[wiki/Max More|Max More]] **Original presentation:** EXTRO 4, “Biotech Futures,” University of California, Berkeley, 8 August 1999 **Later version:** More reports a revision in May 2009 and republished the text in 2023 ## Definition “A Letter to Mother Nature: Amendments to the Human Constitution” is More's personified address to nature, structured as amendments to biological limitations. Its proposals include self-chosen longevity, expanded senses, a distributed “metabrain,” genetic self-direction, and eventual freedom from exclusively biological form. These are stated aims of transhumanism, not a claim that all amendments were achieved. ## Relationships - **Authored work:** [[wiki/Max More|Max More]] wrote and publicly read the letter at EXTRO 4; his [republication](https://maxmore.substack.com/p/letter-to-mother-nature-amendments) identifies the 1999 event and 2009 revision. - **Technical routes:** [[wiki/Life Extension|Life Extension]], [[wiki/Neural Interfaces and Continuity Architecture|Neural Interfaces and Continuity Architecture]], and [[wiki/Post-Biological Embodiment|Post-Biological Embodiment]] correspond to different proposed amendments rather than one accomplished system. - **Collection and article routes:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]], [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[articles/Uploading Is Imminent|Uploading Is Imminent]], and [[articles/Who Pays for Your Heaven|Who Pays for Your Heaven]]. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts Amendment No. 2 proposes engineered perception as an expansion of experience and understanding. > "We will expand our perceptual range through biotechnological and computational means. We seek to exceed the perceptual abilities of any other creature and to devise novel senses to expand our appreciation and understanding of the world around us." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/New Senses Could Expand Human Experience by Max More|New Senses Could Expand Human Experience by Max More]] More proposes a distributed sensing and processing layer; it is an aspiration, not a demonstrated implant. > "We will supplement the neocortex with a 'metabrain'. This distributed network of sensors, information processors, and intelligence will increase our degree of self-awareness and allow us to modulate our emotions." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Extended Mind/A Distributed Metabrain Could Augment Self-Awareness by Max More|A Distributed Metabrain Could Augment Self-Awareness by Max More]] Amendment No. 5 makes deliberate biological and neurological change an explicit program. > "We will no longer be slaves to our genes. We will take charge over our genetic programming and achieve mastery over our biological, and neurological processes. We will fix all individual and species defects left over from evolution by natural selection." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Selection/Humanity Could Take Charge of Its Genetic Program by Max More|Humanity Could Take Charge of Its Genetic Program by Max More]] More argues for ongoing self-directed excellence rather than a fixed terminal design. > "Rather than seeking a state of final perfection, we will continue to pursue new forms of excellence according to our own values, and as technology allows." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Evolution/Humanity Need Not Settle for Final Perfection by Max More|Humanity Need Not Settle for Final Perfection by Max More]] The sentence opens More’s formal schedule of proposed changes to human biology and capacities. > "We have decided that it is time to amend the human constitution." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Evolution/It Is Time to Amend the Human Constitution by Max More|It Is Time to Amend the Human Constitution by Max More]] In the letter, “your” addresses Mother Nature; More proposes freedom to develop beyond exclusively biological bodies. > "We recognize your genius in using carbon-based compounds to develop us. Yet we will not limit our physical, intellectual, or emotional capacities by remaining purely biological organisms." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Mind Upload/Carbon Biology Need Not Be Our Final Substrate by Max More|Carbon Biology Need Not Be Our Final Substrate by Max More]] The “you” in More’s open letter is Mother Nature; this passage opens with gratitude for natural evolution. > "You have raised us from simple self-replicating chemicals to trillion-celled mammals. You have given us free rein of the planet." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Evolution/Mother Nature Raised Us From Molecules to Mammals by Max More|Mother Nature Raised Us From Molecules to Mammals by Max More]] More addresses Mother Nature and argues for lifting inherited limits on health and lifespan. > "However, with all due respect, we must say that you have in many ways done a poor job with the human constitution. You have made us vulnerable to disease and damage. You compel us to age and die—just as we're beginning to attain wisdom." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Preservation/Aging Cuts Life Short Just as Wisdom Arrives by Max More|Aging Cuts Life Short Just as Wisdom Arrives by Max More]] The addressee is Mother Nature; the operating manual is More’s metaphor for self-knowledge and self-regulation. > "You gave us limited memory, poor impulse control, and tribalistic, xenophobic urges. And, you forgot to give us the operating manual for ourselves!" > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Memory/Humanity Never Received Its Operating Manual by Max More|Humanity Never Received Its Operating Manual by Max More]] More celebrates human achievement while calling for a deliberate next evolutionary step; the addressee is Mother Nature. > "What you have made us is glorious, yet deeply flawed. You seem to have lost interest in our further evolution some 100,000 years ago. Or perhaps you have been biding your time, waiting for us to take the next step ourselves. Either way, we have reached our childhood's end." > **— Max More**, *A Letter to Mother Nature, 1999 lecture; later revised author republication* [[reminders/Evolution/Humanity Has Reached Its Childhoods End by Max More|Humanity Has Reached Its Childhoods End by Max More]]