# Transcension **Entity class:** Posthuman transition concept **Origin:** Ben Goertzel’s transhumanist writing ## Definition Transcension names a technologically accelerated change in the order of life, mind and experience rather than a single product milestone. In [[wiki/Ben Goertzel|Ben Goertzel]]’s formulation, contemporary human cognition and social life are an intermediate state from which radically different forms of mind may emerge. ## Evidence boundary Transcension is a philosophical development model, not evidence that one determinate posthuman state is inevitable. It connects [[wiki/Posthumanism|Posthumanism]], [[wiki/Technological Evolution|Technological Evolution]], [[wiki/Artificial General Intelligence|Artificial General Intelligence]] and [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] while preserving uncertainty about timing, mechanism and resulting identity. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “The basic idea of the Transcension is that at some point, the advance of technology will bring about a fundamental change in the nature of life and mind. The key point is that we may soon be experiencing a profoundly substantial change in the “order of being.” The point is that the way we experience the world, the way we human animals live life and conduct social affairs, is not the end state of mind-in-the-universe, but only an intermediate state on the way to something else.” > **— Ben Goertzel**, *“Encouraging a Positive Transcension,” February 17, 2004* [[reminders/Evolution/Human Life Is an Intermediate State of Mind in the Universe by Ben Goertzel|Human Life Is an Intermediate State of Mind in the Universe by Ben Goertzel]]