The man who coined “transhumanism” dismissed the individual as meaningless
In Part 1, we looked at H. G. Wells, who had been mentored by Thomas Henry (T. H.) Huxley. Today, we move forward two generations to T. H. Huxley’s grandson, Julian Huxley. Sir Julian Huxley studied zoology at New College, Oxford, and became a well-known biologist. He continued his grandfather’s legacy by promoting the theory of evolution, presenting it as a foundation for building a new modern belief system based on science.
Julian’s main role was to spread scientific knowledge through his many books, essays, and lectures. He even co-authored The Science of Life with H. G. Wells, considered to be the first modern biology textbook. Huxley held many powerful positions. He was a founding member of the World Wildlife Fund, the first president of the British Humanist Association, and president of the British Eugenics Society.
He also became the first director of UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - founded in 1945. In 1946, Julian wrote UNESCO: Its Purpose and Its Philosophy. In it, he described the ideas and worldview that shaped the organization’s educational goals as part of a larger global system. In this short work, Huxley harshly criticized the value of individual human personhood:
‘unrestricted individualism is […] erroneous. The human individual is, quite strictly, meaningless in isolation; he only acquires significance in relation to some form of society’
and described how this new collective would include every living man, woman and child:
‘Accordingly [Unesco’s] outlook must […] be a world humanism’
We see Huxley's view align neatly with Wells as he specified that UNESCO’s philosophy:
‘must also be a scientific humanism’
He then told us what the driving force behind this philosophy would truly be:
‘the problem of improving the average quality of human beings is likely to become urgent; and this can only be accomplished by applying the findings of a truly scientific eugenics.’
with a justification that revealed his elitist attitude:
‘the dead weight of genetic stupidity, physical weakness, mental instability, and disease-proneness, which already exist in the human species, will prove too great a burden’
Huxley’s idea was the advancement of a scientific humanism to help humanity evolve, but which would first require:
‘political unification in some sort of world government’
A decade later, in his 1957 book New Bottles for New Wine, Huxley coined the now infamous term ‘transhumanism’. This upgraded version of his philosophy would:
‘begin by destroying the ideas and the institutions that stand in the way of our realizing our possibilities…’
Echoing Wells’ rhetoric from three decades earlier. Huxley framed this as a total re-imagining of what it means to be human:
‘“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’
This bold vision was necessary to:
‘prevent the present flood of population-increase from wrecking all our hopes of a better world.’
Scientific methods, population control, world government... the continuity from Wells to Huxley is undeniable, but the torch didn't stop there.
In Part 3[1] we’ll look at the words of Bertrand Russell – another scientific elitist who spoke even more unequivocally about the nature of this new scientific world system, and its chilling effects on those living under it.
This is the second of a 9-part email series sent by Nick Heys to spread his personal journey and document the open plan for world control discoveries achieved in his book reviews. I thought it would be useful to have them all archived. If you prefer to receive this content in your inbox, free of charge, simply sign up for the newsletter at ContinuityOfControl.com. ↩