If current Humanity is but a brief stage in an evolutionary journey that will find Human Beings merging with their technology, what can we do to ensure that future generations preserve that which is essentially Human? What are the human values that can help us build a better world?

To be Human is to value autonomy. This freedom to make choices and to exercise our physical, mental, and spiritual capacities to the fullest is perhaps our most cherished value. It presupposes an inherent ability to recognize ourselves in every other Human Being and to make responsible choices that will not restrict another's freedom.

To be fully Human is to be capable of establishing deep and enduring emotional connections with others. Love for a significant other, which is the most profound and life-enhancing of these bonds, is characterized by a desire for physical closeness, a delight in each other's presence, and an unspoken understanding and acceptance. Love for our parents or for our children is another profound emotional bond, and it is also characterized by respect for the autonomy of the other. Love is a liberating and joyful experience, not one of emotional bondage or dependence (pathological states that are often mistaken for love).

Empathy, the ability to vicariously experience another Being's reality, requires that we first recognize some aspect of ourselves in the other, thereby according him or her the full status of a living Being, whether or not we are on the same level of awareness mentally or spiritually. Empathy enables us to feel compassion for those who are suffering and a desire to practice charity to alleviate their suffering, whether they are Human or another life form.

Our quest for justice is a quest for fair treatment in service to discernable truth. The noble Human Beings who work for justice possess the courage to confront ignorance, greed, and oppression.

Faith, a type of trust in the unknown, is created by an inner sense of security combined with a feeling of hopeful confidence in the future. It provides a stable emotional ground in the midst of eternal change.

As we bravely navigate the technological rapids that propel us toward posthumanity, we focus almost exclusively on our creations and their quantitative potential--“better” usually means “more,” whether it's more efficiency, more computational/brain power, or more material goods. We pay scant attention to the social machinery that determines whether our vessel will hold fast or disintegrate before we've reached calm waters. Cooperation is the oil that ensures the reliable functioning of this machinery.