Fear of a transhumanist future: conspiracy theories and the speculative present

Human augmentation, brain–computer interfaces, DNA alterations, artificial intelligence, and other extraterrestrial technological projects are sacred resources welcomed by many within the diffuse millennial conspiracist community. Yet, similar technologies developed by humans are framed by millennial conspiracists as evidence of a transhumanist global tyrannical project. I argue that millennial conspiracism articulates increasing anxieties about human identity in a rapidly changing world by collapsing potential futures into the present, creating a speculative present. In the speculative present, transhumanism represents a perennial potential danger, while its presence simultaneously haunts the present—a doubleness within the conspiratorial imagination. Understanding the social forces and interpretative strategies used to make sense of present and future technologies, and how different actors interpret and envision the promise of an augmented future, adds to our understanding of techno-cultures and the ever-shifting landscape of the conspiratorial milieu.