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Category: transhumanism – Page 102

Google Director’s Push for Computers Inside Human Brains Is ‘Anti-Christ,’ ‘Human Rights Abuse,’ Theologians Explain

3 Christian articles/sites w/ #transhumanism in it: http://www.christianpost.com/news/google-directors-hope-for-…in-177809/ & http://straightoutthegate.com/tech-savings-gate/zoltan-istva…has-to-go/ & https://blogs.lcms.org/2017/storming-gates-paradise

Google’s director of engineering is saying implanting computers “inside our brains” is upon us, words theologians and Christian bioethicists consider a “slap in the face” to Christ and would result in horrific human rights violations.

According to the Daily Mail, Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who works on Google’s machine learning project, said at the South by Southwest conference taking place this week in Austin, Texas, that by the year 2029, technological “singularity” will be achieved, the complete merging of human and computer intelligence.

By that time “computers will have human-level intelligence,” Kurzweil said in an interview with South by Southwest. “That leads to computers having human intelligence, our putting them inside our brains, connecting them to the cloud, expanding who we are.” The joining together of human beings and computer technology at this level, he maintained, will make people “funnier,” “sexier,” and will “exemplify all the things that we value in humans to a greater degree.”

But bioethicists and theologians who spoke with The Christian Post could not disagree more fervently.

Moogfest 2017’s Futurist Line-Up

Futurist event Moogfest’s line-up in these stories, including a cover pic of the transhumanist Immortality Bus on Cool Hunting:

http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/moogfest-2017 &

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/michael-stipe-premiering-first-…-moogfest/ & https://thump.vice.com/en_ca/article/moogfest-keynote-speakers-announcement #futurist

Physicist Dr Kate Shaw, MIT Media Lab’s Joe Davis and an art installation from Michael Stipe take the stage at this year’s boundary-pushing celebration of technology by Karen Day.

Should death be treated as a disease?

My new 10-min interview on one of Ireland’s largest talk shows (120,000 listeners). Some of the questions are tough to answer as I strive to protect those in hardship, promote equality, and still remain true to my #libertarian values. Lots of core #transhumanism in this interview.

Zoltan Istvan is a transhumanist who is running for Governor of California. He spoke to Sean about his beliefs that centre around technology and science helping humans.

Show: Moncrieff

A Libertarian Transhumanist’s Take on the Future of Taxes

My new article for Psychology Today on my federal audit and the coming day of eliminating taxes because of technology.

With all that in mind—and the $7500 they say I owe them—they know I wouldn’t hire an accountant at $150 an hour to deal with the thousand-plus receipts, payments, and supposed car log entries I made last year—since the amount I’d spend on an accountant in the San Francisco Bay Area might easily end up more than $7500. They also surely know I won’t do it myself, since it’s definitely not worth my own time.

They have me in a pickle—even though it’s more than obvious my busy self probably has far more in write-offs than I even bothered to report in the first place. In fact—given how perturbed I feel at the IRS and its 82,000 full time employees this moment, if it was just economical, I’d re-file to get more of my earnings back. But in the twisted game they created in their 74,000+ page tax code, it’s not worth it.

Their way of operating has made me suspect one of their main algorithms on whether to audit people resembles mafia morality:

Thinking Machines: 7 of the Best Books on Artificial Intelligence

More news on the new #transhumanism book just out: To Be a Machine. http://www.signature-reads.com/2017/03/7-best-books-artificial-intelligence/ & https://undark.org/article/30154-2/ & http://bookforum.com/blog/17478

Decades ago, if you were writing about robots, it was probably in one of two forms: either a science fiction narrative, or something short about the handful of robots that could be purchased for home or recreational use. Now things have changed. Home devices can recognize and respond to speech, prosthetic technology has been dramatically advanced, and our very understanding of what constitutes a robot has significantly changed.

With these advances in technology have come other questions, some pertaining to the nature of intelligence, some relating to the lines between humanity and machines, and still more that use our research into robotics to explore what makes us human. So, with that in mind, here’s a look at a handful of the best books on artificial intelligence, dealing with questions of robots, body modification, the Singularity, and more. Crank up Flight of the Conchords’s song set after a robot uprising and dig in.

Life and death: When the end arrives, should we upgrade or shut down?

Transhumanism appearing in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) magazine: Science…

Modern technology and modern medical practice have evolved over the past decades, enabling us to enhance and extend human life to an unprecedented degree. The two books under review examine this phenomenon from remarkably different perspectives.

Mark O’Connell’s To Be a Machine is an examination of transhumanism, a movement characterized by technologies that seek to transform the human condition and extend life spans indefinitely. O’Connell, a journalist, makes his own prejudices clear: “I am not now, nor have I ever been, a transhumanist,” he writes. However, this does not stop him from thoughtfully surveying the movement.

The book mostly comprises O’Connell’s encounters with transhumanist thought leaders in an assortment of locales ranging from lecture halls to Silicon Valley start-ups to transhumanist conferences and even the campaign trail, where O’Connell interviews Zoltan Istvan, a transhumanist and 2016 U.S. presidential candidate whose goal is “to promote investment in longevity science.”

O’Connell’s interaction with Max More, the president and CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, the world’s largest commercial cryopreservation facility, is particularly timely, because the legal, social, and ethical issues related to cryopreservation are far from settled. Likewise, as O’Connell notes, the promise of cryonics relies on the improbable notion that science will someday enable reanimation.

Two Americans Aim to Plug Into the ‘Matrix’ through Black Market Brain Implants

Various transhumanism stories newly out or reshared:

https://mysteriousearth.net/2017/02/23/two-americans-aim-to-…-implants/ &

http://3dpromote.com/zoltan-istvan-nick-bostrom-and-the-anti…-atlantic/ &

http://www.hashtagy.net/en/news/zoltan-istvan-ran-for-presid…ork-times/

According to The Mirror, the two men are looking for a doctor who is skilled enough and willing to propel them into the matrix. The procedure itself has a high risk of failing, since the technology at hand hasn’t been tested before (at least on humans).

If they come out of this alive, the two men will be able to establish a direct communication route with the first forms of artificial intelligence that’s currently available. This “cranial chip” may provide the first step towards creating “the matrix.” If this proves to be successful, the unprecedented advantages will probably tempt others to undergo the same surgery, and eventually have the entire population plugged into this new reality.

Continue reading “Two Americans Aim to Plug Into the ‘Matrix’ through Black Market Brain Implants” | >

Transhumanist Wants to Run for California Governor Under Libertarian Banner

The Libertarian Republic covering my libertarian run for California Governor:

By Kody Fairfield

After realizing his chances to be President were over, Zoltan Istvan of the Transhumanist Party, has decided to take his platform and run for another elected office, and under a different political party.

Istvan didn’t have much of a chance at being president, but that didn’t stop him from campaigning as the Transhumanist Party’s candidate to promote his pro-technology and science positions. Now, he’s setting his sights a bit lower, and with a different party. Istvan announced this morning that he plans to run for governor of California in 2018 under the Libertarian Party, explains Engadet.com.

In a Newsweek article Istvan wrote, “We need leadership that is willing to use radical science, technology, and innovation—what California is famous for–to benefit us all. We need someone with the nerve to risk the tremendous possibilities to save the environment through bioengineering, to end cancer by seeking a vaccine or a gene-editing solution for it, to embrace startups that will take California from the world’s 7th largest economy to maybe even the largest economy–bigger than the rest of America altogether.”