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https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/


Descartes once described the human body as a “fleshy machine” and today’s transhumanists would likely agree.

Philosopher Nick Bostrom writes that as we seek to peer farther into posthumanity our ability to concretely imagine what it might be like trails offend that the very essence of posthumanity is to be able to have thoughts and experiences that we cannot readily think or experience with our current capacities.

Today’s advances in science and technology will profoundly change what we understand as human. According to transhumanist philosophy humanity until this point has been a story of development for the survival and reproduction, but today thanks to advances in science we are entering a new phase where human beings are masters of their destiny. Therefore the Transhumanist movement envisions a future full of possibilities by broadening our potential as species by overcoming aging, cognitive shortcomings, involuntary suffering, and our confinement to planet Earth.

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The German start-up company ELiSE creates the DNA of a technical part. Based on the DNA, automated design processes are used to find the best solution which considers all predefined constraints and which is produced by additive manufacturing. Meet ELiSE at ESA’s Start-ups Zone powered by ESA space solutions at IAC 2018.

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Christopher Benek “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” — Abraham Kuyper Christopher Benek Steve Nichols May I ask then — why are you in this group? Steve Nichols “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” I suspect Christian transhumanists of trying to infiltrate and subvert the wider radical futurist movement (evidenced by such quotes as above). I am here to provide balance and sanity. Christopher Benek Why Steve you don’t need to suspect it — I’ll affirm it. As a matter of fact it is part of the reason why I co-founded the CTA — to reclaim and redeem that which was what was falsely appropriated to begin with, that which is all of humanity’s divine vocation — not just as some “radical” group’s road to isolationist technological tyranny. In fairness though, I don’t think that Micah or I have ever denied that fact. And hey we welcome any accountability that you want to provide as long as that goes both ways. In short all we ask is that folks here genuinely and lovingly seek to play nice with others. Steve Nichols Christopher Benek having been involved with trans /posthuman movement since the 1980’s, Christians have hardly featured other than times such as when the Pope (no less) and other vocal Christians have condemned trans/ posthumans. You can hardly “reclaim” that of which Christianity was never a part, and in fact has mostly been (and remains on the whole) in opposition to. Since you welcome accountability, what authority do you have (other than tall tales in the bible) to claim determination of “all of humanity’s divine vocation”? I appreciate that I am a guest here, and always try to be polite. Christopher Benek Steve Nichols See assumptions on terminology is where we differ — I have contended — for quite some time now — “that the “trans” part of transhumanim doesn’t mean “post” but instead “across — the scope of what it might mean to be made human” which i think we are on the very front end of understanding. In that regard — all of the historic parts of the church — particularly those elements that were missionary in origin were taking, creating and using tech to help people throughout the world. In fact, the “tall tales” as you put it of the Bible (which by the way obviously weren’t written to be taken literally in all places — when Jesus says “I am the door” he doesn’t mean that literally) constantly talks about how God was instructing humans how to fashion and use tech to protect and improve relationships. I think that is a good guidepost for our future as well. Tech is deep in Christian history and its only since the false narratives of the like of the “New Atheists” (as if an actual atheist even exists) that anyone has questioned that… Yes, Christians don’t put tech (or anything) before God — but that doesn’t mean we don’t acknowledge its crucial importance as a hermeneutical and practical device for understanding and actually being human.” Since Benek reposts copies of his own discussions with Zoltan (and maybe others) on CTA list, he can have no objections to me reproducing his comments here.

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In my life as a human, I see clues that evolution on Earth and elsewhere in the cosmos at large is not being pushed from behind in entropic randomness but being pulled forward by complexification, natural selection and other evolutionary forces orchestrated by a strange unseen teleological attractor, in McKenna’s words “the Transcendental Object” at the end of time. One may see significant overlapping ideas between the transhumanist Technological Singularity and the Teilhardian Omega Point. The coming Technological Singularity could unravel one of the deepest mysteries of fractal hyperreality: consciousness alternating from pluralities to singularities and from singularities back to pluralities. We are already immortal, but the forthcoming Syntellect Emergence when your mind is digitized, will preserve some of your organic memories if you so desire, and most importantly, will ensure the continuity of your subjectivity into the higher realms of existence. #LifeboatFoundation


By Alex Vikoulov.

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“If the doors of perception were cleansed then everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern” –William Blake.

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https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/


EAA 2018 is upon us and we have an absolutely incredible line-up of papers for our session, Human, Posthuman, Transhuman Digital Archaeologies. We’ve decided to pre-circulate the papers amongst ourselves (and a few more publicly) and provide 5 minutes of presentation followed by 10 minutes of discussion. This was a bit of a compromise to stay on time, but still leave as much time as possible to discuss the ideas, as we are expecting to publish the session in the EJA. So, here’s the sesh:

Friday 7 September, 14:00 – 18:30, UB220.

14:00 Introduction (Marta Diaz-Guardamino Uribe, Cardiff University; Colleen Morgan, University of York; Catherine Frieman, Australian National University)

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My new article just out: The transhuman future of Quantum Archaeology & living forever is complicated, but it could still be funded by Christians if they rallied around resurrecting Jesus with 3D Bioprinting and Super Computers:

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