Archive for the ‘transhumanism’ category: Page 98
Feb 17, 2017
Inside the Tech Industry’s Obsession With Immortality
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: life extension, transhumanism
A new in-depth read on #transhumanism and life extension by one of the leading and oldest progressive magazines in America:
Only Human Meet the hackers trying to solve the problem of death.
By Anna Wiener
Feb 17, 2017
The Six Epochs from The Singularity is Near
Posted by Alireza Mokri in categories: Ray Kurzweil, singularity, transhumanism
Join the discussion at TranshumanistForums.com!
All words are used with permission of Raymond Kurzweil and the Singularity is Near.
Continue reading “The Six Epochs from The Singularity is Near” »
Feb 16, 2017
‘Bionic’ eye on the future: From ‘Star Trek’ visors to ‘Mission Impossible’ contact lenses
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: cyborgs, military, transhumanism
Could bionic eyes restore sight to the blind and give the U.S. military super sight?
Bionic implanted eyeballs, “Star Trek”-style visors, telescopic contact lenses … these are just a few of the many exciting projects underway to both restore and provide enhanced sight.
Significant strides have been made in tech that will restore and transform lives — replacing white canes, service animals, braille machines and more for the visually impaired.
Feb 16, 2017
Welcome to the era of transhumanism
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: Elon Musk, transhumanism
With Elon Musk advocating the need for humans to merge with machines and a transhumanist politician running for Governor in California, an intellectual movement that sat on the fringes throughout the 20th century is poised to hit the mainstream.
Feb 15, 2017
Why Elon Musk’s transhumanism claims may not be that far-fetched
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: cyborgs, Elon Musk, robotics/AI, transhumanism
Excellent article in Wired this morning. My novel “The Transhumanist Wager” quoted quite a bit to add context to some of Elon Musk’s statements: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-musk-humans-must-become-cyborgs #transhumanism
The Tesla and SpaceX founder warned that a future where AI is smarter than us will be ‘dangerous’ and we must all become cyborgs to survive.
Feb 13, 2017
Transhumanist politician wants to run for governor of California
Posted by Zoltan Istvan in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, economics, genetics, geopolitics, governance, transhumanism
A new story out on Engadget, emphasizing the need to make government treat science and technology as a primary focus:
Zoltan 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.
“We need leadership that is willing to use radical science, technology, and innovation—what California is famous for—to benefit us all,” he wrote in a Newsweek article. “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.”
Continue reading “Transhumanist politician wants to run for governor of California” »
Feb 13, 2017
Bionic Leaf Is 10 Times Better At Photosynthesis Than Real Plants
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, transhumanism
Plants take in carbon dioxide, water, and sunshine to create a sugary fuel. Now researchers have done the same, but even better.
A recent study in Science describes the system, named Bionic Leaf 2.0. In the “leaf,” solar energy splits up a water molecule, and bacteria turn hydrogen and carbon dioxide into liquid fuel, mainly isopropanol. The fuel could possibly be used to power a car’s engine or motor in the future.
The researchers, led by Daniel Nocera and Pamela Silver from Harvard University, have made advancements on their original Bionic Leaf, released last year. The system had some problems, mainly with the metal catalyst that helped the reaction. In the first edition, the catalyst also set off a reaction that attacked the bacteria’s DNA.
Continue reading “Bionic Leaf Is 10 Times Better At Photosynthesis Than Real Plants” »
Feb 11, 2017
Will Superhuman AGI Be Our Friend or Foe?
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: internet, robotics/AI, singularity, space travel, transhumanism
Let’s just go ahead and address the question on everyone’s mind: will AI kill us? What is the negative potential of transhuman superintelligence? Once its cognitive power surpasses our own, will it give us a leg-up in ‘the singularity’, or will it look at our collective track record of harming our own species, other species, the world that gave us life, etc., and exterminate us like pests? AI expert Ben Goertzel believes we’ve been at this point of uncertainty many times before in our evolution. When we stepped out of our caves, it was a risk – no one knew it would lead to cities and space flight. When we spoke the first word, took up agriculture, invented the printing press, flicked the internet on-switch – all of these things could have led to our demise, and in some sense, our eventual demise can be traced all the way back to the day that ancient human learnt how to make fire. Progress helps us, until the day it kills us. That said, fear of negative potential cannot stop us from attempting forward motion – and by now, says Goertzel, it’s too late anyway. Even if the U.S. decided to pull the plug on superhuman intelligence research, China would keep at it. Even if China pulled out, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria would march on. We know there are massive benefits – both humanitarian and corporate – and we have latched to the idea. “The way we got to this point as a species and a culture has been to keep doing amazing new things that we didn’t fully understand,” says Goertzel, and for better or worse, “that’s what we’re going to keep on doing.” Ben Goertzel’s most recent book is AGI Revolution: An Inside View of the Rise of Artificial General Intelligence.
Ben Goertzel’s most recent book is AGI Revolution: An Inside View of the Rise of Artificial General Intelligence.
Feb 11, 2017
Value Conflicts surrounding the Meaning of Life in the Trans/Post/Human Future
Posted by Steve Fuller in categories: biological, cryonics, cyborgs, economics, environmental, ethics, futurism, governance, health, homo sapiens, law, mobile phones, policy, posthumanism, security, theory, transhumanism
Posthumanists and perhaps especially transhumanists tend to downplay the value conflicts that are likely to emerge in the wake of a rapidly changing technoscientific landscape. What follows are six questions and scenarios that are designed to focus thinking by drawing together several tendencies that are not normally related to each other but which nevertheless provide the basis for future value conflicts.
- Will ecological thinking eventuate in an instrumentalization of life? Generally speaking, biology – especially when a nervous system is involved — is more energy efficient when it comes to storing, accessing and processing information than even the best silicon-based computers. While we still don’t quite know why this is the case, we are nevertheless acquiring greater powers of ‘informing’ biological processes through strategic interventions, ranging from correcting ‘genetic errors’ to growing purpose-made organs, including neurons, from stem-cells. In that case, might we not ‘grow’ some organs to function in largely the same capacity as silicon-based computers – especially if it helps to reduce the overall burden that human activity places on the planet? (E.g. the brains in the vats in the film The Minority Report which engage in the precognition of crime.) In other words, this new ‘instrumentalization of life’ may be the most environmentally friendly way to prolong our own survival. But is this a good enough reason? Would these specially created organic thought-beings require legal protection or even rights? The environmental movement has been, generally speaking, against the multiplication of artificial life forms (e.g. the controversies surrounding genetically modified organisms), but in this scenario these life forms would potentially provide a means to achieve ecologically friendly goals.
- Will concerns for social justice force us to enhance animals? We are becoming more capable of recognizing and decoding animal thoughts and feelings, a fact which has helped to bolster those concerned with animal welfare, not to mention ‘animal rights’. At the same time, we are also developing prosthetic devices (of the sort already worn by Steven Hawking) which can enhance the powers of disabled humans so their thoughts and feelings are can be communicated to a wider audience and hence enable them to participate in society more effectively. Might we not wish to apply similar prosthetics to animals – and perhaps even ourselves — in order to facilitate the transaction of thoughts and feelings between humans and animals? This proposal might aim ultimately to secure some mutually agreeable ‘social contract’, whereby animals are incorporated more explicitly in the human life-world — not as merely wards but as something closer to citizens. (See, e.g., Donaldson and Kymlicka’s Zoopolis.) However, would this set of policy initiatives constitute a violation of the animals’ species integrity and simply be a more insidious form of human domination?
Continue reading “Value Conflicts surrounding the Meaning of Life in the Trans/Post/Human Future” »
Tags: animals, children, Death, energy, longevity, meaning of life, Neuroscience, politics, poverty, values