post human

Ramez Naam: The World Needs Innovation. Don’t Be a Spectator, Participate!

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Yesterday I interviewed Ramez Naam for my singularity podcast.

Ramez is the author of an award-winning, timely and easy to digest book on the ethical, political, economic and other implications of transhumanism titled More Than Human.

Since I enjoyed reading the book very much I simply had to interview Naam and ask him to talk more about his ideas. During our conversation we discuss a variety of topics such as: Ramez’ early interest philosophy, physics and computer science; the motivation behind his work at Microsoft on projects such as MS Word, Outlook and the Bing search engine; the inspiration behind his book on transhumanism; human evolution and the way technology has become a crucial part of who we are; playing God in general and altering the human DNA in particular; life extension and the probability of overcoming death; artificial intelligence, the technological singularity and why he is not a singularitarian; the limits to growth, resource depletion, innovation and optimism.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Ramez Naam?

Ramez Naam is a computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is the author of More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement, which the LA Times called “a terrific survey of current work and future possibilities in gene therapy, neurotechnology, and other fields.” For More Than Human, Naam was awarded the 2005 H.G. Wells Award for Contributions to Transhumanism.

Ramez spent 13 years at Microsoft, where he lead development on early versions of Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and most recently the Bing search engine.

Naam is a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and blogs at UnbridledSpeculation.com. He lives in Seattle, where he is currently working on his next book The Infinite Resource: Harnessing the Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet.

David Simpson on Post-Human, Trans-Human and The God Killers

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A couple of days ago I interviewed David Simpson for Singularity 1 on 1.

David Simpson is a young up-and-coming science fiction writer from Vancouver. He is the author of the sci-fi novels Post-Human – his 2009 debut, as well as Trans-Human – the sequel.

During our conversation we discuss issues such as: David’s early interest in writing; the motivation and goals behind his work; the relationship between science fiction and technology; his favorite science fiction authors; his current and future books as well as the meaning behind their titles.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

 

Who is David Simpson?

David Simpson is the author of the sci-fi novel Post-Human, his 2009 debut, as well as Trans-Human – the sequel. He is also the author of The God Killers, which is his first sci-fi/horror novel.

David has recently taken the unusual step of re-publishing his books as Kindle ebooks so that he could offer them at extremely low prices, eliminating the overpricing caused by having a traditional publisher. He believes that this is a necessary and positive transition, as the technology that has dictated the practices of the publishing industry – paper books, is rapidly being replaced by ebooks.

Post-Human is available for free on his website. (To get a free copy click here)

Trans-Human and The God Killers are available from Amazon.com for only 99 cents each.

David has a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of British Columbia and is the winner of over a dozen awards and scholarships, both as a student and as a Teacher at the university level.

He lives with his wife, Jennifer, in West Vancouver British Columbia.

 

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The Methuselah Generation: The Science of Living Forever

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Imagine a world in which there are no limits on the human lifespan, no restrictions on our capacity for intelligent thought and exponential technological advancement, no barriers to our saturating the universe with consciousness.

Imagine all the people, living for forever.

Indeed, John Lennon might have gotten a kick out of imagining himself casually interfacing with artificial intelligence, nano-engineering solar panels in space, breathing molecularly cleansed air through bionic lungs…but if this is a reality you want to see, you’ll have to “live long enough to live forever”, as Terry Grossman and Ray Kurzweil claim in their book of the same title.

What Grossman – the main subject of the forthcoming documentary The Methuselah Generation: The Science of Living Forever – means by this is bolstering your longevity enough to be able to utilize the tools and treatments of the biotechnological revolution. From there you will need survive into the nanotechnological age, and onward until artificial intelligence and mind uploading have rendered us machine-human amalgams, or, as many have opined, post-humans.

The Methuselah Generation will explore the tenuous passage outlined by this trajectory.

This character-driven documentary will examine longevity through the experiences of the scientists, economists and doctors studying and evaluating the science and sociology of life extension. The filmmakers don’t just want to talk about life extension, they want the viewers to experience the science and philosophical ideas as they happen in real time.

The documentary film (which just entered principal photography) will feature biogerontologist and experimental scientist Dr. Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Foundation; science fiction author, plasma physicist, and astrophysicist Dr. Gregory Benford, whose company Genescient has conducted research with extremely long-living fruit flies dubbed “The Methuselah flies”; and economist, futurist, and cryonics enthusiast Robin Hansen, who discusses being reanimated into a future dictated by a post-Singularity economy.

Filmmakers Jason Sussberg and David Alvarado will interweave these stories with that of family physician Dr. Terry Grossman, who runs a geriatric clinic. Interestingly, though Grossman believes extreme life extension will be possible, he himself does not want to partake in it.

From still-theoretical gene therapy treatments such as RNA interference and cell transdifferentiation to current efforts to refurbish the human genome with the use of pharmacogenomics, The Methuselah Generation will take a hard-hitting look at the science of life extension, as well as the social, economic, judicial, and emotional impacts of extended lifespans. For example, does a person convicted of a life sentence get to live forever in prison, eternally sapping taxpayer dollars? Will poor people be able to come along for the ride, or will the future be a society of the privileged few? Say your friends and family can’t afford the life extension therapies. How appealing is a future in which everyone you know is dead?

Angling towards more personal and emotional elements of the issue, the film will explore the characters dealing with the pain of losing loved ones. Gregory Benford, for example, recounts how his interest in life extension accelerated after the death of his first wife. In this way, stories about the fantastical future are seen through the prism of the present, in which we are still very much human.

Can we be life extensionists AND working class heroes of the sort John Lennon imagined? Find out by supporting the filmmakers. Check out the film’s Kickstarter page to see how you can get involved and possibly even become a producer.

Editor’s Update:

Please help the Life Extension discussion reach mainstream media by voting for “The Methuselah Generation” here: http://apps.facebook.com/my-polls/?poll_id=lux3jdk6

About the Author:

Jake Anderson is science fiction author, satirist, and filmmaker who is interested in how the Singularity will influence the working class. He is currently writing a satire about the robot uprising.

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Who are the Heroes of Transhumanism?

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Transhumanists identify scientists and theorists that have been especially important to the development of the movement. Among these are Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Richard Feynman. But could we identify hero figures that have done the same? And, what is the relationship between Transhumanism and heroism?

I came to this question after learning of Australia’s recognition of Julian Assange as a heroic figure, awarding him the Australian Peace Prize for “exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights.” Assange is a live, modern day Prometheus figure, thought to have ‘stolen fire from the Gods.’ By demonstrating computer security weaknesses in bureaucratic systems, he stole the presupposition of secrecy, and hence power, from government authorities; an act, most unanimously considered ‘heroic’ by hacking communities.

Arguably, Assange’s goals are consistent with, but not a major component of Transhumanist goals more generally. Could there be a heroic act that would be more authentically, and formally Transhumanist? And if so, what would it be?

In some ways, the need for a hero figure in the pursuit of Transhumanist goals does not seem pressing, given that many Transhumanist ends await further technological development. There is little sense of urgency in the present community to seek immediate legislative reform restricting Transhumanist pursuits; although some topics, like the banning of stem cell research, seem to strike an activist nerve in many Transhumanists. And, technology itself can be used to achieve many of the goals of Transhumanism, such as bringing about more efficient, limited and transparent governance, which would previously have required more radical forms of political advocacy, and perhaps heroism to achieve. Do all trends seem to be moving in the right direction? Can we foresee any major obstacles in our way that may require acts of heroism to move beyond?

It is worth noting that there are no real Transhumanist heroes in the fiction world, either. Kyle Munkittrick argues that superhero movies tend to play out in such a way that may actually make us more fearful of Transhumanism, rather than ellicit positive feelings about the movement. I argue that if fiction scenarios were to more accurately depict Transhumanism, in the way the protagonist in David Simpson’s novel Post-Human does, heroic figures could inspire and help transmit the doctrine of Transhumanism, and provoke relevant creative thought on the matter.

In real life, robots are acting as heroes in disaster relief scenarios, entering situations too dangerous for human rescuers. What does the lack of association between “heroism” and “Transhumanism” mean? Why does heroism not seem to apply to, or mix well with, Transhumanism? Could we be doing more to improve the human condition with technology now? Do we need to focus on advanced technology improving conditions further in developed nations, or, should we be advocating a more spirited use of technology now available to improve the human situation in developing nations? Probably so. But beyond that, I don’t think there is any deep meaning implied by the lack of connection with heroes here; Transhumanism is a unique worldview, and this is just another one of its unique characteristics.

About the Author:

Nikki Olson is a writer/researcher working on an upcoming book about the Singularity with Dr. Kim Solez, as well as relevant educational material for the Lifeboat Foundation. She has a background in philosophy and sociology, and has been involved extensively in Singularity research for 3 years. You can reach Nikki via email at inikki3@gmail.com.

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Transhumanism for Children

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Are children capable of contemplating Transhumanism?

It is often pointed out that Transhumanism shares many features with religion. It answers questions regarding the nature of the world and humanity’s place in it, it offers guidance on how to live, and inspires hope. However, there are a number of important things distinguishing it from a religion, such as the lack of belief in a Deity and its emphasis on the empirical method and reason. Another distinguishing feature relates to the obstacles associated with teaching Transhumanism to children.

Although being religious as an adult entails contemplation of many of life’s more difficult questions, following a religion can and does occur at very young ages. Children are able to contemplate God to some extent, usually via the anthropomorphized metaphor of ‘the father’, they are able to associate simple moral behaviors with ideas of reward and punishment, and they become enthralled in the ‘magic like’ elements of religious miracle.

Are children capable of contemplating Transhumanism?

I arrived at this question after encountering a piece of writing, ‘Children of Freedom,’ by an individual going by the alias Land Pope Black Candy who follows the Transhumanist subculture group, the Cosmists. In the above article, LPBC suggests that a specialized school be created in order to teach Transhumanism to children.

One thing LPBC emphasizes children be taught is how they are beginning a life that will ultimately be very long, if not eternal, by way of radical life extension and the Singularity. He says “first and foremost, they would be told they won’t die naturally which we strongly believe will have a very strong effect on their behavior and thinking processes”.

The topic of Transhumanism in early education is discussed by Mike Treder’s article Transhumanism as Religion, where he shows that raising the question of teaching Transhumanism in school invariably forces the question of whether or not Transhumanism counts as a religion, since if Transhumanists “have something to say about values in addition to vectors”, offering a ‘prescriptive’ approach, rather than just a descriptive approach, then Transhumanism does in some sense ‘go beyond’ science, coming into conflict with U.S. legislation regarding the teaching of religion in the public system.

Regardless of whether or not it could be integrated into the public education system, raising the question of Transhumanism in early education highlights important distinctions between Transhumanism and religion.

There is an intellectual seriousness about Transhumanism in its present form which I think makes it difficult for children to identify with. Although religion and Transhumanism offer some related visions regarding the future, religion has many fairy tale components; it has a ‘mythological’ component, making it more accessible to younger people.

However, claiming that Transhumanism is void of mythology is not entirely true. With the ‘Mondo 2000’ culture of the 1980’s and 90’s, which was heavily influenced by cyber-punk fiction and continues into present time, Transhumanism associated memes showed up in young adult subcultures, such as DIY body hacking, synthetic drug culture and cyber-pagan cultures. Also, some religious organizations such as the Mormon Transhumanist Association, incorporate Transhumanism into established religious mythos, thus adding more ‘story like’ aspects to it.

So there is a kind of a ‘mythology’ associated with Transhumanism, but generally speaking, it’s not one easily accessible or preferred for young children. Perhaps as a belief system it will need some mythology added into it in order to be more accessible to children.

Transhumanism, I think, will likely end up being introduced into the education system and the lives of children slowly, in a kind of ‘self-evident’ way, through the continued advance of science and technology. It’s only a matter of time before advanced human-computer interfaces become a regular part of classrooms, and genetic engineering becomes something performed, at least minimally, at the stage of conception in humans.

The associated ‘mythology’ will come later, sometimes created by children as they encounter these kinds of phenomena and offer their own explanations for them. When children become involved, Transhumanism will change, and creative young minds will likely add new dimensions to the movement, or illuminate aspects we hadn’t noticed before.

I suspect that for now, the association between children and Transhumanism will have to remain in the realm of science fiction, where many of the influential people in this movement became inspired and shaped it into what it is today.

About the Author:

Nikki Olson is a writer/researcher working on an upcoming book about the Singularity with Dr. Kim Solez, as well as relevant educational material for the Lifeboat Foundation. She has a background in philosophy and sociology, and has been involved extensively in Singularity research for 3 years. You can reach Nikki via email at inikki3@gmail.com.

 

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