transhumanism

Would Technological “Enhancement” Make Us More, or Less, Human?

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wearable-computingImagine you wake up in the morning after a refreshing 30 full minutes of sleep, pulling up into your retinal display your top priority tasks for that day, and manually adjusting your mood to something desirable before your colleagues have their holograms projected into your living room for your 7:00am Monday meeting.

With the advent of intelligence technologies being developed and furthered in retail, in finance, in healthcare, and beyond, we are entering the age where these “smart” technologies have become integrated into human bodies for repair and amelioration of medical conditions. Cochlear implants have been used for years to treat deafness (in both patients born without hearing and those who have lost it), and technologies are being created (some of which have already been successful) to aide blind individuals to see again. Bionic limbs are seen as relatively normal today, and the threshold for artificial senses might not be all too far off (some of the most exciting recent discoveries to be found at Brown’s BrainGate).

A profound question looms: will we direct these repair and amelioration technologies towards augmentation and enhancement of our present human faculties?

Internal combustion engines began as a way to replace animal-powered farming equipment. Today, they power cars, chainsaws, helicopters and airplanes. Airplanes themselves were initially used to move people from one place to another – faster. Not long after we had aircraft for war, gliders for tracking weather – and then unmanned drones and spacecraft.

At present, eye tracking devices to help paraplegic individuals and stroke patients communicate even if they are unable to talk, simply by looking at specific keys on a screen – triggering a computer to speak for them or communicate basic messages. If such a technology eventually made handling email and organizing one’s desktop files twice as efficient – are we to believe that this “amelioration” technology wouldn’t find it’s way to the mainstream?

P1050114bThere are also exoskeletons constructed to help weak limbs function more effectively (for upper body, lower body, or both). Imagine if such technologies became affordable and could cut a business’s warehouse crew in half by doubling the efficiency of manual workers. How many businesses would jump on that bandwagon?

Along these lines of thinking – anything that can serve a function in effectiveness or efficiency is likely to be adopted. If nobody has an iPhone, then your old clunker isn’t all that bad. If everyone has an iPhone, then there’s a world of email, photos, contact sharing, GPS-ing, and web browsing that you’re missing out on. Once the internet was in place and in use, no business in their right mind would ignore it’s presence.

Once one company can answer email and sift through tasks without even using a keyboard, the others better jump onboard. Once it becomes the norm in one industry for workers to take a biotech pill that allows them to sleep only 30 minutes per night, other companies – and eventually other industries – will likely follow suit.

In this respect, the slope of human augmentation and emerging technology is a slippery one – and we’re unlikely to develop simple answers to how these transformational technologies are developed and implemented in our world. Rather than a dogmatic “for” or “against” stance on enhancement, I pose that it is important to consider the actual issues or even opportunities for human experience and human potential with the promise of these emerging technologies. Below we’ll explore two very common objections to the very notion of enhancement, and how they might be considered beyond the surface level.

“You Want to Turn Me Into a Vacuum Cleaner?”

It might useful, first to address our resistance to these potential “enhancements” of humanity using the intelligence of tomorrow. We naturally resist the idea of a transformation to something more rigid and limited – more “mechanistic” or “robotic” – into something like “R2D2” from Star Wars.

However, just as concept of “ship” had more limited and simple connotations in Greek and Roman times than it does in the present age of space travel, the concepts of “robotic” or “mechanistic” have different connotations now than they likely will in twenty or thirty years. The “computer” was associated with a certain level of capacities in the 1980s, which now seem utterly feeble with respect to what “computers” are capable of now. We fear becoming the kinds of “machines” that we use in everyday life – such as toasters, vacuum cleaners, or Honda Escorts.

Frankly, I wouldn’t want to be a Honda Escort, either, but these present notions of “machine” cast a light on all enhancement in a way that keeps it’s present connotations today. Admittedly, there are some viable reasons for questioning any transition of our “selves” into any other “shell” (and in fact, not questioning this transition would seem neglectful). However, many of the “instinctual” responses to the thought of enhancement tend to come more from robot movies and less from a perspective on increasing robot / artificial intelligence sophistication.

Even more important than identifying our own present or cultural biases (and their tendency to be projected forward), it seems we should consider the ramifications of “enhancements” that could make us more artistically creative, or more emotionally rich, or more mentally capable. Ask me (or you, or anyone we’ve ever met) if we’d want to be more like R2D2 or a Honda Escort – and the answer (even amongst the most hard-core Star Wars fans) will likely be “no.” However, if an “enhancement” could grant me the capacity to – say – never forget an important fact, idea, or skill, I might find that improvement hard to turn down (assuming there would be no negative side effects).

Even the capacity of memory, though, tends to fit too closely with the mold of “robot” that we know today. Let’s say that I was able to enhance my creative thinking abilities, or artistic capacities in writing or painting – possibly through stimulation of certain brain regions, or brain implants that provided new modes of connecting ideas or more insight and attune-ment to beauty itself.

brain-memory-upgradeAsk me, as another example, if I’d consider a procedure that would allow me to learn multiple languages, or study twelve topics at once and improve in them all at faster rates that I can now (such as poetry, essay writing, martial arts, billiards, etc…), and I would not be so fast to turn that “upgrade” down. Imagine if it were possible through an implant to monitor and manage our emotional states more deliberately (feeling happy, courageous, focused, etc… at my own will). In the above circumstances, the question of whether or not to “change” becomes less polarized, more grey. Unlike the question of whether or not to become more like R2D2, these enhancements would make most people think long and hard and about the real possibility of moving beyond biology.

For the most part, the concept of machines or computers enhancing aspects of our emotional life seems like science fiction (much like space travel seemed like science fiction 80 years ago). However, research, theory, and even basic models for “emotional robots” are already being developed to move this technology forward, evidenced – among other projects – by the European Feelix Growing. By modeling the emotional behavior of infants and apes, European researchers in the “Feelix Growing” project are developing robots (one named “Nao”) with a basic ability to respond with fear, sadness, joy or excitement in response to interactions with humans. This includes a memory of faces and specific experiences with the people associated with those faces, allowing “Nao” and other robots of it’s kind to maintain a kind of relationship with it’s human caretakers.

Even with the explosion of robotics and emerging technologies in the last twenty years, it seems that “emotional robots” are still nowhere near the complexity or relational intelligence as human beings. This might bring us to ask the inevitable next question – which serves as another level of resistance to the notion of enhancement:

“But – How Could it Ever Be Done?”

The-Singularity-is-Near-What's-NextIf I’m claiming that emotional or creative life – in addition to just “rational” or “computational” life could be enhanced – then where is the evidence that this is possible?

This same question could have been asked about putting a man on the moon less than a hundred years ago – a feat which at that time would have been almost more absurd than the ability to enhance the “human” aspects of life with machine intelligence. Heck, a hundred years ago, the Model T was a big deal, and right now we already have brain implants helping people move robotic limbs, and mice growing human ears on their backs. It might be said that “enhancement” technologies already do exist, but are – at present – being used for amelioration rather than augmentation.

With all that we’ve achieved in just the past 100 years, the “it hasn’t been done before, so it never will be done” argument seems weaker than ever. Before we could fly, it seemed natural to pose flight impossible. Before we could travel to the moon, this too seemed impossible. Breaking the 4-minute mile seemed “impossible” – even to scientists in the 1940’s. However, this natural human tendency to resist the possibility of drastic future change – or even relatively minor change, like the 4-minute mile – won’t seem to hold. I would argue that though we remain rational, any unfounded, “instinctual” resistance of change needs to be cleared away in order to make space for the conversations we should be having regarding the future of humanity and emerging technologies. Which brings us nicely to our next point:

“What Should We Be Asking?”

P1040698As mentioned before – with the advancement of technology not stopping anytime soon (or more appropriately, not ceasing to multiply in breathtaking speed any time soon) – important questions still need important answers, though many of them don’t have nearly adequate data as of now. Though some agree more whole-heartedly than others, Kurzweil’s law of accelerating returns – despite many potential failings and what some believe to be an oversimplification – is rather convincing. The “LOAR” (as it is sometimes called) states that the price / performance of information technology approximately doubles every year. From computers the size of rooms to computers in our phones, from ear trumpets to cochlear implants, this particularly convincing trend continues in myriad form.

It’s my position that we aught think seriously about why most people might instantly “turn down” ideas of enhancement as either “wrong” or “impossible” without more serious consideration. The debate – in the eyes of many (if not most) in the fields of technology and intelligence – is not a question of “possible” or “impossible.” The question also might end up being more about “human” or “inhuman,” and what elements of our biological nature we want to keep or surpass.

Whether we should or should not surpass biology is a continuing question that will inevitably lead to disagreement, but I believe a dogmatic “no” to the questions of enhancement will likely do more harm to an open mind, willing to consider issues, opportunities, and options for our human future. In this respect, fascination seems a more appropriate response than repulsion, and its safe to say that fascination (tapered with practical wisdom and hard work) will get a lot more done in terms of channeling these developments in ways that will matter most to humanity and the world.

 

About the Author:

Daniel-Faggella-150x150Dan Faggella is a graduate of UPENN’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program, as well as a national martial arts champion. His work focuses heavily on emerging technology and startup businesses (TechEmergence.com), and the pressing issues and opportunities with augmenting consciousness. His articles and interviews with philosophers / experts can be found at SentientPotential.com

 

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Humanity is Dead as the Dodo

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as dead as a dodo.There was this unique bird. It was endemic to a small island called Mauritius. It flourished there for thousands of years. It then went extinct. It was called the Dodo.

There was this some-what intelligent species. It was endemic to a small blue planet called Earth. It flourished there for a couple hundred thousand years. It then went extinct. It was called homo sapiens…

This is what history will say some time from now.

“Why so dark and pessimistic?” you may ask.

“On the contrary!” I would reply.

Species go extinct all the time. In fact, a certain percent of species going extinct is a normal part of evolution. Why would the Homo Sapiens be any different?!

Take the dodo, for example. The dodo thrived because it was lucky to live in such a safe environment – with abundance of food and no predators, that it didn’t even need to fly. So eventually it got fat and lost the ability to use its wings. When new predators entered its realm the Dodo was unable to either fight or flight. So, it went extinct.

“Yes, but we are different”, you may want to reply. “We are smart.”

“Not smart enough” I would say. What’s worse is that we’ve gotten fat and comfortable. Complacent. Inflexible. Conservative. Unwilling to change. Most of us have lost their ability to fly i.e. think independently, dream big and have the guts to chase after those dreams.

But we could be so much more. We could be masters of the universe. We could be immortal.

We could be gods!

And some of us will be.

But not those who hang on too tight to “our glorious past,” “human nature” or God, whatever those words may mean.

It will be those who dare to change, to move on, to embrace the new, to risk and to adapt. To embrace technology in a smart way and give wings to humanity.

To be/come transhuman.

And those humans who refuse to change will, like the Dodo, eventually go extinct. Perhaps not at once. But gradually, in time, they will die… off.

And those who thrive and prosper will not be mere humans any more. They will be more. A lot more.

So, the only thing that matters to you is this:

Are you ready to evolve?!

Or are you dead as the Dodo?!

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Why Augmentation Isn’t So “Far Out”

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The term “augmentation” – when referring to humans – has a tendency to call forth mental images of Terminator-like, red-eyed androids with steel limbs and laser guns. Tinkering with that is “human” may seem like a far-out concept, but from the vantage point of technology, it’s a process we’ve been engaged in since our earliest tools. For this same reason, many experts argue that “augmentation” is an inevitable result of our present technological efforts.

It serves us well to begin this article with definitions we can work with: (Dictionary.com)

transhumanism

Augment:

1. To make (something already developed or well under way) greater, as in size, extent, or quantity.

Enhance:

1. To make greater, as in value, beauty, or effectiveness; augment.

 

The first definitions of both terms are surprisingly similar, as they both relate to a kind of purposive betterment of something already in place. To “improve upon.” This desire for betterment and extending our capacities to achieve our objectives is the undercurrent of technology. It is also what will most likely make the transition to transhumanism inevitable.

Ray Kurzweil – in his new book “How to Create a Mind” – explains how he feels that Google and Wikipedia are like an extension of himself and of his own mental capacities. Like the first mallet or spear helped to extend man’s physical abilities, these tools help to extend our mental abilities in the present age. Kurzweil recalls that when Google and Wikipedia went on a SOPA strike in January of 2012, he felt as though part of his own mind was missing. I can imagine that an early hunter-gatherer would have felt that part of his body was missing if he’d had to spend a day trying to catch rabbit or boar with his bare hands.

 

Utility Wins – Why Wearable Computing is Taking Off

woman with futuristic glassesGoogle Glass has little chance of changing the world based on “cool” factor alone (though we all know a few people who will grab a pair for this reason alone). Rather, if Google Glass can meaningfully enhance our cognition by doing what it promises (price shopping online for products you’re looking at, pull up directions and maps in real time, let others “see” from your perspective), then it’s got a very good chance at being adopted.

But that’s it, right? Certainly, wearable computing is about as far as humanity will go without some kind of massive revolt. We aren’t just about to stand around and get turned into androids, are we?

Though acceptance with regards to a more literal “augmentation” of human-machine merger isn’t something we can be sure about either way, the clues seem to hint: “Go.”

When computers were the size of buildings, or large rooms of buildings, there was an initial inkling that these “devices” would never catch on. In the following decades when computers were small enough to have in our homes, there certainly must have been the same inkling (“Who needs one of these computing devices in their homes?”). I’ll admit, when the next wave hit with cell phones, I was certain that the world wouldn’t adopt the ability to be annoyed by email at any time or any place. Four years later my instinct has changed and I look confused when presented with a phone without GPS and email capability.

Google Glass represents the further extension of “wearable computing,” another trend with it’s inevitable proponents and it’s critics. It’s success, I pose, will be it’s utility to us – it’s ability to attain an end that we think we desire. Engadget.com put it well:

“That’s become clearer than ever with the advent of the personal computer, which in recent decades has drawn people away from the television, the radio, the calculator and countless other devices. More recently, we’ve seen that shift again with smartphones and tablets pulling people away from PCs, telephones, cameras and video game consoles. In each case, the new technology replacing the old has taken on a more central role in people’s lives. Whereas the personal computer became a hub in the home, the smartphone has become a source of ever-present connectivity and a near-constant accessory. Wearable computing promises to extend that always-on connection even further and, potentially, change the nature of what it means to be ‘connected.”

That “end” might be checking email everywhere and at all times. Some people may enjoy that feature, others may not. However, it might also be a more pleasant and engaging trip to museums, where real-time information about the pieces is presented. Some people may enjoy that feature, others may not. It could also mean less money spent shopping, there grocery or clothing prices could be compared in real time online and offline. If there is enough of this added utility – and the “ends” are strong enough – then Glass with catch on.

If Glass does not, another company likely will – and fast. Think about the chips already embedded in Nike shoes, or the “Pebble” watch / phone / iPod, or these rape defense underwear that zap would-be attackers. If the utility is there, then it’s coming, and thousands of companies are battling to lead that pack already.

 

Slippery Slope – “Cyborgs” as the Next Step?

futuristic cyborg

The potentially “scary” next step is a literal merger with computing or “computational substrates” to enhance our experience or improve our functioning. Unlike other improvements and technological advancements (the bow and arrow, the printing press, the cotton jinn, the calculator, the cell phone), this actually represents a genuine shift in the human condition / human experience – via the senses and capacities granted to us.

From one perspective, technology has already changed the human condition. Certainly my life now is drastically different from that of a hunter-gatherer in the year 2,000 BC. However, if you tool a human from even 50,000 years ago and raised them from birth in our environment, or tool a human baby now and raised them in the african sahara, it would be evident that our faculties, needs, and capacities are essentially identical.

With the advent of embedded enhancement to our memory, implants to improve sensory perception, or reality simulators that capable of mentally transporting us to any time and place all represent potential steps that bring us well beyond the plateau of “human” on which we’ve perched for the last 50 millennia.

There are lines of thought that either rule out this transition (IE: neglect to take a technological merger into account of humanity’s future), or which believe that humanity simply wouldn’t allow for this kind of blasphemy to our human nature.

This is one of the reasons that some experts believe that it is ridiculous to imagine homo sapiens in the cockpits of spacecraft in the year 3,000 – as well as a slew of other interesting predictions.

Speicher und Gedächtnis UpdateHowever, despite the drastic step forward that this transition would represent, it’s motivations would still remain the same: attaining an end that we think we desire. Utility.

Hence, this slope is just as slippery as the slope of the phone and mobile computing, and the chasm of “cyborg” is already being crossed. Initially, we will cure blindness and enable paralyzed people to walk, talk, or regain use of a mechanized body through their still-active brain channels. We’re “okay” with helping people “in need,” but handicapped people are not the only ones with needs, and as the ability to attain desired ends is achieved by these technologies, enhancement – I believe – will be inevitable (Here, for example, is an article about memory implants being used for people with memory problems, that one can imagine might be very desirable for “normal” folks as well).

 

Eternal Vigilance and the Importance of a Path Forward

The trends and ramifications above present us with a unique set of challenges relating to the future of our race, of sentient beings, and of consciousness itself. To point in any one direction as “the answer” seems misguided, naive and dangerous. The “progress” of greatest importance will be our effective collaboration of expertise around the very careful, very calibrated “roll-out” of these sentience-altering technologies.

In a very serious sense, “tinkering” with consciousness and conscious experience itself represents the ultimate moral precipice – the most ethically significant action conceivable. Creating human-level consciousness with circuitry alone, manufacturing an infinite number of virtual realities, expanding our senses and cognition to millions of times their present capacities, extending virtual life forever inside of computational substrates to house trillions of living consciousnesses… all of these transitions are potentially plausible – and their direction will ultimately be guided by how we release them into the world.

The “answers” are not to be found in any kind of clear-cut fashion, but through a collaboration of mindfulness about the emergence and use of these technologies – we can give ourselves the best chance of ensuring their being leveraged beneficially in the world of tomorrow (which isn’t that far out).

 

About the Author:

Daniel-FaggellaDan Faggella is a graduate of UPENN’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program, as well as a national martial arts champion. His work focuses heavily on the transition to transhumanism, and the eminent issues and opportunities therein. His articles and interviews with philosophers / experts can be found at www.SentientPotential.com

Zero State Founder Amon Kalkin: Reject Apathy!

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Amon_KalkinAmon Kalkin is a cognitive scientist, electronic artist, and founder of Zero State. He is 40 years old, born in New Zealand, and living in the UK, where he spends his time raising a young family and gardening when he isn’t working to create a sphere of influence for positive futurist values.

During my interview with Amon Kalkin we cover a variety of topics such as: what is Zero State – its genesis, history, and future goals; the importance of starting with first principles and the meaning of positive social change; if and how libertarianism and anarchism relate to Zero State; transhumanism and the technological singularity; starting a transhumanist micro-state…

My favorite quote from Amon Kalkin is a short and simple but powerful one:

Reject Apathy!

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.

 

What is Zero State?

zero-stateZero State is a community affiliated with the Wave movement for positive social change through technology.

It is a grass-roots movement pursuing smart, compassionate solutions to problems, aimed at improving the human condition.

Zero State supports transformative technologies such as life extension as well as cognitive & physical enhancement. Some of their social projects include accelerating change, basic income, meshnets and bitcoin; while lifestyle initiatives explore areas such as the arts, spirituality, fashion and culture.

Their main goal is the establishment of a trans-national, virtual state – the Zero State.

ZS is dedicated to mutual aid and global renewal in science, technology, politics, economics, environmentalism and spirituality. The Zero State intends to act as a counterpoint to traditional governmental, corporate and religious institutions, bringing people together to share independently-developed tools and resources.

You can find out more at http://zerostate.net

 

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Zoltan Istvan: The Transhumanist Wager Is A Choice We’ll All Have To Make

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The-Transhumanist-WagerWhile I personally loved the first half of The Transhumanist Wager and disliked much of the second, I am convinced that the novel is a must read for anyone interested in the future of our civilization.

In my view, the novel is full of interesting and controversial contradictions. For example, on the one hand, Zoltan Istvan is a philosophically sophisticated author using elements from Plato’s Republic, Nietzsche’s Overman (Übermensch), Thomas Moore’s Utopia, Zen Buddhism, and other eastern and western philosophies. On the other hand, Zoltan has chosen to give us a kind of simplistic, Atlas Shrugged-style of a plot in its black-and-white depiction of an evil government and the lone hero who dares to stand up to it. Regardless of my personal views, however, I enjoyed reading the book and believe that it does a good job of mapping out the dangerous period that our civilization will have to navigate in the next several decades.

During my interview with Zoltan Istvan we cover a variety of topics such as: what is the Transhumanist Wager; how and why he got interested in transhumanism; his protagonist Jethro Knights and some autobiographical elements of the novel; the potential for conflict between transhumanists and anti-transhumanists; Ayn Rand, objectivism and their impact on the Transhumanist Wager; competition, human nature, and death; transhumanism and the technological singularity; the ideal state of Transhumania and the price we have to pay to accomplish it…

My favorite quote that I will take away from Zoltan Istvan is:

Morality is often defined by the amount of time we have left.

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.

 

About the Author:

Zoltan_IstvanAt the age of 21, American-Hungarian Zoltan Istvan began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He’s explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts.

His work has also been featured by The New York Times Syndicate, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC Radio, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Back in America, he started various successful businesses, from real estate development to filmmaking to viticulture, joining them under ZI Ventures. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University and resides in San Francisco with his daughter and physician wife.

 

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Death is Not Destiny: A Glimpse into The Transhumanist Wager

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The-Transhumanist-Wager“Death is not destiny. Death is neither inevitable nor natural,” says Jethro Knights, protagonist in my new philosophical thriller, The Transhumanist Wager.

What does Jethro mean? Death is not destiny? Death is neither inevitable nor natural?

It means, Jethro would say, that the most significant thing that has been happening to the human species is about to end.

The Transhumanist Wager tells the story of a man who will do anything to achieve immortality via science and technology. His main focus and drive in life is finding a way to live forever, even at the possible expense of what most people would call humanity.

When I set out to write The Transhumanist Wager four years ago, I did not intend it to become an edgy, controversial book. For much of my adult life, I have been a journalist covering environmental, wildlife, and human rights stories. My articles and television episodes—many for the National Geographic Channel—were welcomed in any culture and in any country. My stories were the type that a family could amicably discuss over the dinner table, or watch on television while happily cuddling together on a couch.

Perhaps it was the effect of the war zones I covered as a journalist, rising out of my subconscious, but The Transhumanist Wager soon took on much more contentious ideas of human endeavor and culture. For a human being, most conflict zones highlight a simple fact: Once presented with horror and death, one tends to quickly discover degrees of emotion and experience never imagined or thought possible before. For me and the difficult moments that I still vividly remember, those incidents gave me the powerful conviction that human life should be preserved indefinitely, at any cost.

Jethro Knights also realizes this early in his life, after almost stepping on a landmine in a war zone (which happened to me in Vietnam’s DMZ while filming a story on bomb diggers). The revelation for Jethro is so sharp, so penetrating, so intense that nothing will ever be the same for him again.

It is from this vantage point that The Transhumanist Wager was written. And it is from the landmine experience that Jethro discovers the mortality crisis not only in himself, but in every human being alive. That crisis takes on the form of a wager—a choice that every human must make in the 21st century: to die eventually; or to try to live indefinitely. And if we try to live indefinitely, then we should use every tool and resource of science and technology available to us, Jethro insists. And we should do it immediately.

This is the quintessential message of The Transhumanist Wager. A rational and scientific-minded society owes itself the strictest dedication to applying its resources and minds to overcoming that which has been the greatest downfall of our species: our mortality.

My novel presents the story of a human being who after years of struggling, years of anguish, years of tragic loss, fights on to achieve his own immortality—and in doing so, scores a victory for all of civilization.

 

About the Author:

Zoltan_IstvanAt the age of 21, American-Hungarian Zoltan Istvan began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He’s explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts.

His work has also been featured by The New York Times Syndicate, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC Radio, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Back in America, he started various successful businesses, from real estate development to filmmaking to viticulture, joining them under ZI Ventures. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University and resides in San Francisco with his daughter and physician wife.

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Natasha Vita-More on The Transhumanist Reader: The Story Behind The Book

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Transhumanism is both misunderstood and feared. Ignorant people with an ideological agenda have gone as far as labeling it “the most dangerous idea.” Thus a comprehensive book – a Transhumanist Reader, documenting both the origins and the current state of transhumanist thought has been long needed. So, when I discovered that a new book aimed at accomplishing just that is being published, I knew I simply had to interview one of the editors.

It is time to bring some basic intellectual clarity on the topic and who is better prepared to help us do that but Natasha Vita-More – “the first female philosopher of transhumanism”.

Dr. Natasha Vita-More has already been a guest on Singularity 1 on 1. Her previous two interviews were both interesting and popular and I enjoyed talking to her about her life and work. This time our conversation is more focused on issues related to the publishing of The Transhumnist Reader.

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.

The Transhumanist Reader [Synopsis]

Transhumanist-ReaderThe Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future is the first authoritative and comprehensive survey of the origins and current state of transhumanist thinking.

The rapid pace of emerging technologies is playing an increasingly important role in overcoming fundamental human limitations. Featuring core writings by seminal thinkers in the speculative possibilities of the posthuman condition, essays address key philosophical arguments for and against human enhancement, explore the inevitability of life extension, and consider possible solutions to the growing issues of social and ethical implications and concerns.

Edited by the internationally acclaimed founders of the philosophy and social movement of transhumanism – Max More and Natasha Vita-More, The Transhumanist Reader is an indispensable guide to our current state of knowledge of the quest to expand the frontiers of human nature.

Who is Natasha Vita-More?

Natasha Vita-More, Ph.D. is the founder and creative director of esDESiGN and the producer and host of H+TV online. Her research concerns the design aesthetics of human enhancement and radical life extension, with a focus on emerging and speculative sciences and technologies. Her conceptual future human design “Primo Posthuman” has been featured in Wired, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Net Business, Teleopolis, and Village Voice. She has appeared in over twenty-four televised documentaries on the future and culture, and has exhibited media artworks at National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Brooks Memorial Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art, Women In Video, Telluride Film Festival, and United States Film Festival and recently “Evolution Haute Couture: Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age” and is the recipient of several awards: First Place Award at Brooks Memorial Museum, Special Recognition at Women in Video, and special recognition for “Futures Podcast Series”.

Dr. Vita-More is a proponent of human rights and ethical means for human enhancement and is published in Artifact, Technoetic Arts, Nanotechnology Perceptions, Sistemi Intelligenti, Metaverse Creativity, D’ARS, and the Global Spiral. She is co-editor of The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology and Philosophy of the Human Future (Wiley-Blackwell 2013).

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Socrates at Newtonbrook Secondary School: Be Unreasonable!

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Yesterday I went to speak to a class of grade 12 students from the Newtonbrook Secondary School in Toronto. I have been looking forward to this opportunity to challenge and be challenged by the next generation of bright young minds, and was not going to be prevented from going there, be it by a Canadian winter storm of by any other of life’s tragedies.

Needless to say, I enjoyed speaking to the students very much and hope that they benefit from talking to me as much as I did talking to them.

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.

 

My Talking Points for Newtonbrook Secondary School:

Newtonbrook Secondary SchoolI want to begin today by acknowledging your teacher Hermine Steinberg – Hermine doesn’t know what I am going to say today and she probably wouldn’t approve some or much of it. What she certainly knows is that she is taking a risk by inviting me here. And, from my life experience I know that you risk, you take a chance only if you care about something or someone. So I want to recognize her and tell you that you are lucky to have a teacher who is willing to risk for you, because she really cares.

Who am I and why am I here today?

My name is Nikola Danaylov aka Socrates. I am the blogger behind SingularityWeblog.com and the host of the Singularity 1 on 1 podcast.

I get about 50,000 unique visitors per month and have had over half a million downloads of my show.

Two summers ago I was very fortunate to be one of very few people who had the opportunity to go to Singularity University which is located on NASA’s Ames Campus in Mountain View, California. There I met some of the most incredible people in the world such as Steve Wosniak, Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis, Aubrey de Grey and astronaut Dan Barry and had the chance to visit companies like Google, Facebook, Cisco, Tesla and many others.

But enough about me.

I am here to talk about you!

One of the big questions in schools today is: Are students Bored or Apathetic?!

My hypothesis is that students are bored. Just like I was bored when I was in school.

So for the next 40 min or so I will throw some of today’s biggest ideas at you to find out if I am right or wrong. After I am done we will start a conversation where you can say what you think and how you feel.

So, let’s start our conversation with education: the thing about education is that it holds a promise. A promise that was probably told to you by both your parents and by your teachers.

“Do your school work, get good grades in your classes and you will get a good job and a good life.”

Well, I am here to tell you that your school grades don’t matter that much. In fact, they don’t matter at all.

Let me give you 2 examples: Bob McDonald and Jack Andraka.

So, in short, I don’t care that you barely passed or even failed biology or chemistry. You can still reinvent the meaning and the scope of biology, chemistry or anything else you put your mind to it.

As someone who spent a long time in school and has had a few academic awards, I have come to discover that success in school doesn’t mean success in life – neither personally nor professionally.

Education is historical i.e. to say it is retrospective in nature. It is about the past. But what I am here for is to propose that we must look to the future.

And so: Why talking about the future is as important, if not more, than talking about history?!

Let me give you 2 reasons:

1. “We can’t do anything about the past, however. People often excuse this by saying that we know a lot more about the past. But modest efforts have often given substantial insights into our future, and we would know much more about the future if we tried harder.” Robin Hanson

2. It might be that your generation will be the one to steer our civilization at a time of unparalleled peril and promise. At a time when humanity may face immortality or extinction, when we might colonize the stars or go back to the stone age.

And, so, let’s talk about the future:

The biggest trend is Accelerating Change: according to Ray Kurzweil in the next 10 years we are going to experience change equal to the one that used to happen for 1,000 years.

Moore’s Law and the Law of Accelerating Returns

Exponential change – 30 exponential steps down the way takes a billion steps down the road

What are the major fields of accelerating change:

1. Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: from Google’s robot car to killer drones to Deep Blue and Watson

2.  Genetic engineering and Synthetic Bio

Decoding the human genome cost over 3 billion dollars and took many scientists a cooperative effort for over 10 years.

Today you can do that for 2,000 dollars with single machine over 1 day. What does that mean?

That means we might put an end to cancer, create algae that eats pollution or produces oil, or that we could eventually plant a seed that may turn into a house.

4. Explosion in internet and computer users and especially in data: 3 billion internet users exponential explosion of devices i.e. Internet of Things

cheaper, faster, smaller, better – smart phones and everything else

Today’s smartphone most powerful computer of 1985 (War Games computer)

Zetabytes of information: kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte, petabyte, exabyte, zetabyte i.e. 1 with 21 zeros that’s 250 billion DVD’s of information per year

92% of world data was generated in the past 2 years

5. Nanotechnology: being able to build things from the ground up, one atom at a time.

No waste, no energy loss, on the spot, on demand by nanofabricators.

6. 3D printing from jaws, to beaks, to prosthetics and houses

7. Bio printing: Dr. Anothony Atala printed a human bladder from stem cells.

8. Ageing and life expectancy

Cro-Magnon Era: 18 years
Ancient Egypt: 25 years
Ancient Greece: 28 years
1400 Europe: 30 years
1800 Europe and USA: 37 years
1900 USA: 48 years
2002 United States: 78 years

right now every 1 year our life expectancy improves by 3 months

There will be a point when every year our life expectancy will improve by another 1: this is what Dr. Aubrey de Grey calls Longevity Escape Velocity. In simple words that means that we will be able to prolong life indefinitely.

9. Whole brain simulation, whole brain emulation and mind uploading:

Books and music went from material to digital but that is only the beginning. I am here to tell you that whatever can become information will become information.

We are all living software – what Prof. George Church calls the oldest text i.e. DNA.

The trend is that eventually we will transition seamlessly material things into information and, with 3D printing, information back into material objects.

And that includes us!

Mind uploading is not science fiction any more!

10. Transhumanism: the belief that with technology we have and we can continue to improve who we are and what we can do.

Hamlet’s Transhumanist Dilemma

The Transhumanist Manifesto

11. The technological singularity

Definitions of Singularity:

1.     the state of being singular, distinct, peculiar, uncommon or unusual
2.     (mathematics) the value or range of values of a function for which a derivative does not exist
3.     (physics) a point or region in spacetime in which gravitational forces cause matter to have an infinite density; associated with Black Holes
4.     In the technological sense there are many definitions but I will give you one that fits best what we are talking about today:

Intelligence explosion: this intelligence could be enhanced, augmented human intelligence. Or it could be machine i.e. Artificial Intelligence.

So, the question is: what happens when machines becomes smarter than us?

The best answer we have come up with so far is that: “We don’t really know!”

And that is why it is a singularity, it is a point in our future where our ability to predict and model what is likely to happen will fall apart.

So, what does this all mean for you?

Chances are that you are the ones to stand on the edge of the event horizon. You are the generation that might have to steer our civilization at a time of unparalleled peril and promise.

At a time when humanity may face immortality or extinction, when we might colonize the stars or go back to the stone age.

And so, I am here to ask you: “What are you going to do?”

 

Takeaway message:

Education is very important but not the one that others, be it teachers or parents, give to you – it is what you give to yourself.

Thus the diploma that you get will be less and less important than ever before. So I say – take education into your own hands because your education matters the most to you and your life.

Don’t wait for permission from your parents or teachers to change the world. Keep learning and improving.

Build stamina: Life is a marathon, not a sprint. You will fail endless times before you succeed. (Dan Barry had to apply 13 times to NASA but he never gave up on his dream to be an astronaut.)

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Geroge Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for Revolutionists,” Man and Superman, 1903

So when your teacher or parents ask you to be “reasonable”, I say: “Be very unreasonable!”

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Socrates on the Wow Signal Podcast: Be Unreasonable!

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I know how hard it is start a podcast. So when budding podcasters ask me for an interview, I am always looking for reasons to say “Yes.”

This is a re-post of my month-old interview for the Wow Signal Podcast recently started by Paul Carr. Since this is only the 3rd episode ever, the recording is still a bit rough around the edges. Never-the-less, I enjoyed talking to Paul and you might enjoy listening to it too.

During our conversation with Carr we cover a variety of topics such as: transhumanism and the technological singularity; hard and slow take-offs and why I bet on the latter rather than the former; mind uploading and the two major criticisms thereof; pro-sports, performance enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong and regulation; the Fermi paradox, our civilization’s chance of surviving and colonizing the universe…

I end up the interview with one of my favorite quotes of all time:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

Geroge Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for Revolutionists,” Man and Superman, 1903

And so that is why I say: Go, be unreasonable!!!

 

P.S. My comments about Lance Armstrong were made a few weeks before his Oprah interview, and during a period when Lance was still vehemently denying any doping whatsoever.

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Are You A Transhuman: Larry King Interviews Futurist FM-2030

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In this 1989 video Larry King interviews FM-2030 about his book Are You a Transhuman?. FM 2030 answers questions from Larry’s audience and covers topics such as the meaning of transhuman, the decline of money, immortality, fossil fuels, genetic mutations and abundance. One thought that stands out as an interesting prediction that I hope comes true is:

“If you are around the year 2010 then there is a very good chance that you would be around in the year 2030. If you are around in the year 2030 then there is an excellent chance that you can coast to immortality.”

 

Who was FM 2030?

FM-2030, a noted author, lecturer and consultant to business and industry died on July 8, 2000. FM was born with a conventional name but changed both his first and last names to reflect his beliefs and his confidence in the future. As he explains, “conventional names define a person’s past: ancestry, ethnicity, nationality, religion. I am not who I was ten years ago and certainly not who I will be in twenty years. The name 2030 reflects my conviction that the years around 2030 will be a magical time. In 2030 we will be ageless and everyone will have an excellent chance to live forever. 2030 is a dream and a goal.”

His childhood was spent in consulates, embassies and government outposts around the world. He was equally at home in London, New York, Miami, Jerusalem, Damascus and Los Angeles. His formal education began in an Iranian primary school, continued in an English school, a French Jesuit school in Jerusalem, and a term in a girl’s convent school in Lebanon where he was the only boy. In the late 40s after attending schools in Europe he went to the United States and attended Berkeley, then U.C.L.A. He came to London in 1948 as a member of the Iranian team at the Olympic Games. FM served at the United Nations on the Conciliation Commission for Palestine, later leaving to devote his time to writing.

Day of Sacrifice, FM’s first novel, was selected by the New York Herald Tribune as one of the best novels of 1959. It has been translated into eleven languages and is on the required reading list of the U.S. State Department. In an interview with FM the writer noted: “…there is a difference between Esfandiary and Camus. The latter is essentially a pessimist. It is the human condition that is absurd. Esfandiary is an optimist. He has hope, because he has a deep faith in man. He is convinced that technological progress, the contact of cultures, etc… will free man from his present miseries. Given time, man will even deliver himself from his supreme tragedy–death. Man can be made perfect.”

FM moved from writing novels to writing non-fiction, changing his name along the way, and dealing with the human condition and the central themes which engaged him throughout his life.

FM appeared many times on network programs such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Live with Larry King, Future Watch, Not for Women Only and many others.

His views and forecasts were both provocative and visionary and uncannily right on the mark. At the time he made his forecasts both in his books and in the media they were controversial and viewed as impossible. Now we take many of them for granted. Just an example of some of his forecasts: in the 1970s and 1980s as everyone was concerned with the weapons race and security, FM’s projections showed the reasons for the de-acceleration of the arms race; as early as the 1970s he anticipated the breakdown of communism; while the Club de Rome and others made dire predictions, worrying about and raising alarms regarding scarcity of energy, resources, food and water, FM in an article published in The New York Times wrote about the Age of Abundance; in the early 70s he carried out and anticipated our current dress down mode; his book Telespheres anticipated telemedicine, teleducation, telebanking, etc.; as early as 1974 he was lecturing and writing articles about physical longevity and the possibility of physical immortality.

Alvin Toeffler, a friend and colleague of FM’s since the early 1960s, says about FM: “He is gutsy and truly a visionary. One doesn’t have to agree with everything he says to be refreshed by it.”

James Hughes on Citizen Cyborg: Interrogate and Engage the World

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Dr. James Hughes is not only the executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) but also a well-known book author and transhumanist. I enjoyed having him on the show and will probably ask him to come back.

During our conversation with Dr. Hughes we cover a wide variety of topics such as: what is the IEET and what does it do; the story behind James’ interest in technology, policy, philosophy, and bio/ethics; why transhumanist atheists are often drawn to Buddhism; his first book Citizen Cyborg and his upcoming Cyborg Buddha; transhumanism and his definition thereof; whether optimism is rational; the impact of artificial intelligence on transhumanism; James’ take on the technological singularity and our chances of surviving it; the benefits of biology; moral enhancement and animal uplift.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above, or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.

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 James Hughes?

James Hughes Ph.D. serves as the Executive Director of the technoprogressive thinktank Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. He is a bioethicist and sociologist at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut where he teaches health policy and serves as Director of Institutional Research and Planning. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago. Dr. Hughes is the author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future and is working on a second book tentatively titled Cyborg Buddha.

Transhumanism in Fiction: Normalizing to the Uncanny Peak

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Putting the Human in the Transhuman Equation

In speculative fiction, themes of transhumanism abound. Balancing high-concept ideas, from human genetic modification to biotechnological integration, become a critical area of thought and focus for a writer. Presenting correct normal human reaction to extraordinary circumstances is something that many writers aspire to competently represent. Transhuman transformation and end-forms often fall into the category of extraordinary. In situations where the normalized human majority encounters a transhuman figure or group, correctly anticipating the reaction can be difficult.

Image Credit: Hand on Fabric, GFDL, Deshmuk, Aman

The rational acceptance of transhuman forms according to the created world of a science fiction novel requires a look at not only the human psyche, but also acknowledgement that human augmentation or change may come about through a chain of normalization events.  The uncanny valley theory is very valuable here, especially when the inverse is used to predict the acceptability of transhuman concepts. This article is by no means comprehensive or academic in nature. However, taking a moment to ponder the basic ideas of how a transhuman individual may be viewed by the general public is an interesting thought exercise for anyone who creates or dreams of tomorrow.

What does it meant to be Transhuman?

Transhumanism is a broad concept. It is typically distilled down to various notions of human enhancement above the currently accepted range of normal human capabilities. For some, modest biological modifications that are in use now, from medical prosthetics to drug enabled performance improvements, fall within the boundaries of the transhuman realm. Transhuman is most often defined as a permanent modification to a person, designed to allow that individual to exceed current human physical or mental performance over the 100th percentile. Transhuman changes may even be conducted prenatally or part of a genetic inheritance, passed down through successive generations in directed evolution.

Although transhumanism is often associated with the technological singularity, it is an exclusive concept, though not mutually exclusive. Transhuman modification can occur, to a degree, with our current level of advancement. Transhumanism is limited only by our imagination and current understanding of technology and biology. The concepts surrounding the technological singularity are often seen as key enablers of transhuman ideas.

Current Pathways to a Transhuman Mode of Existence

There are many pathways that seem to lead to a transhuman state of existence.  In both fiction and scientific theory, human augmentation may be accomplished through multiple means.   In the past, genetic modification and eugenics were seen as the most likely method of creating superior human beings. As time has passed, the idea of the cyborg, or a human enhanced by technology and circuitry was introduced.

Today, technological singularity concepts present a wide field of options that will enable transhumanism. Cybernetics and consciousness transfer to android bodies are one popular means of reaching transhuman, while a complete abandonment of the physical body into an electronic form is starting to gain notoriety. Permutations that involved various combinations of these forms of human augmentation are well established in fiction.

The Uncanny Valley

The ‘uncanny valley’ is a pseudo-psychological theory that human beings have an unease or instinctual disgust with objects or images that attempt to mimic a normal human being, but fall short from doing so.  In the illustration below, the valley represents the degree of deviation an object is in human likeness, compared against a normal and healthy person. Objects that are far from mimicking or representing a human being, such as a stuffed animal or even a human-shaped robot have little impact on the human psyche. However, when an attempt is made to create something that is only a few degrees of perception off the familiar range of human appearance or action, human beings begin to feel uneasy.

A prime example of the uncanny valley can be seen when a person encounters a realistic animatronic figure of a person in a museum or show. Although the automaton is close to the appearance of a living person, there are multiple indicators that the animatronic figure is not a real human. Jerky or unnatural movements, glossy skin, dead eyes, and a whole host of subtle differences cause human beings to begin to feel uneasy. The effect is amplified when the figure appears to be distorted, bleeding, mangled, or medically disfigured. Perhaps that is why zombies are such a hot horror property, as the human mind sees something that is not only ‘off’ from a normal person, but a potential vector for disease. The encounter with something deep in the uncanny valley may cause anxiety or a fear response in a healthy person.

Image Credit: Uncanny Valley Illustration, GFDL, MacDorman, Karl

The Uncanny Peak

It is interesting to note, that when writing science fiction the singularity and other advanced technological states always seem to bring transhumanism to the forefront. People have a comfort with and often expect that humanity will have to evolve or change to keep pace with technological advancement. In most cases, readers enjoy exploring themes of super-human achievement, both optimistic and pessimistic in nature.

As a part of the human condition, those super-human notions are the basis of many historical and mythological stories. Ever since man started writing fiction, the super-human has been a mainstay component of many creative tales. It seems that the classic representations of being super-human is ingrained in the the human psyche. Transhumanism in fiction is a natural extension of these themes as we move into modern storytelling.

In practical terms, the acceptance of a modified transhuman by a normal and healthy person may hinge on degrees of separation. The uncanny valley asserts that a degraded or imperfect mimicry of a human being is cause for disgust. Considering that transhumanism involves improving an individual beyond what is accepted as normal, there is the potential for a second uncanny valley to form. In this dual uncanny valley, the current state of a normal-human becomes the peak between the slopes.

Uncanny Valley / Modified with Peak, GFDL, Atkins, Tracy

On the post-normal-human downward slope, human beings may be adverse to modifications that enhance human performance and appearance. At the start of the downward slope, enhancements that bring about improved physical and mental performance will be generally accepted.  However, as the performance or change deviates from the peak normal by a growing margin, a backlash against transhuman modifications may become apparent. Outward physical changes or augmentation will be the most common form railed against by the peak normal human, as the uncanny valley is heavily biased to visual perception. However, mental feats may also inspire trepidation or distrust by non-augmented individuals.

From the perspective of the uncanny peak, augmented humans will likely be accepted if their modifications are considered minor or benign. Today, most people would not question a person whose eyesight was slightly better, or who has heightened concentration through technological augmentation. However, as the slope into super-human or transhuman forms increase, people become envious at best and frightened at worst. Transhumans will likely face prejudice as they reach the bottom of the second uncanny valley.  As transhumans emerge into the realm of fantastical capabilities or appearance, acceptance may become easier to gain. Those at the peak may view highly modified individuals as posthuman or something altogether different.

Therefore, when handling public acceptance of a transhuman augmentation in writing, outward appearances are most likely to cause dissention or hostility. As a transhuman sheds pieces of human form for the cybernetic, the further the delta between normal and the uncanny valley, the fewer acceptances the transhuman will hold. For internal or nonvisible augmentation where the subject appears normal, there is a much wider range of accepted advancement. However, the uncanny valley still applies when the augmentation is demonstrated in the presence of a normal, uncanny peak individual.

Oddly enough, when the transhuman changes border upon the posthuman, acceptance becomes more widely granted. Perhaps the human psyche sees a vastly different form as another species or so dissimilar as to not be frightening. Familiarity is a key concept in the uncanny valley, and when familiarity is lost, fear based upon the uncanny valley diminishes.  That fear can be transferred to fear of the unknown or fear of superiority. However, if the transhuman figure is benign, fear is often replaced with fascination and wonder.

The Uncanny Peak Moves as Transhumanism Progresses

One interesting concept to consider is the movement of the uncanny peak. The uncanny valleys will shift, meaning the current normal peak will become less accepted as changes take hold and become commonplace in the second uncanny valley. Like a wave where the crest moves forward, so will the uncanny peak. As a change becomes adopted by the masses, normalization will occur creating a new peak.

For example, if the majority of humans adopt a genetic change that increases their performance in a similar fashion, that populace will become the new normal. Members of the previous majority populous will then slide down the slope backward into the uncanny valley. The changes on the forward slope, towards transhumanism, will cause individuals that were in the transhuman uncanny valley to climb up the on the slope, moving toward normal. Therefore, the uncanny peak and valleys can evolve and normalize to widely accepted changes.

For writers and other creative minds, the notion of acceptance is something that will weigh heavily as we begin to tackle the future, both real and imagined. However, it is important to remember that humanity is not static but subject to evolution both genetic and technological. The timing and degree of changes that occur will have a major impact on how people will perceive and embrace change. Using the concepts of the uncanny valley and uncanny peak will help content creators better understand or predict reactions to transhuman ideals.

About the Author:

Tracy R. Atkins has been a career technology aficionado since he was young. At the age of eighteen, he played a critical role in an internet startup, cutting his tech-teeth during the dot-com boom. He is a passionate writer whose stories intertwine technology with exploration of the human condition. Tracy is also the self-published author of the singularity fiction novel Aeternum Ray.