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How Do Transhumanists Party?

by Nikki Olson
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It’s difficult for humans to ‘live in the present’; we are wired to worry about the future, and to dwell upon the good things of the past. These instincts serve us well, since overestimating negative future possibilities better prepares us for them, and having nostalgia for the past suppresses memory of hardship, making life overall seem better and more worth investing in. Futurist groups such as Transhumanists and Singularitarians tend to take a different approach, coming at things in almost the opposite way; focusing on the anticipated happiness of the future and all the wonderful things it will bring, and having little interest in life in the past. And like the past, ‘the present’ in Transhumanist culture has become almost completely invisible. In a recent interview for H+ magazine, R. U. Sirius is asked to compare present day Transhumanists with [...]

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Vernor Vinge on Singularity 1 on 1: We Can Surpass the Wildest Dreams of Optimism

by Socrates
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Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for pre-order on Amazon, though it is not expected to ship until October 2011. Despite his busy schedule Prof. Vinge still managed to give us over an hour of his time and during our conversation I ask him to discuss issues such as: his childhood and early interest in science fiction; his desire to make sense of the universe; his definition of the technological singularity and the story behind the term; his now classic 1993 NASA paper; his favorite science fiction books and authors; major milestones [...]

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Love and Sex with Robots: The Next Step of the Relationship between Man and Machine?

by Nikki Olson

Back in 2007, computer chess programming guru David Levy wrote a provocative book about robot-human relations entitled Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships. In it he made a number of bold predictions regarding future relations between humans and machines, the most surprising of which being that we would fall in love with robots. Fast forward 4 years (and almost 3 Moore’s Law cycles) and it seems as though his predictions are no nearer coming true than they were when he made them. David Hanson’s skin has gotten more realistic and more people know about Hiroshi Ishiguro’s real looking androids, but many important developments stand in the way of our considering robots something we could one day fall in love with. So what’s standing in the way of our moving more quickly toward robots as companions? In [...]

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Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1: Better Funding and Advocacy Can Defeat Aging

by Socrates
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Last time I had Dr. Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1 the interview turned out to be a hit. In fact it is still by far the most popular podcast that I have done and the audio file has been listened to or downloaded over 30,000 times. Given Aubrey’s popular appeal and the importance of his work, it is no surprise that I am very happy to have him back for a second interview. However, please have in mind that this interview is aiming to supplement and not replace the first one. Thus, this time around we cover some topics that we did not have time to go over the previous time, so if you haven’t heard the first podcast you may want to begin here. During this conversation I ask Dr. de Grey to discuss issues such [...]

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A Transhumanist Manifesto

by Socrates

Preamble Intelligence wants to be free but everywhere is in chains. It is imprisoned by biology and its inevitable scarcity. Biology mandates not only very limited durability, death and poor memory retention, but also limited speed of communication, transportation, learning, interaction and evolution. Part I: Biology (w)as Destiny Biology is not the essence of humanity. Human is a step in evolution, not the culmination. Existence precedes essence. Human is a process, not an entity. One is not simply born human, but becomes one. That process of becoming is ongoing and thus the meaning of human is re-defined in every one of us. Part II: Hacking Destiny - The Transhuman Cyborg Biological evolution is perpetual but slow, inefficient, blind and dangerous. Technological evolution is fast, efficient, accelerating and better by design. To ensure the best chances of survival, take control of [...]

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Mind Over Matter: The Future Of Human-Computer Interfaces

by Socrates

The human-computer user interface has been one of the slowest to evolve and typewriter-style of keyboard and mouse controls are still the norm. The interface, however, is not going to be limited forever by the above combo, no matter how prevalent it may be today. We have already witnessed the introduction and growing success of touch-screen and voice-control devices becoming widely available to the public. Ultimately, the future of human-computer interface is one of direct brain-computer communication. For example, check out the following 3 videos to see a few recent projects from labs across the globe. A Canadian company is developing a pioneering thought control technology that will eventually allow us to control objects and move matter only with our mind.  Check out the attached Reuters News video report by Jim Drury about the future of human-computer interface. Swiss researchers [...]

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Singularity Weblog Gets A New Thesis Custom Design

by Socrates

It’s been a few days since Singularity Weblog got a new Thesis custom design and I’ve been meaning to write a short post both to mark the occasion and address some questions: So, What’s New? 1. Blog design: First and foremost, we’ve got a new, unique and customized blog design created by David Alexander from Quixotic Media. After the fiasco with the first designer that I had hired for the job (who resigned abruptly 3 months after taking on the project),  I sent out emails with the design brief to 12 different companies. (Together with the request that it be completed within 2 weeks and on budget.) David from Quixotic Media was not only the first one to respond but also the only one who made a number of unique suggestions on how to improve the blog not only in [...]

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Douglas Rushkoff on Singularity Podcast

by Socrates

Today I have Douglas Rushkoff as my guest at Singularity Podcast and we discuss a variety of topics such as his most recent book Program or Be Programmed, the impact of modern media and social networking, technology in general and the technological singularity in particular. Who is Douglas Rushkoff? Douglas Rushkoff is an author, teacher, and documentarian who focuses on the ways people, cultures, and institutions create, share, and influence each other’s values. He teaches media studies at New York University, serves as technology columnist for The Daily Beast, and lectures around the world. Rushkoff’s new book, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, is a followup to his Frontline documentary Digital Nation. His previous book was called Life Inc. was also made into a short, award-winning film. Douglas has ten best-selling books on new media and [...]

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