DOCSLIB.ORG

Extropy Institute Life Management (Exi), a Nonprofit Educational Corporation, 11860 Mag- Nolia Avenue, Suite R, Riverside, CA 92503

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Extropy Institute Life Management (Exi), a Nonprofit Educational Corporation, 11860 Mag- Nolia Avenue, Suite R, Riverside, CA 92503 COVER 1 EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993 EXTROPY: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought is a journal of ideas, dedicated to discussing and developing themes in the follow- ing areas: • Transhumanism and futurist philosophy • Life extension, immortalism and biostasis • Smart drugs and other intelligence intensifying technologies • Artificial intelligence (AI) and personality uploading • Nanocomputers and nanotechnology • Memetics (ideas as replicating agents) ExtropyExtropy InsInstitutetitute • Experimental free communities in space, on the oceans, and in cyberspace EXTROPY (ISSN 1057-1035) is published twice per • Effective thinking, information filtering, & year (quarterly from January '94) by Extropy Institute life management (ExI), a nonprofit educational corporation, 11860 Mag- nolia Avenue, Suite R, Riverside, CA 92503. Phone: • Self-transformative psychology (909) 688-2323. E-mail to: [email protected]. Copyright • Spontaneous orders (free markets, neural ©1993 Extropy Institute. networks, evolutionary processes, etc) Distributed nationally by Armadillo, Los Angeles, CA; Desert Moon • Digital economy (privacy technologies, Periodicals, Sante Fe, NM; Fine Print, Austin, TX; IPD, Solana Beach, CA; digital money and electronic markets) Ubiquity, Brooklyn, NY; & Tower Magazines, W. Sacramento, CA; Inter- nationally by Sala Communications, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Gaia • Critical analysis of extreme environmentalism Media, Basel, Switzerland; and in the UK by Counter Productions, • Probing the ultimate limits of physics London, UK. • Artificial life Manuscripts and letters submitted for publication must be typed or printed double-spaced, and accom- panied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Make checks payable to “Extropy Institute.” EDITOR: Max More, MA, Extropy Institute *All payments must be in US dollars, drawn on a US bank. Communications: Russell E. Whitaker, ECFP Ven- tures, Ltd. (UK) SUBSCRIPTIONS (4 issues): Computing, Simon! D. Levy, MA, Linguistics Dept., USA: $18 Linguistics: University of Connecticut; Haskins Canada and Mexico*: $22 Laboratories Overseas*: $32 (air); $24 (surface) Cryonics & Michael R. Perry, Ph.D; Director, Institutions: USA: $40, Canada, Mexico: $45 Immortalism: Society for Venturism Overseas: $60/$44 (air/surface) Law, Politics: Tom Morrow, MA, JD, Extropy Institute BACK ISSUES: See p.33 for contents #s 1, 2, 4, 5, 6: $4 each. #s 7, 8, 9, 10: $5 each. Memetics: Keith Henson, Founder, L-5 Society EXTROPY INSTITUTE (See p.32 for details) Nanotechnology: J. Storrs Hall, Rutgers University, Laboratory for Computer Science Re- Membership (Includes one year subscription to search Extropy and to 6-12 issues of Exponent, ExI's newslet- ter), plus discounts on conferences, tapes, T-shirts, Philosophy, Max More, MA, Extropy Institute software, and books, and invitations to festivals, and Politics: local meetings, and other gatherings: Physics: Prof. Gregory Benford, Physics Dept., USA: $30 University of California, Irvine Canada: $40 Science: David Krieger, MLS, American Infor- Overseas: $50/$62 (Extropy by surface/full air) mation Exchange Sustaining: $100 Transhumanities: Mark Plus, MS, Editor, Venturist Benefactor: $300 Monthly News Sponsor: $1000 EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993 2 EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993 (vol.5, no.1) Uploading Consciousness Ralph Merkle 05 Extropian Principles 2.5 Max More 09 Traversable Wormholes: Some Implications or, Contact! A Post-Singularity Phase Change Michael Price 14 Illustrated by Ralph Whelan A Conversation with Mark Miller, Part 2 The Day the Universe Stood Still David Krieger 24 “Bunkrapt”: The Abstractions that Lead to Scares about Population and Resources Julian L. Simon 34 THE TRANSHUMAN TASTE (reviews) Theories of Everything Peter McCluskey 42 In Our Own Image: Building an Artificial Person Derek Zahn 43 Mirror Worlds Harry Shapiro Hawk 44 Extropy Institute Update 32 Back Issues 33 Extropy 5th Birthday Party 33 Extro 1 Conference 1994: Call for papers 46 Contributors 47 Cover image by Derek Zahn with Laura Guy 3 EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993 EDITORIAL Going Quarterly: From 1988-90, Extropy came out quar- your suggestions for further refinements; future versions are terly, the workload — then much lighter — divided be- inevitable. tween Tom Morrow and myself. On becoming sole editor I'm delighted to present an ambitious examination of and producer, I cut the frequency to twice yearly to ensure the uses of spacetime wormholes, based on current physics Extropy's continued appearance despite my graduate research, to realize the Extropian goal of boundless work and teaching duties. Happily, this journal will return to expansion throughout spacetime, civilizing the universe. quarterly publication starting with next issue: Extropy #12 I'm especially pleased to introduce readers to the author, will appear in January, #13 in April, and so on. This move Michael Price, with whom I first worked six years ago, on the was encouraged by my quitting teaching to work full-time UK cryonics newsletter, Biostasis. Ralph Whelan, who for Extropy Institute (thanks to those ExI members who learned Aldus Freehand to produce the article's illustrations, pulled together to hire me), and enabled by the increasing deserves special thanks, both for the graphics and for supply of appropriate writing. helpful comments on the layout of the issue. If you bought this issue of Extropy at a newsstand or David Krieger concludes his conversation with Mark bookstore and intend to read future issues, please consider Miller, this second half even more stimulating, disturbing, subscribing directly. Not only will you save money and and intriguing than the first. Miller identifies five variants of receive your copy quickly and conveniently, you will be the libertarian political position, focusing especially on helping Extropy to survive and thrive. Distributors generally “nanarchy” — a possible system of the future designed to take 55% of the cover price ($4.95 from next issue), leaving minimize coercion by removing the enforcement of rights us well under half once shipping costs are paid. Due to the from human control. Prepare to be both horrified and minimal advertising in these pages, this return makes it thrilled. hard to cover costs. Current subscription information can Economist Julian L. Simon, author of numerous books be found on the inside front cover. on the economics of population, immigration, and re- sources, and an unrelenting foe of the foolish kind of In this issue: The idea of uploading one's consciousness, environmentalism, investigates why so many politicians, personality, or self, leaving behind the biological human are enraptured by this bunk — why are they bunkrapt? body for an intellectually and physically superior vehicle is Three reviews and two Extropian event notices complete an aspect of the Extropian outlook gathering much atten- the issue. tion. The recent story in the British GQ (“Meet the Extropians”) Upward and Outward! is a case in point. Although some of us expect a more Max More gradual process of human-machine merging, the possibil- ity of uploading (taken as a starting point in last issue's mindstretcher by roboticist Hans Moravec), merits serious Extropy #12 (available in early January '94) analysis. In his article, Ralph Merkle — one of today's few will likely feature: professional nanotechnology researchers — calculates Boundless Constellations: The Emergence the goals to be achieved by our technology if we are to of Celestial Civilization make this vision a reality. Ocean Colonization: A Practical Analysis The Extropian Principles 2.5 substantially refines version 2.0 from a year ago. For those of you who have not seen Neural-Computer Interfacing the Principles before, you should know that this manifesto Logical Languages: Artificial Language and is intended to be a concise, consistent, and comprehen- Posthuman Rationality sive presentation of the Extropian philosophy. I welcome Two Questions for Extropianism Utility Fog (nanotech), Pt. 1 Change of address: Please note that we have Interviewer David Krieger strikes again moved since last issue. We may move again More reviews (inc. Kosko's Fuzzy Thinking: before the next issue comes out in January '94, but The New Science of Fuzzy Logic) mail will be forwarded. Posthuman Sexuality EXTROPY — a measure of intelligence, information, energy, life, experience, diversity, opportunity and capacity for growth. Extropianism is the philosophy that seeks to increase extropy. The Extropian Principles are: (1) Boundless Expansion; (2) Self-Transformation; (3) Intelligent Technology; (4) Spontaneous Order; (5) Dynamic Optimism. TRANSHUMANISM — Philosophies of life (such as Extropianism) that seek to continue and accelerate the evolution of intelligent life beyond the limitations of the human form to a posthuman condition by means of science and technology, guided by life-furthering principles and values, while rejecting religious dogma and irrationalism. [See Extropy #6] EXTROPY #11 Summer/Fall 1993 4 Uploading Transferring Consciousness from Brain to Computer Ralph C. Merkle Xerox PARC 3333 Coyote Hill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 what over 1026 atoms in the brain, so our Your brain is a material object. The behavior of material objects is storage system needs to hold about 1028 described by the laws of physics. The laws of physics can be modeled bits. on a computer. Therefore, the behavior of your brain can be modeled For those readers who might view on a computer. Q.E.D. the feasibility of such a memory system with some doubt, recall that DNA re- quires roughly 16 atoms to store a bit of So why haven’t we cals it was a part of, what bonds it had information (not including the water in done it already? formed, and so on. The brain is roughly .1 which it floats). Your body, with 1010 bits meters across, so .01 nanometers is about per cell stored in DNA and 1014 cells, Well, we’d need a fairly big computer. 1 part in 1010: we need to know the posi- stores almost 1024 bits of information (and And we’d have to get a very detailed tion in each coordinate to within one part it’s unlikely that you’re an optimal description of your brain. The only ways in ten billion. A number of this size can be memory storage device).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Citizen Cyborg.” Citizen a Groundbreaking Work of Social Commentary, Citizen Cyborg Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology, and Genetic Engineering —DR
    hughes (continued from front flap) $26.95 US ADVANCE PRAISE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NANOTECHNOLOGY GENETIC ENGINEERING MEDICAL ETHICS INVITRO FERTILIZATION STEM-CELL RESEARCH $37.95 CAN citizen LIFE EXTENSION GENETIC PATENTS HUMAN GENETIC ENGINEERING CLONING SEX SELECTION ASSISTED SUICIDE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE human genetic engineering, sex selection, drugs, and assisted In the next fifty years, life spans will extend well beyond a century. suicide—and concludes with a concrete political agenda for pro- cyborg Our senses and cognition will be enhanced. We will have greater technology progressives, including expanding and deepening control over our emotions and memory. Our bodies and brains “A challenging and provocative look at the intersection of human self-modification and human rights, reforming genetic patent laws, and providing SOCIETIES MUST RESPOND TO THE REDESIGNED HUMAN OF FUTURE WHY DEMOCRATIC will be surrounded by and merged with computer power. The limits political governance. Everyone wondering how society will be able to handle the coming citizen everyone with healthcare and a basic guaranteed income. of the human body will be transcended, as technologies such as possibilities of A.I. and genomics should read Citizen Cyborg.” citizen A groundbreaking work of social commentary, Citizen Cyborg artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering —DR. GREGORY STOCK, author of Redesigning Humans illuminates the technologies that are pushing the boundaries of converge and accelerate. With them, we will redesign ourselves and humanness—and the debate that may determine the future of the our children into varieties of posthumanity. “A powerful indictment of the anti-rationalist attitudes that are dominating our national human race itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Development, Technological Singularity and Ethics
    European Research Studies Journal Volume XXI, Issue 4, 2018 pp. 714- 725 Sustainable Development, Technological Singularity and Ethics Vyacheslav Mantatov1, Vitaly Tutubalin2 Abstract: The development of modern convergent technologies opens the prospect of a new technological order. Its image as a “technological singularity”, i.e. such “transhuman” stage of scientific and technical progress, on which the superintelligence will be practically implemented, seems to be quite realistic. The determination of the basic philosophical coordinates of this future reality in the movement along the path of sustainable development of mankind is the most important task of modern science. The article is devoted to the study of the basic ontological, epistemological and moral aspects in the reception of the coming technological singularity. The method of this study is integrating dialectical and system approach. The authors come to the conclusion: the technological singularity in the form of a “computronium” (superintelligence) opens up broad prospects for the sustainable development of mankind in the cosmic dimension. This superintelligence will become an ally of man in the process of cosmic evolution. Keywords: Technological Singularity, Superintelligence, Convergent Technologies, Cosmocentrism, Human and Universe JEL code: Q01, Q56. 1East Siberia State University of Technology and Management, Ulan-Ude, Russia [email protected] 2East Siberia State University of Technology and Management, Ulan-Ude, Russia, [email protected] V. Mantatov, V. Tutubalin 715 1. Introduction Intelligence organizes the world by organizing itself. J. Piaget Technological singularity is defined as a certain moment or stage in the development of mankind, when scientific and technological progress will become so fast and complex that it will be unpredictable.
    [Show full text]
  • Extropy Institute
    ISSN 1057-1035 Issue #14 (vol.7, no.1) 1st Quarter 1995 $4.95 1 EXTROPY #14 (7:1) First Quarter 1995 EXTROPY: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought is a journal of ideas, dedicated to discussing and developing themes in the follow- ing areas: • Transhumanism and futurist philosophy • Life extension, immortalism and cryonics • Smart drugs (nootropics) and intelligence increase technologies • Machine intelligence, personality uploading, and Artificial life • Nanocomputers and nanotechnology • Memetics (ideas as viruses) ExtropyExtropy InstituteInstitute • Experimental free communities in space, on the oceans, and within computer networks • Effective thinking and information filtering EXTROPY (ISSN 1057-1035) is published approx. quarterly by • Self-transformative psychology Extropy Institute (ExI), an educational tax-exempt corporation, • Spontaneous orders (free markets, neural 13428 Maxella Avenue, #273, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. Phone: networks, evolutionary processes, etc) (310) 398-0375. • Digital economy (privacy technologies, E-mail to: [email protected] digital money and electronic markets) or: [email protected] • Rational, market-based environmentalism Copyright ©1994 by Extropy Institute and the respective writers. • Probing the ultimate limits of physics Distributed by Armadillo, Los Angeles, CA; Desert Moon Periodicals, Sante Fe, NM; Fine Print, Austin, TX; Inland, East Haven, CT; IPD, Solana Beach, CA; Small Changes, Seattle, WA; Ubiquity, Brooklyn, NY; & Tower EDITORIAL TEAM Magazines, W. Sacramento, CA; and in the UK by Counter Productions, London, UK. EDITOR: Max More, MA, Extropy Institute Writers: Contact the editor for submission details. ART DIRECTOR: Nancie Clark SUBSCRIPTIONS (4 issues): Communications: Russell E. Whitaker, Taos Mountain Soft- USA: $18 ware Canada and Mexico*: $22 Overseas*: $32 (air); $24 (surface) Computing, Simon D.
    [Show full text]
  • Humanity's Capability of Transcendence Through Artificial
    California State University, Monterey Bay Digital Commons @ CSUMB Capstone Projects and Master's Theses Spring 5-2016 Humanity’s Capability of Transcendence through Artificial Intelligence Zena McCartney California State University, Monterey Bay Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation McCartney, Zena, "Humanity’s Capability of Transcendence through Artificial Intelligence" (2016). Capstone Projects and Master's Theses. 529. https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes/529 This Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ CSUMB. It has been accepted for inclusion in Capstone Projects and Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CSUMB. Unless otherwise indicated, this project was conducted as practicum not subject to IRB review but conducted in keeping with applicable regulatory guidance for training purposes. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Humanity’s Capability of Transcendence through Artificial Intelligence What does it mean to be a human in a technological society? Source: Cazy89. Artificial Intelligence. Cruz, Alejandro. Flickr Commons. WikiMedia Project. Web. 28 December 2008. Digital Image. Senior Capstone Practical and Professional Ethics Research Essay David Reichard Division of Humanities and Communication Spring 2016 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................2
    [Show full text]
  • Societas Proposal
    Societas Ethica 2011 Proposal Enhancement for All?: A Feminist Ethical Analysis of the Discourses and Practices of Democratic Transhumanism In the past few years, democratic transhumanism has emerged as the primary voice working toward mainstreaming the transhumanist movement in popular discourse. Through the work of groups like the World Transhumanist Association (recently rebranded Humanity Plus) and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, democratic transhumanism has worked to blend transhumanist ideals with progressive democratic values. They have begun to distance themselves from libertarian and other transhumanists, claiming the mantle of “technoprogressivism.” Technoprogressives are seeking to position themselves as a “middle way” (http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/biopolitics) between technoutopianisms (including libertarian transhumanism, extropianism, and other technopositive movements) and technoconservatisms (including both left and right bioconservatism and neo-Luddism). The posing of this middle way frames the discussion as a movement standing between uncritical acceptance and uncritical rejection of emerging technologies. Technoprogressives claim the ground between uncritical stances, though they advocate strongly for the development and use of human enhancement technologies, provided there is universal and uncoerced access to those technologies. Democratic transhumanists emphasize the importance of the development and availability of technologies to expand human capabilities and related transformations. They support
    [Show full text]
  • Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias Edited by Peter Ludlow
    Ludlow cover 7/7/01 2:08 PM Page 1 Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias Crypto Anarchy, Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias edited by Peter Ludlow In Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias, Peter Ludlow extends the approach he used so successfully in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier, offering a collection of writings that reflect the eclectic nature of the online world, as well as its tremendous energy and creativity. This time the subject is the emergence of governance structures within online communities and the visions of political sovereignty shaping some of those communities. Ludlow views virtual communities as laboratories for conducting experiments in the Peter Ludlow construction of new societies and governance structures. While many online experiments will fail, Ludlow argues that given the synergy of the online world, new and superior governance structures may emerge. Indeed, utopian visions are not out of place, provided that we understand the new utopias to edited by be fleeting localized “islands in the Net” and not permanent institutions. The book is organized in five sections. The first section considers the sovereignty of the Internet. The second section asks how widespread access to resources such as Pretty Good Privacy and anonymous remailers allows the possibility of “Crypto Anarchy”—essentially carving out space for activities that lie outside the purview of nation-states and other traditional powers. The Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, third section shows how the growth of e-commerce is raising questions of legal jurisdiction and taxation for which the geographic boundaries of nation- states are obsolete. The fourth section looks at specific experimental governance and Pirate Utopias structures evolved by online communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Transhumanism
    T ranshumanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=T ranshum... Transhumanism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia See also: Outline of transhumanism Transhumanism is an international Part of Ideology series on intellectual and cultural movement supporting Transhumanism the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics Ideologies and capacities. The movement regards aspects Abolitionism of the human condition, such as disability, Democratic transhumanism suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary Extropianism death as unnecessary and undesirable. Immortalism Transhumanists look to biotechnologies and Libertarian transhumanism other emerging technologies for these Postgenderism purposes. Dangers, as well as benefits, are Singularitarianism also of concern to the transhumanist Technogaianism [1] movement. Related articles The term "transhumanism" is symbolized by Transhumanism in fiction H+ or h+ and is often used as a synonym for Transhumanist art "human enhancement".[2] Although the first known use of the term dates from 1957, the Organizations contemporary meaning is a product of the 1980s when futurists in the United States Applied Foresight Network Alcor Life Extension Foundation began to organize what has since grown into American Cryonics Society the transhumanist movement. Transhumanist Cryonics Institute thinkers predict that human beings may Foresight Institute eventually be able to transform themselves Humanity+ into beings with such greatly expanded Immortality Institute abilities as to merit the label "posthuman".[1] Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence Transhumanism is therefore sometimes Transhumanism Portal · referred to as "posthumanism" or a form of transformational activism influenced by posthumanist ideals.[3] The transhumanist vision of a transformed future humanity has attracted many supporters and detractors from a wide range of perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter 1991/92 1 Extropy #8
    COVER EXTROPY #8 1 WINTER 1991/92 Editor: Max More EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Communications: Russell E. Whitaker Computing, Simon! D. Levy, MSc, Linguistics Dept., University of Connecti- Linguistics: cut; Haskins Laboratories Cryonics: R. Michael Perry, Ph.D; Vice President, Society for Venturism Law, Politics: Tom W. Bell, MA, University of Chicago Law School Memetics: H. Keith Henson Nanotechnology: J. Storrs Hall, Rutgers University, Laboratory for Computer Science Research Philosophy, Politics: Max More, MA, Philosophy Dept., University of Southern California Physics: Prof. Gregory Benford, Physics Dept., University of California, Irvine Science: David Krieger, MLS, RAND Transhumanities: Mark Plus, MS EXTROPY: The Journal of Transhumanist Thought is a journal of ideas, dedicated to discussing and developing themes in the following areas: • Transhumanism and futurist philosophy • life extension, immortalism and cryonics • artificial intelligence (AI) and uploading • smart drugs (nootropics) and intelligence increase technologies • nanotechnology • memetics • space habitation • spontaneous orders (free markets, neural networks, evolutionary processes, etc) • science fiction • extropic psychology • speculative eschatology • artificial life • futurist morality • electronic communications and reviews of media on these topics. Edited by Max More. Subscriptions and letters can be sent to EXTROPY, P.O. Box 77243, Los Angeles, CA 90007-0243. Phone: (213) 746-5571. E-mail to: [email protected] EXTROPY is published twice a year. Checks payable to “EXTROPY”. Subscriptions will start with the current issue in print unless you specify otherwise. [Sub rates valid until May 5 1992.] Subscriptions: USA: $8/year. 5-years: $37.50 10 years: $73 Lifetime: $200 Canada and Mexico: $9/year. Overseas: $12/year (air). [Traveller’s checks preferred; or cash at your own risk.] Institutions: USA, Canada, Mexico: $18/year.
    [Show full text]
  • Transhumanism and Its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-Computer Interfacing
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 4-17-2014 12:00 AM Cultivating Better Brains: Transhumanism and its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-computer Interfacing Matthew Devlin The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Tim Blackmore The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Matthew Devlin 2014 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Devlin, Matthew, "Cultivating Better Brains: Transhumanism and its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-computer Interfacing" (2014). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 1946. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1946 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CULTIVATING BETTER BRAINS: TRANSHUMANISM AND ITS CRITICS ON THE ETHICS OF COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT VIA BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACING (Thesis format: Monograph) by Matthew Devlin Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Matthew Devlin 2014 Abstract Transhumanists contend that enhancing the human brain—a subfield of human enhancement called cognitive enhancement—is both a crucial and desirable pursuit, supporting the cultivation of a better world.
    [Show full text]
  • Fictions and Theories of the Posthuman from Creature to Concept
    Université de Liège Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres Département de Langues Modernes : Linguistique, Littérature et Traduction Fictions and Theories of the Posthuman From Creature to Concept Thèse de doctorat présentée par Carole GUESSE en vue de l’obtention du titre de Docteure en Langues, Lettres et Traductologie sous la direction de Michel Delville et Björn-Olav Dozo Année académique 2019 - 2020 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a thesis may have been the most posthuman project that I have ever carried out; and I am not just relating this to how it has turned my computer into my unfailing memory, my faithful companion and, in the last few months, my main interface with the world. Reading daily about the refutation of the homogeneous, coherent, masterful, rational human subject has also made me more sensitive to the ways in which my interactions with human and non-human Others have been instrumental in bringing the present paper creature into existence. It truly takes a village. I want to express my sincerest thanks to my supervisor, Michel Delville, for unsparingly giving time, advice, trust and opportunities. Across this decade spent at the University of Liège, Pr Delville has steadily encouraged me to be curious, creative and confident in all my endeavours. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my second supervisor, Björn-Olav Dozo, for opening me up to new horizons, for making me part of a vibrant community of researchers and for providing unwavering intellectual and moral support. His enthusiasm, trust and devotion never failed to lift me up and higher. Many thanks also to Christine Pagnoulle and Dick Tomasovic for their early interest in my project, their enlightened feedback and their encouragement; and to Katherine Hayles and Florence Caeymaex for agreeing to participate in its last stages.
    [Show full text]
  • Posthumanism and the 'Posterizing Impulse'
    Posthumanism and the ‘posterizing impulse’ 11 Posthumanism and the ‘posterizing impulse’ Yolande Jansen, Jasmijn Leeuwenkamp and Leire Urricelqui Introduction With the increasing awareness of the devastating consequences of what some call ‘the Anthropocene’ and others a ‘crisis of humanism’, the ‘posthuman’ has become a focal term in contemporary debates at the crossroads of science, politics and the humanities. Participants in this debate in the last decades of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century, have often claimed that we are living in a historical moment in which the human is losing its centrality by ‘its imbrication in technical, medical, informatic, and economic networks’.1 Over the last decade, the human’s imbrication in biological, ecological and geological assemblages has been added to that list.2 Authors in this field insist that we are living in a critical historical moment ‘impossible to ignore’, and necessitating new theoretical frameworks.3 Or as philosopher and gender studies scholar Francesca Ferrando put it in 2013: ‘[I]n contemporary academic debate, “posthuman” has become a key term to cope with an urgency for the integral redefinition of the notion of the human.’4 Her colleague Rosi Braidotti argues that we need ‘new cartogra- phies’ to challenge and go beyond the paradigms of the dominant enlightened humanism that understood the ‘human’ or ‘Man’ as the unique and superior form of life.5 Others, however, consider not so much a crisis of humanism, but rather the enhancement of the human through progress and technologi- cal development as the most crucial aspect of the ‘post-moment’ we are in.6 The latter version of posthumanism, also called ‘transhumanism’, expresses an enthusiasm for science and technology, often in tandem with capitalism, that is on a tense footing with the more critical strand of posthumanism.
    [Show full text]
  • Transhumanist Education, Politics, and Design
    Fe TRANHUMANIST EDUCATION, POLITICS, AND DESIGN Confero Essays on Education Philosophy and Politics Transhumanist Education, Politics, and Design Volume 4, Number 2, December 2016 ISSN: 2001-4562 Printed by LIU-tryck The online version of the journal is published by Linköping University Electronic Press www.confero.ep.liu.se Editors for special issue Mattias Arvola, Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University Lina Rahm, Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University Jörgen Skågeby, Department of Media Studies, Stockholm University Editorial Advisory Board Robert Aman, School of Education, University of Glasgow Daphne Arbouz, Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University Donald Broady, Sociology of Education and Culture, Uppsala University Andreas Fejes, Division of Education and Adult Learning, Linköping University Camilla Forsberg, Department of Behavioural Science and Learning, Linköping University Malena Gustavson, Division of Gender studies, Linköping University Anders Hallqvist, Division of Education and Sociology, Linköping University Biörn Hasselgren, Department of Education, Gothenburg University Stefan Jonsson, REMESO - Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society, Linköping University Chris Kubiak, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Open University Erik Nylander, Division of Education and Adult learning, Linköping University Thomas S. Popkewitz, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison Klas Roth, Department of
    [Show full text]