This Magazine: Technology, ethics, and the real meaning of the “Rapture of the Nerds”

Chris Kim

Keith Norbury of This Magazine has published a piece called Technology, ethics, and the real meaning of the “Rapture of the Nerds”. I was interviewed for this article and asked questions about the state of transhumanism and singularitarianism today in Toronto and Canada in general. We also discussed the the tendency of the press and the public to roll all transhumanists into the Singularity camp, which, as I pointed out, was a mistake:

Not all people who believe in technology’s power to transform humanity are Singularitarians. Transhumanists, as their name implies, also expect technology to alter the species. “These are two communities that seem to have a connection,” says George Dvorsky, president of the Toronto Transhumanist Association. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that one follows the other. I happen to know many transhumanists who don’t buy into the Singularity at all.”

While both groups believe that rapid technological progress will radically reshape our lives, the Singularitarians believe a unified, superhuman intelligence is a necessary part of that change. Transhumanists believe no such super-intelligent entity is necessary. Either way, both believe that our future will be completely unrecognizable. “We are talking about transforming what it means to be human,” Dvorsky says.

The article also goes on to describe how interest in the TTA and local transhumanist chapters has waned in the past several years. I'm rather frustrated by Norbury's angle on this, which is to suggest that the fringe is getting fringier, and that good work isn't being done in these areas through other channels. The fact of the matter is that these ideas, namely the notion of human enhancement and the unknown potential for a greater-than-human artificial intelligence, are being addressed by a diverse and distributed group of individuals—and just as importantly, these ideas are slowly (but surely) being normalized into our daily discourse.

Indeed, organizing local meet-ups are all fine and well, but that's not where the rubber hits the road. I've made a conscious effort over the past few years to devote most of my time and energy to my blog, Humanity+, and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies where my outreach is considerably greater and more impactful than through a local chapter alone. Annoyingly, Norbury failed to make mention any of these and chose to focus on the TTA and chapter-level organizing which is no longer of any real interest to me.

Kurzweil's Transcendent Man screening and panel discussion at the ROM

I've been invited to participate in a panel discussion following the screening of Ray Kurzweil's Transcendent Man. The event will be held at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto on Friday October 15 at 9:30pm. The panel will be hosted by Madeline Ashby (science fiction writer) and I'll be joined by Greg Van Alstyne (design educator).

Hope to see you there.

You can register here.

Interviewed by The Mark

I was recently interviewed by The Mark for a show about the future of humans. You can listen to the broadcast here. Episode description:

The first axiom of the Transhumanist Declaration is that: “Humanity stands to be profoundly affected by science and technology in the future. We envision the possibility of broadening human potential by overcoming aging, cognitive shortcomings, involuntary suffering, and our confinement to planet Earth.” The declaration is a missive that attempts to lay the social, political, and philosophical groundwork for the inevitable incorporation of technology into human biology.

If you think this sounds far-fetched, just consider the exponential scientific advances we've seen in the last 50 years. Travelling to the moon? Neil Armstrong did that in 1969. Cloning? Dolly the Sheep made headlines for it in 1996. Mapping the human genome? No problem, we finished in 2003. Science fiction is now science fact. You can read about it on the smartphone in your pocket that taps into that collection of humanity's knowledge called the internet.

So what's next for humans in this brave new world? Is this the next leap in human evolution? Or will adding technology cause us to lose a piece of our humanity?

This week on the show, host Chris Mitchell talks with three experts who speculate on what's coming next, and what we can do to prepare for it.

First up, a conversation with transhumanist George Dvorsky on what developments we can expect to see in the coming decades.

Next, Ian Kerr explains how medical technology could eventually erase human limitations.

Finally, Christopher Dewdney on why Michael Jackson was a pioneer of transhumanism.

Singularity Podcast interview now available

I was recently interviewed by Nikola Danaylov for the Singularity Podcast. You can listen to it here.

Latest piece: Singularity [art]

"Singularity"

Latest piece: Observation Selection Effect [art]

I'm teaching myself how to paint. Check out my most recent work, "Observation Selection Effect":

FastForward Radio interview

In case you missed it, here's the podcast of my recent appearance on FastForward Radio where I reviewed the recent Humanity+ Summit at Harvard.

On Skeptically Speaking this Friday

I will be on Skeptically Speaking this coming Friday June 25 at 8:00PM EST. I will be having a conversation/debate about transhumanism with World of Weird Things blogger Greg Fish. More specifically, we will "explore the predictions and the problems in the quest to “enhance” human beings."

While the show will be broadcast live over the air on CJSR 88.5 in Edmonton, it will also be made available live over the internet (and eventually distributed to over 22 radio stations across North America). It's also a call-in show, so feel free to call me during the broadcast.

Speaking at the H+ Summit at Harvard, June 11-12

I'll be at the H+ Summit @ Harvard during the weekend of June 11-12 and I hope to see you there. The Summit is an educational, and scientific outreach event that covers the themes of the impact of technology on the human condition. It is hosted, and organized by the Harvard College Future Society, in cooperation with Humanity+.

Tickets are still available, so register now.

Weaving in futurism, technoprogressivism and transhumanism, the H+ Summit is part of a larger cultural conversation about what it means to be human and, ultimately, more than human. This issue lies at the heart of the transhumanist movement -- and a common topic on this blog.

Key speakers include Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Gray, Stephen Wolfram and Ronald Bailey.

Oh, and little old me.

Here's the title and abstract of my talk:

When the Turing Test is not enough: Towards a functionalist determination of personhood and the advent of an authentic machine ethics

Abstract: Empirical research that works to identify those characteristics requisite for the identification of nonhuman persons are proving increasingly insufficient, particularly as neuroscientists further refine functionalist models of cognition. To say that an agent "appears" to have awareness or intelligence is inadequate. Rather, what is required is the discovery and understanding of those processes in the brain that are responsible for capacities such as self-awareness, empathy and emotion. Subsequently, the shift to a neurobiological basis for personhood will have implications for those hoping to develop self-aware artificial intelligence and brain emulations. The Turing Test alone cannot identify machine consciousness; instead, computer scientists will need to work off the functionalist model and be mindful of those processes that produce awareness. Because the potential to do harm is significant, an effective and accountable machine ethics needs to be considered. Ultimately, it is our responsibility as citizen-scientists to develop a rigorous understanding of personhood so that we can identify and work with machine minds in the most compassionate and considerate manner possible.

See you there!

On FastForward Radio, Tuesday September 22

I will be on FastForward Radio this coming Tuesday September 22 at 10:30 PM EST. Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon will be talking to me about the future of human enhancement and the mystery of whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Link.

TransAlchemy video on postgenderism

Been meaning to post this for a while:






On the whole this video is quite good. It's packed with plenty of of pop-cultural references and supported by historic and cultural anecdotes (though the video takes some weird turns at times, including the questionable discussion of alchemy in the third part).

Much of the video is based on the whitepaper I co-authored with James Hughes, Postgenderism: Beyond the Gender Binary and my article, Overcoming Gender.

Also, be sure to check out the TransAlchemy interview with James Hughes.

Humanist Canada debate: The Evolution of Ethics

I will be debating social conservative Michael Coren this coming Saturday April 18. Hope to see you there. Tickets are still available. Event description:

Are ethics divinely-inspired or man-made? Are there absolute morals? Although scientists and philosophers have debated the nature of ethics for hundreds of years, developments in genetic research have unleashed a firestorm of issues concerning human control of creation and its impact on our future. Given that society ideals change over time, how can we determine what is morally right or wrong?

Join Humanist Canada for a lively and thought-provoking debate on the nature of ethics. Five prominent speakers, from both the Christian and Humanist communities, will discuss and debate some of the hottest topics today including abortion, gender, homosexuality, and biotechnology. Our panel of speakers includes: Christopher diCarlo (celebrated professor of Philosophy of Science and Bioethics; founder of "We Are All African" Campaign); Michael Coren (outspoken Christian writer; radio and TV host); George Dvorsky (popular transhumanist; animal rights activist); Tony Costa (recognized public speaker for Campus for Christ); and Jean Saindon (award-winning professor of Natural Science and Technology). Speaker profiles below.

Tickets: $15 Humanist Canada members; $25 general admission; $10 students (with school ID). Appetizers, desserts and drinks included. Purchase tickets by April 15 for best seats. Click HERE for the printable registration form or click on ticket choices below.

Come see me talk about H+ on January 31 at U of T at Mississauga

C-Realm Podcast interview

I was recently interviewed by KMO for the C-Realm Podcast.

In this episode KMO speaks to Bill McKibben and gets his insight into the "transhumanist agenda" and what it means to remain human in an engineered age. I provide the counterpoint and discuss the ethical and sociological implications of transhumanism.

Photos from TransVision 2007

Click to see the entire slideshow. Pictures were taken at TransVision 2007 in Chicago from July 23 to 26, 2007.

A pair of mentions in the press this week

I was quoted in a pair of unrelated articles this past week.

MSN put out an article about how Facebook might be a fraudsters' paradise, and the Scotsman discussed the ethics and implications of Oscar Pistorius's upcoming race: Why 'Blade Runner' has sport on edge of a moral dilemma.

My Longevity Symposium and TransVision 2007 presentations

This coming July I will be giving presentations at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies' Longevity Symposium and the World Transhumanist Association's TransVision 2007 conference.

For the Longevity Symposium, an event titled "Securing the Longevity Dividend: Building the Campaign for Anti-Aging Science," I will be addressing and reconciling the most popular arguments both for and against radical life extension. Other speakers at this event will include S. Jay Olshansky, David O. Meltzer, Aubrey de Grey, James Hughes, Nick Bostrom, Ronald Bailey, and Anders Sandberg.

For TransVision 2007 I will making the case for postgenderism -- the idea that gender should be eliminated in the next iteration of the human species. My presentation is tentatively titled, "The Best of Both Worlds," and I will argue that posthumans should not abandon all gendered traits, but integrate the best that males and females have to offer. This will be my first opportunity to present these ideas in public and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Other speakers at TV07 will include Ray Kurzweil, William Shatner, and Max More.

Register now for TV07 and look for me there.

Interviewed by Radio Free Europe

I was interviewed by Radio Free Europe this afternoon. This was in light of the New York Times article about Oscar Pistorius in which I was quoted.

We talked about the future of enhancement in sport and the enhanced human of the future. I'll post a link should anything come out of the interview.

IEET featured in NY Times article on disabled sprinter

I was quoted today in a New York Times article about disabled sprinter Oscar Pistorius. The piece is titled, "An Amputee Sprinter: Is He Disabled or Too-Abled?" Excerpt:

"A sobering question was posed recently on the Web site of the Connecticut-based Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. 'Given the arms race nature of competition,' will technological advantages cause "athletes to do something as seemingly radical as having their healthy natural limbs replaced by artificial ones?" wrote George Dvorsky, a member of the institute's board of directors. 'Is it self-mutilation when you're getting a better limb?'"

The quote was sourced from my article, "Is the world ready for cyborg athletes?"