Farrelly: The Genetic Difference Principle

Ah, some real bioethics courtesy of the The American Journal of Bioethics. University of Waterloo's Colin Farrelly has published his paper, The Genetic Difference Principle. He essentially argues that we need to rethink genetic enhancement in light of the fact that society is resource strapped. We need to prioritize, and enhancement biotechnologies, he argues , aren't at the top of the list. Consequently, working to achieve perfect social justice and the ideal society is untenable. Here's the abstract:

In the newly emerging debates about genetics and justice three distinct principles have begun to emerge concerning what the distributive aim of genetic interventions should be. These principles are: genetic equality, a genetic decent minimum, and the genetic difference principle. In this paper, I examine the rationale of each of these principles and argue that genetic equality and a genetic decent minimum are ill-equipped to tackle what I call the currency problem and the problem of weight. The genetic difference principle is the most promising of the three principles and I develop this principle so that it takes seriously the concerns of just health care and distributive justice in general. Given the strains on public funds for other important social programmes, the costs of pursuing genetic interventions and the nature of genetic interventions, I conclude that a more lax interpretation of the genetic difference principle is appropriate. This interpretation stipulates that genetic inequalities should be arranged so that they are to the greatest reasonable benefit of the least advantaged. Such a proposal is consistent with prioritarianism and provides some practical guidance for non-ideal societies–that is, societies that do not have the endless amount of resources needed to satisfy every requirement of justice.

Link

Responses to my "techlepathy" column

I've received a number of emails addressing my latest column for Betterhumans, Evolving Towards Telepathy. I've gotten an interesting cross-section of responses:

- a guy who claims that he can convert brainwave emissions into meaningful binary code for thought transmission
- people who claim to have latent telepathic abilities
- a woman who would like to use subvocal speech to help her disabled son speak
- a guy who hears the so-called Taos Hum and believes there's a connection to VLF frequencies.

Usually when I get a slew of emails like this it means my column is doing well. Sure enough, as of this writing it's got well over 3,000 hits. The article was linked from SciTech Daily and George Noory's Coast to Coast (regarding the latter, I'm not sure if that's good or bad).

TV04 Notes

Some very quick notes about TransVision:
- Reason science correspondent Ronald Bailey is a definite maybe for TV04
- I just found out from Jose Cordeiro that TransVision 2005 will be held in Caracas, Venezuela (I pitched this idea to WTA executive director James Hughes several months ago, so it's exciting to see this actually come to fruition. A likely theme for the conference will be "Transhumantech and the Developing World.")
[addendum: this isn't official yet; we'll decide during our TV04 WTA Board Meeting]

Evolving Towards Telepathy

My latest column for Betterhumans has been posted: Evolving Towards Telepathy -- Demand for increasingly powerful communications technology points to our future as a "techlepathic" species.

Link

Obituary for John Maynard Smith

My obituary for John Maynard Smith has been published on Betterhumans:

Visionary Biologist Foresaw Transhuman Future
Dead at 84, John Maynard Smith married game theory to evolutionary biology while advocating human redesign

Link

Kaku: How Advanced Could They Be?

Astrobiology Magazine has an interview with cosmologist Michio Kaku, who considers the physics of extraterrestrial civilizations and whether we can predict their evolution from our own. Strange, in an article that screams for a discussion of the Fermi Paradox, Kaku manages to avoid it completely. He also avoids any discussion of artificial superintelligence and Drexlerian nanotechnology -- although he does discuss Von Neumann probes and Kardashev civ types.

Link

John Maynard Smith and Olaf Stapledon

I'm in the process of writing an obituary for evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith who died at the age of 84 last week. Look for this on Betterhumans later this week.

While doing research for the piece I discovered that Maynard Smith was a fan of proto-transhumanist science-fiction author Olaf Stapledon, particulary his 1930 novel Last and First Men. Stapledon was also influential for Arthur C. Clarke (apparently Maynard Smith and Clarke read the exact same book from the same library!), but where Clarke took inspiration for his fictional writing, Maynard Smith applied it to his science and politics. Here's a quote from Maynard Smith from a 2000 interview by Natural History:

Possibly most influential in making me interested in genetics and in evolution was a strange book by a man called Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men. It's a history of the next--oh, I don't know--100 million years of human history. It's not terribly well written, but the book's thesis is that there will be a succession of human civilizations that collapse. And it isn't until human beings deliberately change their own constitution to make themselves less aggressive and more friendly that a stable civilization can be made. Although I no longer believe that the only path to human betterment is to change our genes, I was really persuaded by the argument at the time.

Nick Bostrom's Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant

Transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom has penned a fairy tale, The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant, that exposes the wastefulness of death and the absurdity of those who rail against radical life extension. Here's a taste:

Once upon a time, the planet was tyrannized by a giant dragon. The dragon stood taller than the largest cathedral, and it was covered with thick black scales. Its red eyes glowed with hate, and from its terrible jaws flowed an incessant stream of evil-smelling yellowish-green slime. It demanded from humankind a blood-curdling tribute: to satisfy its enormous appetite, ten thousand men and women had to be delivered every evening at the onset of dark to the foot of the mountain where the dragon-tyrant lived. Sometimes the dragon would devour these unfortunate souls upon arrival; sometimes again it would lock them up in the mountain where they would wither away for months or years before eventually being consumed.

The misery inflicted by the dragon-tyrant was incalculable. In addition to the ten thousand who were gruesomely slaughtered each day, there were the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, and friends that were left behind to grieve the loss of their departed loved ones.

Link

H. G. Wells Quotes

I stumbled across some great quotes by H. G. Wells today:

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."

"Our true nationality is mankind."

"Bah! The thing is not a nose at all, but a bit of primordial chaos clapped on to my face."

"I see knowledge increasing and human power increasing. I see ever-increasing possibilities before life, And I see no limits set to it at all, Existence impresses me as a perpetual dawn. Our lives, as I apprehend, are great in expectations."

"If we suppose a sufficient righteousness and intelligence in men to produce presently, from the tremendous lessons of history, an effective will for a world peace--that is to say, an effective will for a world law under a world government--for in no other fashion is a secure world peace conceivable--in what manner may we expect things to move towards this end? . . . It is an educational task, and its very essence is to bring to the minds of all men everywhere, as a necessary basis for world cooperation, a new telling and interpretation, a common interpretation, of history."

"The great trouble with you Americans is that you are still under the influence of that second-rate -- shall I say third-rate? -- mind, Karl Marx."

"In politics, strangely enough, the best way to play your cards is to lay them face upwards on the table."

"If we don’t end war, war will end us."

TV04: More confirmed speakers

Earlier this week I mentioned the latest speakers to come aboard TV04, including Mike LaTorra, Sonia Miller, Tihamer Toth-Fejel, Michael Anissimov, Daniel Wallace, Sean Kearney, Mark Walker, and Ramez Naam. Now add to that list: Anders Sandberg, Robin Hanson, Patrick Hopkins, Dale Carrico, and Rafal Smigrodzki. This is in addition to the speakers posted on the TV04 Presenters page, including Steve Mann, Howard Bloom and Stelarc.

Comparing the slaughter of non-human animals to the Holocaust

Back in March I had an exchange with Damien Broderick in which I complained about the aloof attitude given to the killing of non-human animals. Some people argue, much to my frustration, that so long as non-human animals are treated and killed humanely that it's okay to kill them. Because this line of argumentation ascribes so little moral worth to animals, in a sense denying non-human animals personhood characteristics and the right to life, I compared the attitude to the Nazi Holocaust.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Charles Patterson, author of Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust, recently spoke at Goldwin Smith Kaufman Auditorium about his book and popular attitudes towards the treatment of animals. During the event, which was sponsored by the Cornell Coalition for Animal Defense, Patterson compared the treatment of Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust with the domestication and treatment of animals. He essentially argued that the degrading means by which people treat animals is carried over in the practices implemented in human persecution, as seen in the Holocaust.

Patterson went on to compare the breeding of animals with Nazi eugenics, which in that context is an observation pretty much right on the mark.

Interestingly, there were a number of protesters at the event. Their main objection was Patterson's Nazi analogy and condemnation of the slaughter and consumption of meat and other animal products. "We're just a bunch of kids who don't want to be called Nazis for eating meat," said Paul Ibrahim, one of the protesters.

Link

J.R. Mooneyham on the rise and fall of civilizations

Futurologist J.R. Mooneyham, writing in "The Rise and Fall of Star Faring Civilizations in Our Own Galaxy," has some interesting insight into the future of intelligent life with some interesting implications for the Fermi Paradox. Here's a taste:

"The Fermi Paradox which contrasts the 100% probability of life and intelligence developing on Earth against the thunderous silence from the heavens so far (no alien signals) may be resolved by four things: One, gamma ray bursters which may have effectively prohibited the development of sentient races until only the last 200 million years; Two, the lengthy gestation period required for the emergence of intelligence (which almost requires the entire useful lifespan of a given planet, based on our own biography); Three, the need for an unusually high measure of stability in terms of climate over hundreds of millions of years (the 'Goldilocks' scenario, enabled by a huge natural satellite like our Moon moderating the tilt of a planet's axis, as well as gas giants parked in proper orbits to mop up excess comets and asteroids to reduce impact frequencies for a living world); and Four, an extremely dangerous 600 year or so 'gauntlet' of challenges and risks most any technological society must survive to become a viable long term resident of the galaxy (i.e. getting a critical mass of population and technology off their home world, among other things). That 600 year period may be equivalent to our own span between 1900 AD and 2500 AD, wherein we'll have to somehow dodge the bullets of cosmic impacts, nuclear, biological, and nanotechnological war, terrorism, mistakes, and accidents, as well as food or energy starvation, economic collapse, and many other threats, both natural and unnatural. So far it appears (according to SETI results and other scientific discoveries) extremely few races likely survive all these. So why haven't we heard from those which have? What are they like? And how far away might they be? Details of all the above and more (along with references) may be found on this and its succeeding pages."

Link

Matrioshka Brains

Here's an important paper from 1999: Robert J. Bradbury speculates about how advances in computer science and programming technologies will give rise to the development of megascale superintelligent thought machines. Called Matrioshka Brains, these machines would consume the entire power output of stars and be limited only by the laws of physics. Moreover, it's through these sorts of speculations, argues Bradbury, that "we may be better able to construct an image of what alien intelligence may be like and how we ourselves may evolve."

Here's the entire abstract:

Predictable improvements in lithographic methods foretell continued increases in computer processing power. Economic growth and engineering evolution continue to increase the size of objects which can be manufactured and power that can be controlled by humans. Neuroscience is gradually dissecting the components and functions of the structures in the brain. Advances in computer science and programming methodologies are increasingly able to emulate aspects of human intelligence. Continued progress in these areas leads to a convergence which results in megascale superintelligent thought machines. These machines, referred to as Matrioshka Brains1, consume the entire power output of stars (~1026 W), consume all of the useful construction material of a solar system (~1026 kg), have thought capacities limited by the physics of the universe and are essentially immortal.

A common practice encountered in literature discussing the search for extraterrestrial life is the perspective of assuming and applying human characteristics and interests to alien species. Authors limit themselves by assuming the technologies available to aliens are substantially similar or only somewhat greater than those we currently possess. These mistakes bias their conclusions, preventing us from recognizing signs of alien intelligence when we see it. They also misdirect our efforts in searching for such intelligence. We should start with the laws on which our particular universe operates and the limits they impose on us. Projections should be made to determine the rate at which intelligent civilizations, such as ours, approach the limits imposed by these laws. Using these time horizons, laws and limits, we may be better able to construct an image of what alien intelligence may be like and how we ourselves may evolve.

Link

Stars may shine for "thousands of billion" more years

A new study suggests that the peak in star formation occurred about 5 billion years ago, just prior to the formation of our own Sun 4.6 billion years ago. The overall stellar birth rate has declined ever since, meaning that the Universe is slowly getting dimmer. Previous estimates had the peak at about 8 billion years ago.

That being said, University of Edinburgh astronomer Alan Heavens (what a perfect name for an astronomer) believes that star formation will continue to happen for quite some time. "The night sky will gradually dim over billions of years," Heavens said. "But new generations of stars will still be formed, from material thrown out by stars when they die, for much longer. The time scale is very uncertain, but it could be thousands of billions of years" before star formation ceases.

Thousands of billions of years is a fairly significant length of time, even by cosmological standards. This is certainly interesting and potentially important as far as the ongoing existence of intelligent life is concerned. However, even if heat death can be put off in the form of Dyson's Eternal Intelligence scenario, the Big Rip will certainly put an end to the Universe as we currently know it. It's speculated that the Universe's rate of acceleration will continue to increase due to a positive cosmological constant -- so much so that eventually galaxies and stars will recede from each other at the speed of light. Even more extreme is the notion that all matter will start to explode out at this rate, resulting in the complete annihilation of all atoms in the Universe.

Now that will be a bad day.

Ben Hyink's Brain

I've been chatting with Ben Hyink about TV04. Ben is as much at home with secular humanism as he is with transhumanism; his work often reminds me of the humanist heritage embedded within transhumanism. He is also an amazing organizer, being the founder and director of the Transhumanist Student Network.

And true to his futurist leanings Ben likes to theorize about the evolution of the human brain, including speculations about the so-called "Meta Brain Growth Process." Ben's not sure if he can make TV04, but if he does he may speak on this topic.

Here's an email I received from Ben today where he goes into some detail about cognitive and consciousness theory, functionalism, cryonics and uploading:

"Until just recently, I thought I had my presentation topic ready. I had planned to point out ontological implications of various popular uploading proposals and suggest a rough sketch of the MetaBrain Growth Process for further exploration. Some correspondence with Robert Bradbury helped me realize that the popular (and MURG) definitions are not the only ones, and at the fuzzy boundary of sub-optimal processes, we still encounter "the 'ol proverbial can-o-worms" as he put it. In any case, I will have to make some adjustments to salvage the speech.

I'm also looking closely at functionalism to see what its limits might be and whether we will need to perform experiments before we can say replicated structures create the necessary identical self-reflexive entities, or whether the cog sci "token theory" peeks at the case of neural structures being merely unconscious "place-holders" for a continually active program (which would not bode well for cryonics). I lean toward functionalism, but the alternative nags me. (It might also imply that we are always different people after losing consciousness, "rebooted" as simliar conscious programs on the same system, which is unsettling.)

* I might add a brief reference to Hanson's early-adopter theory about the use of non-destructive uploads to help craft cybernetic extension methods and the "Ring of Gyges" dilemma such that the instantiated separate-but-"identical" upload *person* would acquire great power very fast. Do you trust your character enough to see that happen, without any vague hopes of mending your ways by the power of your own will? Do you trust your life/perspective and those of family, friends, and fellow people to that life/perspective? How might we protect non-uploaded people from uploaded people without curtailing upload rights? How effective could we make 'firewalls?'"

TV04 Notes

Some more confirmed speakers for TransVision 2004: Mike LaTorra, Sonia Miller (look for her Betterhumans column later this week), Tihamer Toth-Fejel, Michael Anissimov, Daniel Wallace, Sean Kearney, Mark Walker, and Ramez Naam. We'll update the TV04 Presenters page shortly. This list is quickly growing; I sent over a hundred invites to prospective speakers this evening alone.

I've been chatting with Howard Bloom, who will be keynoting at TV04. The working title for his presentation is: "The Soul In the Machine: Reinventing Capitalism --A Quick Re-Vision of Western History" Bloom says, "there's a factor in Reinventing Capitalism that I call transubstantiation -- the way that daydreams turn into realities." This should make for an interesting and provocative start to the conference.

Latest Interests

Current Music Rotation:
- Air: Talkie Walkie
- Boards of Canada: Music Has a Right to Children & Geogaddi [these guys are my latest obsession -- Brian Eno meets Aphex Twin]
- DJ Shadow: all his stuff
- Nick Drake: Pink Moon
- Bob Dylan: assorted tracks (mostly early 60s stuff)
- Goldfrapp: Felt Moutain & Black Cherry
- PJ Harvey: all her stuff
- Jazzanova: assorted tracks
- Aimee Mann - I'm With Stupid
- Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark
- Royksopp: Melody A.M.
- Neil Young: assorted tracks (mostly 70s era)
- Roger Watters: Amused to Death
- Zero 7: assorted tracks

*I'm going to see A Perfect Circle on April 22 and David Bowie on May 14.

Recent additions to my bookshelf:
- North of Infinity: Futurity Visions, Micheal Magnini (Ed.) (a book of sci-fi short stories written by Canadian authors)
- Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA, R. C. Lewontin

Recent additions to my DVD shelf:
- Leaving Las Vegas ***
- Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush ****
- Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Live in Austin ***

Films I've seen recently:
- Hellboy **1/2
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ***
- X2: X-Men United **1/2

Preparing Teens for the Transhuman Future

John Smart recently sent me this email:

Hi George,

Below are two six page essays for a four volume series on the future (Tackling Tomorrow Today, Art Shostak (Ed.), Chelsea House) aimed at teens, accepted for publication this year. Both are set in 2035, in an era of talking (but mostly unintelligent) computers. The first has lots of pretty pictures and is more accessible. The second has more future shock, at least as I would define it.
http://singularitywatch.com/futureheroes1.html
http://singularitywatch.com/futureheroes2.html

With luck these may get a movie treatment down the road. Note that "Fremont High" is a nod to Vernor Vinge's "Fast Times at Fairmont High". Thought you might like them.

Warmly,
John Smart

EU Law Attacks Reproductive Choice, Science

In his Telegraph article "EU Law on Eugenics Attacks Our Freedom," English geneticist Steve Jones argues that a recent clause in the draft of the European Constitution, while appearing noble in intent, is actually a "Trojan horse that will undermine doctors and academics."

Specifically, the constitution's Charter of Fundamental Rights insists on "the prohibition of eugenic practices." Yes, that sounds self-evident, says Jones, "but what do they have in mind? Why is eugenics so high on the agenda?" Essentially, declares Jones, in addition to its anti-science stance, "it is an electorally handy attack on the abortion movement, because giving legal rights to the unborn undermines a woman's right to control her body."

Also commenting on the legislation is fertility expert Robert Winston (who will be debating the future of the human species at the Cheltenham Festival). Winston regards the legislation as a lingering prejudice instigated in part by the Catholic Church (especially in Germany) and mixed with simple ignorance about what science can do.

Jones also reveals an inherent contradiction embedded in the constitution, namely the proclamation that "Scientific research shall be free of constraint." Because of the ambiguousness of the term "eugenics," says Jones, the legislation could easily be used to thwart any kind of medical advance that hints at genetic improvement, and by virtue of this, inhibit scientific progress in general.

Scirus

I've discovered an excellent science-only search engine: Scirus.