Cyborg Buddha Blog
What properties of consciousness and mind will remain the same in a posthuman world? Will enhanced minds look at themselves and reality like we do? What can we learn from cognitive science and consciousness studies to help answer these questions? What are some ethical consequences of enhancing the brain/mind?
Jan 28, 2010
I am You, and You are Me…. Maybe
by Edward MillerPretty early on in my philosophical journey I decided that I was a pantheist, of the naturalist sort. Pantheism is all about the one-ness and unity of everything… and I do mean everything.
Jan 14, 2010
Problems of Transhumanism: Atheism vs. Naturalist Theologies
by J. HughesThe dominant trajectory of Enlightenment thought over the last three hundred years has been towards atheism. Most transhumanists are atheists. But some transhumanists, like many of the original Enlightenment thinkers, are attempting to reconcile naturalism and their religious traditions. Some transhumanists even believe that the transcendent potentials of intelligence argue for a new form of scientific theology.
Jan 6, 2010
Good Magazine Asks Jamais about the Pace of Modern Life
GOOD magazine asked “some of the world’s most prominent futurists”—including Esther Dyson, Bruce Sterling, and Jamais Cascio—“to explain why slowness might be as important to the future as speed.”
Nov 14, 2009
Buddhism and Cognitive Enhancement pt 1
Changesurfer RadioAndrew Fenton is a part of the Novel Tech Ethics Group at Dalhousie University and the author of “Buddhism and Neuroethics: The Ethics of Pharmaceutical Cognitive Enhancement.” Part 1 of 2.
DOWNLOAD/LISTEN/VIEWOct 31, 2009
Neuroengineering the Future
Changesurfer RadioDr. J. chats with Bruce Katz, author of Neuroengineering the Future: Virtual Minds And The Creation Of Immortality. They discuss augmented cognition, induced bliss, and the elusiveness nature of personal identity. (MP3)
Oct 21, 2009
Symphony of Science (Sagan, Feynman, Tyson, Nye mashup)
Symphony of Science“We Are All Connected” was made by John Boswell from sampling Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, The History Channel’s Universe series, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos, the Powers of 10, and more. It is a tribute to great minds of science, intended to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through the medium of music.
Check out “A Glorious Dawn” by Carl Sagan, another Symphony of Science project!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXG…
MP3 available at http://www.symphonyofscience.com.
And John’s website for more original music:
http://www.colorpulsemusic.com
Lyrics:
[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically
[Feynman]
I think nature’s imagination
Is so much greater than man’s
She’s never going to let us relax
[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature
[Nye]
I’m this guy standing on a planet
Really I’m just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There’s billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks
[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We’re made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself
Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned
I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we
[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??
(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)
[Feynman]
There’s this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other
And it’s all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it’s all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature
Sep 24, 2009
Cyborg Buddha: Science and Spirit
by Mike LaTorraScience and spirituality in Western civilization began to go their separate ways centuries ago, when astronomy, biology and other observational and experimental disciplines showed in no uncertain terms that the religious world-view inherited from the Bronze Age religions of the Middle East did not correspond to the world that could be measured. The Earth most definitely revolves around the Sun, and not the other way round.
Sep 19, 2009
The Neuro Revolution pt 2
Changesurfer RadioDr. J. chats with Zack Lynch, author of The Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World, and founder of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization. They discuss the coming “neurosociety,” in which every part of life - work, commerce, law, relationships, recreation, religion, war - will be reshaped by neurotechnologies. Part 2 of 2. (First half here.)
Sep 19, 2009
The Neuro Revolution pt 1
Changesurfer RadioDr. J. chats with Zack Lynch, author of The Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World, and founder of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization. They discuss the coming “neurosociety,” in which every part of life - work, commerce, law, relationships, recreation, religion, war - will be reshaped by neurotechnologies. Part 1 of 2. (Second half here.)
IEET Blog