The first monthly program co-organized by Eudoxa and the WTA-SL (World Transhumanist Association Second Life Chapter) will feature Eudoxa partner and Future of Humanity Institute fellow Dr. Anders Sandberg. The program is titled “Keep on raging against aging” and will be on December 18 at 10 a.m. PST. The Venue will be in uvvy island in the virtual world of Second Life.
It is not a coincidence that the oldest remaining literary epic is the one about king Gilgamesh’s search for the herb of immortality: the dream of eternal youth is as old as mankind. But what has so far mainly been wishful dreaming is increasingly becoming medical and demographic reality. Today life is routinely extended and ageing slowed in lab animals. We live in a rapidly greying society where the average lifespan, health and vigor would have seemed nearly divine to king Gilgamesh, whose subjects had a life expectancy at birth around 25 years. As researchers increasingly see ageing as something mutable – and hence potentially treatable - we have to start considering how to deal with the changes it will cause in society and our lives.
Extending lifespans is something many do not take seriously. It is in the realm of wishful thinking, science fiction and health gurus. But if one is concerned about the current demographic trends and the somewhat long-term future, then one ought to at least consider progress in extending lifespans as one possibility to take into account. In his report “Keep on raging against ageing” Anders Sandberg, research director of Eudoxa and transhumanist par excellence, will make a moral and scientific case for life extension.
Anders Sandberg, PhD, Science Director of Eudoxa, has his background in Computer Science and Psychology from Stockholm University and completed his doctoral thesis on Artificial Neural Networks at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Currently he is postdoctoral research assistant at the Oxford University ENHANCE Project and Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. He has a widespread international network and an extensive experience as a writer and lecturer both in Sweden and abroad. Being the true Renaissance man that he is, he combines his knowledge on natural sciences with liberal arts in order to explain the emerging technologies and its consequences.
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