EMERGENCE - IEET News for Feb 6, 2009

1. A Note From Dr. J.  2. IEET News. 3. Articles. 4. Multimedia. 5. TechEthx News. 6. Events.

A NOTE FROM DR. J.

Uh…There’s a lot going on.

1) There are books and articles spewing out from our staff, fellows and interns at an alarming clip, such as Nick Bostrom and Julian Savulescu’s new collection on Human Enhancement, the new issue of Global Spiral with seven IEETers’ articles in defense of transhumanism, and Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk’s Voices of Disbelief. Doug has a new radio show, Martine is giving showings of her Transbeman film, and Marcelo is launching a biz-futurism magazine.

2) Two IEETers - Ben Goertzel and Aubrey de Grey - have been appointed faculty for the exciting new NASA/Google/Kurzweil Singularity University, although Jamais thinks its curriculum could use a re-think…

3) Martine Rothblatt has given us five thousand dollars, and we are starting a new serious fundraising campaign. There are some other organizational changes afoot which I expect we’ll announce next time.

4) We’ve enlisted three new fellows - religious and entheogen scholar Peter Bebergal, sports performance enhancement scholar Randall Mayes, and transhumanist artist Natasha Vita-More.

5) We’ve welcomed two cool new interns, democratic transhumanist and biohacker Parijata Mackey, and transhumanist student Ben Scarlato. Ben has written three philosophical reflections on Battlestar Galactica for the IEET blog so far, and he and I will be giving a talk about ethics and BSG at Trinity College on February 19.

6) IEETers George Dvorsky, Ben Goertzel, Mike LaTorra and Mike Treder were (re-)elected to the Board of Humanity+, previously known as the World Transhumanist Association.

7) Oh, and the world economy is melting down into a second Great Depression while the climate crashes at an accelerating rate, banks are being nationalized while unemployment climbs, our new black, progressive President is pressing for trillion dollar investments in science, technology, health care reform, broadband access, and a green economy, and bans on torture and space weapons. Or was all that last part just a cyberpunk dream I once had…

Hang in there. Things will get better. And if they don’t, at least there will be resveratrol-enhanced red wine and the artificial livers:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/22611/

J.

________________________________

IEET NEWS

Global Spiral Publishes Ten Defenses of Transhumanism (Feb 6, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/gs0902/
In its “Special Issue on Transhumanism”, the magazine Global Spiral gave guest editor Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and five other authors - Ted Peters, Katherine Hayles, Don Ihde, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, and Andrew Pickering - all participants in a Templeton Foundation-funded project on transhumanism - an opportunity to critique transhumanism’s alleged faults. This responsive second Special Issue on Transhumanism is an opportunity for ten transhumanist authors - seven of them members of the IEET community - to evaluate the criticisms and address concerns.

Congratulations to Goertzel and de Grey for Participation in Singularity University (Feb 6, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/su200902/
IEET fellows Ben Goertzel and Aubrey de Grey have been tapped to be faculty of the new Singularity University.

Bostrom and Savulescu Issue “Human Enhancement” Collection (Feb 5, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/bsihe09/
We are pleased to announce the release of “Human Enhancement”, edited by IEET Chair Nick Bostrom and Julian Savulescu, with contributions from many important leaders in bioethics, including Arthur Caplan and Peter Singer.

IEET Receives Generous Gift from Dr. Rothblatt (Feb 5, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/rothblatt20090205/
The IEET does a lot with very little, and a lot of that little over the last couple of years has come from Dr. Martine Rothblatt. We are delighted to acknowledge her most recent gift of $5000. Her support means a lot to us, and we’re looking forward to the release of her new film Transbeman.

Welcome to New Intern Parijata Mackey (Feb 3, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/mackey20090203/
The IEET is delighted to welcome biohacker and democratic transhumanist Parijata Mackey.

Doug’s new radio show (Jan 28, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/wfmu09/
Douglas Rushkoff will be hosting a show on New York City’s WFMU called The MediaSquat. It’ll be on live Monday evenings at 7pm Eastern, beginning March 16.

Update on Russell’s Voices of Disbelief (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/rvod09/
Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk gave Voices of Disbelief to the publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, in early December 2008 with publication currently planned for September. The contributors will be familiar to many friends of the IEET.

Marcelo launches online magazine Frontier Economy (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/mlomfe09/
IEET Assistant Director Marcelo Rinesi is editing a new online magazine, Frontier Economy, focusing on the economic and business implications of emerging technologies.

Cosmic Engineers Defend Transhumanism’s Radicalism (Jan 17, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/csedtr09/
The Order of Cosmic Engineers are a group of transhumanists who are focused on “turning this universe into a ‘magical’ realm.” They focus on building their activity in online virtual reality worlds. They include IEET Board member Giulio Prisco and IEET advisor Martine Rothblatt. They have recently issued the “YES! to Transhumanism” statement which is a call to arms for defense of radical transhumanism against pressures to downplay the more challenging and futuristic aspects of the transhumanist perspective.

Welcome to Three New Fellows (Jan 16, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/threenf09/
The IEET is very pleased to welcome three new fellows, Peter Bebergal, Randall Mayes and Natasha Vita-More.

Update on Humanity+ Board Elections (Jan 16, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hbrd09up/
Congratulations to the newly elected Board of Humanity+ which now includes IEET Board members Nick Bostrom, Mike LaTorra and George Dvorsky, IEET Fellows Ben Goertzel and Mike Treder, and the IEET Executive Director J. Hughes.

Humanity+ Board Elections (Jan 12, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hboard09/
Some of you are members of our sister organization Humanity+ (formerly World Transhumanist Association), so I wanted to just drop a quick note about this week’s elections for the Humanity+ Board of Directors. (If you aren’t a voting member you have until Thursday to join and vote).  All the candidate statements are here.  There are four IEET folks in the running that I thought you should be aware of including IEET Board members Michael LaTorra and George Dvorsky, and IEET Fellows Mike Treder and Ben Goertzel.

Rushkoff’s Life Incorporated: The Course (Jan 7, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/rushkoff09litc/
Doug is teaching an online course, Life Incorporated, through the MaybeLogic Academy beginning January 12, for six weeks.

New issue of JET (Jan 6, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/jet0901/
We have started on the new issue of the Journal of Evolution and Technology with a brief editorial by Russell Blackford and articles by Eric Steinhart (on the relationship between transhumanism and the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin) and Colin Farrelly (a dialogue about fundamental public policy priorities).

Bostrom, de Grey, Rushkoff answer Edge’s Big Question for 2009 (Jan 2, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/edge090101/
Edge.com asked 150 of the most visionary minds on the planet - including the IEET’s Nick Bostrom, Aubrey de Grey and Douglas Rushkoff - the question “What will change everything?”

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ARTICLES

Edward Miller: Civilizational Resilience and Limitless Modes of Consciousness (Feb 6, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/miller20090205/
Decentralization is the key to the survival of humanity. This should be common sense. We all know that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. There are many examples one could point to. With industrial farming we are now beginning to realize that monocultures are especially susceptible to disease or changes in the environment. Fitness is a fluid concept because environmental conditions are not static. This is true on a civilizational level as well.

Jamais Cascio: Flunking Out (Feb 6, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090205/
Singularity University is now up and running (and has evidently fixed its web hosting problem). I’ve had a few people already ask me what I think of it. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I can just say: This is about as close to getting it wrong as I could imagine.

Susan Schneider: Future Minds: Transhumanism, Cognitive Enhancement and the Nature of Persons (Feb 5, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/schneider20090204/
Abstract: After covering the basic tenets of Transhumanism, I discuss what I take to be the most important philosophical element of the transhumanist picture—its unique perspective on the nature and development of persons. Examining the enhancement issue through the vantage point of the metaphysical problem of personal identity presents a serious challenge to Transhumanism. Indeed, this is a pressing issue for any argument made for or against enhancement.

Kristi Scott: Review of The Medicalization of Cyberspace (Feb 4, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scott20090203/
As with any medical discovery, an in-depth look needs to be taken regarding the impact and effects on society. The Internet offers a new world of communication and opportunities for individuals to be in touch with one another. Andy Miah and Emma Rich do a commendable job with this in their recent publication The Medicalization of Cyberspace.

Edward Miller: Applied Social Ecology (Feb 3, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/miller20090203/
Social Ecology is a philosophy which states that environmental, social, and economic problems all have the same root: namely, the way people treat each other. By this same logic, if we can establish new structures and norms by which to operate, we can alleviate many of these problems.

George Dvorsky: When 8 is more than enough: It’s time for some meaningful regulation (Feb 2, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090202/
Like a lot of people last week, I was shocked to find out that Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets born last week in Los Angeles, already has 6 children—all between the ages of 2 and 7.

Michael Anissimov: What are the Benefits of Mind Uploading? (Feb 2, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/anissimov20090202/
Universal mind uploading, or universal uploading for short, is the concept, by no means original to me, that the technology of mind uploading will eventually become universally adopted by all who can afford it, similar to the adoption of modern agriculture, hygiene, or living in houses.

George Dvorsky: Rethinking IQ: The rise of ‘rational intelligence’ (Feb 1, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090201/
Our conceptions of intelligence certainly aren’t what they used to be—and they’re continuing to evolve. Prior to the advent of computers it was thought that number crunching and pure logic was the penultimate measure of intelligence. But after the invention of the calculator, which could suddenly do math thousands of times better than we ever could, we were forced to shift our definitions of intelligence to other seemingly more intractable cognitive functions.

Ben Scarlato: The Oath (Jan 31, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scarlato20090131/
[Warning: Contains spoilers for the Battlestar Galactica episode The Oath] It can be easy when experiencing an engaging story to be wrapped up in a world where problems seem much bigger, much more exciting, and more a matter of life and death than real life. The fast-paced action seems to involve much more important issues than our trivial day to day problems. But that impression is a mistake, because even though the major problems we face aren’t as immediate, we all face problems just as big and important, and it is our responsibility to take action that affects them.

Jamais Cascio: New Geoengineering Study: Can We Fix the Planet? (Jan 28, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090128/
The article The radiative forcing potential of different climate geoengineering options is now out and available for download and discussion. As expected, it offers one of the first useful comparisons of different geoengineering techniques.

George Dvorsky: Most parents not quite ready to have ‘designer babies’—but demand exists (Jan 28, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090128/
A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center indicates that consumers are more interested in using genetic technologies to screen for life threatening diseases than in using the technologies to screen offspring for enhanced traits.

Ben Scarlato: A Disquiet Follows My Soul: Personhood, Humanity, and Diversity (Jan 25, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scarlato20090124/
[Warning: Contains spoilers for the Battlestar Galactica episode A Disquiet Follows My Soul] Even as Zarek and Gaeta sow the seeds of insurrection against Adama and his Cylon alliance, it is amazing how integrated the Cylons and humans have become. While it is true that a large portion of the fleet seems opposed to their alliance, it is nonetheless remarkable that Adama lets the Cylon Tigh remain as his second in command, even though Tigh is a member of a species of machines responsible for the destruction of the human race.

Russell Blackford: On the Yes! statement by the Order of Cosmic Engineers (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/blackford20090123/
Until today I was unfamiliar with a group called “The Order of Cosmic Engineers”. I’d heard mention of the name in passing, but could have told you nothing about what it was or who its members might be.

Mike Treder: Russia’s Emphasis on Nano Weaponry (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/treder20090124/
Take this with at least a grain of salt, probably more, and recognize that you’re reading an English translation from Spanish of news items taken from Russian media and translated from Russian into Spanish.

Jamais Cascio: Boosting Your Brain for Fun and Profit (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090124/
A diverse assortment of legal, bioscience, psychology, and ethics academics argue for cognitive enhancement drugs in the pages of Nature.

Russell Blackford: The Core Idea of Transhumanism (Jan 22, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/blackford20090122/
Although there is no universally agreed definition of the word “transhumanism”, it seems to me that the core idea is rather simple: within certain limits, it is desirable to use emerging technologies to enhance human physical and cognitive capacities, and to make other beneficial alterations to human traits.

Giulio Prisco: Teilhard and Transhumanism (Jan 20, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/prisco20090120/
The Journal of Evolution and Technology of the IEET has a very interesting and thoughtful article by Eric Steinhart on Teilhard de Chardin and Transhumanism.

Marcelo Rinesi: The Intelligence Gap (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/rinesi20090120/
It’s often said that we live in a Knowledge Economy. So we invest in IT and use it to automate administrative activities. That’s like using engines in farms but still move around on horses. The underlying problem is that no matter how intelligent and capable the members of a group might be, for most organizational cultures administrative activities are the only sort of relevant intellectual activities.

George Dvorsky: Towards a ‘largely robotic’ battlefield (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090119/
A new book will hit store shelves later this week that will be of interest to those concerned about the ongoing roboticization and de-humanizing of military technology. The book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, is authored by P. W. Singer, the director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

Russell Blackford: Where’s my alien civilisation? (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/blackford20090119/
I’m sure my readers are familiar with Fermi’s paradox. Some of you may even feel it’s debated to death lately, but in this great memorial year (Darwin’s 200th birthday, among other things) we’ll be hearing a lot more about the origins of life and the trajectory of evolution. Fermi’s paradox connects with all that.

Marcelo Rinesi: The Genetic Bubble (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/rinesi20090119/
We are repeating some of the systematic errors behind the financial crisis in how we exploit plants and animals. The end results won’t be any better.

Jamais Cascio: Cloud computing: Threat or Menace? (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090119/
I did some sustainability consulting recently for a major computer company. We focused for the day on building a better understanding of their energy and material footprint and strategies; during the latter part of the afternoon, we zeroed in on testing the sustainability of their current business strategies. It turned out that, like many big computer industry players, this company is making its play in the “cloud computing” field.

Ben Scarlato: Immortality and Death in Battlestar Galactica (Jan 18, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scarlato20090118/
[Spoiler Alert: contains spoilers for the first episode of the final half-season of BSG Sometimes a Great Notion ] As the final half season of Battlestar Galactica opened with one of the darkest episodes ever, it gave me a lot to think about regarding death, immortality, and hope even in the worst of situations. Even if you happen to assign a low probability to the possibility of a high-quality future for ourselves here in 2009, it is worth dedicating a lot in pursuit of that future when its realization is of great value and permanence.

Michael Anissimov: Uploading and The Big Freeze (Jan 15, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/anissimov20090115/
No, I’m not talking about Heat Death or another Ice Age. I’m talking about what could happen if mind uploading becomes universally or near-universally adopted and every mind is accelerated by a factor of several million or billion. Such an outcome seems inevitable if mind uploading is actually possible.

Mike Treder: Memo to Pres. Obama: Advanced Nanotechnology - What, When, and Why (Jan 15, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/treder20090115/
Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. [1] In its advanced form, which should be achieved within the next decade or two, the technology will allow a revolution in manufacturing—building powerful products with atomic precision from the bottom up—and could fundamentally alter our ability to confront challenging issues such as climate change.

Peter Bebergal: Mystics Under the Microscope (Jan 14, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/bebergal20090114/
Until 2006, John Hayes, a psychologist and self-described Zen-Catholic, had never taken a hallucinogenic drug. In the 1960s, Hayes was a Franciscan friar watching with curiosity while the counter-culture used psychedelics with impunity. Through his own meditation and religious practice, Hayes believes he has had sensations that he would label mystical. But these mystical states—which he described to me as “moments of unitive experience” —were significant enough that when he heard about a surprising research project at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine he was more than intrigued. Doctors at JHU were investigating the effects of psilocybin—the active ingredient in the more common variety of hallucinogenic mushroom—and looking for volunteers.

Russell Blackford: This postmillennialism nonsense (Jan 12, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/blackford20090112/
Wikipedia succinctly defines postmillennialism as “an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ’s second coming as occurring after the ‘Millennium’, a Golden Age or era of Christian prosperity and dominance.”

George Dvorsky: We Have the Technology to Rebuild Ourselves (Jan 9, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090109/
Julian Smith has penned an excellent overview of prosthetic technologies for New Scientist. Smith describes the current state-of-the-union as far as assistive devices goes and looks at the potential for these devices to not just mimic normal human functioning, but to surpass it as well.

Michael Anissimov: Inevitable Positive Outcome with AI? (Jan 9, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/anissimov20090109/
For those who believe that human-level AI isn’t far off and that a rosy scenario isn’t inevitable, 2009 is a somewhat sad and depressing time. Popular opinion is that AI won’t be here for centuries, but that isn’t a huge problem or issue. (In fact, it makes things easier by limiting the number of people involved in AI research, thus allowing me and my confederates to keep a closer eye on them.)

Russell Blackford: What about the children?! (Jan 7, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/blackford20090107/
Would-be censors often justify themselves by claiming that certain kinds of material are harmful to children, and so must be kept out of public sight. It’s worth thinking about this before we simply accept it at face value.

Edward Miller: Sanjay Gupta, the first anti-aging Surgeon General? (Jan 7, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/miller20090107/
The Washington Post reported that Sanjay Gupta - CNN chief health correspondent, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine, and author of Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today - has been approached to be the new Surgeon General.

George Dvorsky: Pleasure’s perils: Why the ‘sex chip’ may not be such a good idea (Jan 3, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dvorsky20090103/
Scientists have taken us one step closer to achieving permanent bliss. Neuroscientists Morten Kringelbach and Tipu Aziz recently announced that they were able to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain by implanting a chip that sends tiny shocks to the orbitofrontal cortex. This is the same area that is responsible for feelings of pleasure induced by such things as eating and sex.

Jamais Cascio: Aspirational Futurism, Uncertainty and Resilience (Jan 3, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090103/
One of the secondary effects of the latest set of crises to grip the world is the rise of essays and articles from various insightful folks, laying out scenarios of what the future will look like in an era of limited resources, energy, money, and so forth. Most of these follow a similar pattern: a list of reasonable depictions of a more limited future, and at least one item that seems completely out of the blue.

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MULTIMEDIA

Mind-Enhancers for All? (Feb 4, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/onpnpr09/
Attention-deficit drugs like Adderall and Ritalin have helped millions of ADHD kids get along. For a new generation, they’ve also fed a black market in college dorms and high-pressure labs, where off-label use by the non-ADHD gets term papers written and lab reports done. Now, pharmaceutical companies — and some scientists — are saying maybe we should consider “cognitive enhancers,” drugs like these, for the general population.

Are We Born to Be Good? (Jan 28, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/keltner20090128/
Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and director of the Greater Good Science Center, demonstrates that humans are not hardwired to lead lives that are “nasty, brutish, and short” - we are in fact born to be good.  He investigates an old mystery of human evolution: why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe, and compassion that promote ethical action are the fabric of cooperative societies?  Born to Be Good is a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life and how the path to happiness goes through human emotions that connect people to one another.

Resveratrol and Anti-Aging Drugs (Jan 26, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cbswinerx/
Scientists have found a substance in red wine that is slowing down the aging process in mice. Will it someday lengthen the lives of humans, too? Morley Safer reports.

Basic Income Guarantee and Monetary Reform (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/csr20090124b/
Dr. J. chats with Richard Cook, former federal and White House official with the civil service, FDA and NASA, and advocate of radical reform of monetary policy including the provision of a basic guaranteed income to all citizens. We talk about the role of banks in the economy, and the prospects for bottom-up economic growth. (MP3)

The Forgotten Aldous Huxley (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/csr20090124/
Dr. J. chats with Rice University professor of Religion Jeffrey Kripal about his article on Aldous Huxley in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Kripal argues that Huxley’s Island should be read as his utopian rebuttal to his own dystopian vision in Brave New World.

Coffee Fueled the Age of Enlightenment (Jan 24, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/johnson20090124/
Steven Johnson links the rise of coffee house culture to the Age of Enlightenment because, before coffee replaced beer as the daytime drink of choice, “the entire culture basically was drunk all day long.” As a result, he says “the coffee house was a great hub of Enlightenment-era culture.”

Tools for building a better world (Jan 22, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090123/
We all want to make the world better—but how? Jamais Cascio looks at some specific tools and techniques that can make a difference. It’s a fascinating talk that might just inspire you to act.

Military Futurism and Coming Climate Wars (Jan 19, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/mfccw09/
Global warming is moving much more quickly than scientists thought it would. Even if the biggest current and prospective emitters - the United States, China and India - were to slam on the brakes today, the earth would continue to heat up for decades. At best, we may be able to slow things down and deal with the consequences, without social and political breakdown. Gwynne Dyer examines several radical short- and medium-term measures now being considered - all of them controversial. (MP3)

Liberation (Jan 17, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/csr20080117/
Dr. J. chats with Brian Slattery about his new novel Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America. Concludes with New Millenium by the Gorskys, care of the Podsafe Music Network.  (MP3)

A Plan for Universal Health Care with Choices (Jan 17, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/emanuel20090117/
Zeke Emanuel, chair of the bioethics department at the National Institutes of Health and brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, spoke on healthcare reform to The Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, CA, Jan 8th, 2009.  Emanuel argues for a complete overhaul of health care based on universal provision of vouchers to purchase private health insurance.

Enlightenment for the Rest of Us (Jan 13, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/bg20090111/
On Buddhist Geeks Shinzen Young discusses a new way to deliver classical enlightenment to the masses using an artificial intelligence system with virtually led home meditation retreats.  This Home Practice Program is what is currently being offered at BasicMindfulness.org. Finally Shinzen discusses the “crowning glory” of his mission to unify Western and Eastern technologies, and that is to help nurture the emergence of a “neuro-scientific paradigm for classical enlightenment.” This paradigm could help lead to the emergence of technologies which have the potential to bring classical enlightenment to the masses and hence make large-scale social and individual change.  This is part 3 of a 3-part series.  Listen to part 1, Shinzen Young: The Hybrid Teacher & part 2, Building a Dharma Successor.

Digital Serfs and Cyborg Buddhas (Jan 12, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/dscb08/
IEET’s Michael LaTorra & James Hughes led a group discussion on structural unemployment and the Cyborg Buddha opportunities and pitfalls in the coming age of neurotechnology at Convergence 08. The alternative to a dystopia of digital serfdom and widespread impoverishment is one of a basic income guarantee and life-enhancing uses of emerging technologies, which could provide both technological abundance and the opportunity for self-examination and personal growth. Thanks again to Jeriaska for taping and uploading this talk.

All the Global Catastrophic Risks Talks Online (Jan 5, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/gcr08all/
All the talks from the November 14, 2008 Global Catastrophic Risks: Building a Resilient Civilization seminar, co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology and the Lifeboat Foundation, are now online, thanks to Jeriaska.

The Implications Of An Increasingly Automated Economy (Jan 3, 2009)
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/brain20090103/
IEET Fellow Marshall Brain gave this speech on the inevitable structural unemployment that automation and artificial intelligence will create at the Singularity Summit 2008. The astonishing thing about Marshall’s talk was the amount of outrage from the libertopians in the audience who were all perfectly content to imagine that we would soon have super-robots doing things a gazillion times better than humans, and that that transition might wipe humans out or bring about a utopian society, but they couldn’t accept that such a transition might cause unemployment and require any redistribution of the wealth. History apparently shows that the market solves all structural unemployment, even after an historical discontinuity so radical that we make up a word for it - Singularity - which precisely means that we can’t predict anything after that point. Libertopians would be funny if they hadn’t just ruined the world economy.

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ETHICS & TECH IN THE NEWS

FROM IEET-NEWS LIST
http://ieet.org/mailman/listinfo/ieet-news

Brugnols blog publishes interview with Riccardo (in Italian) http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/brugnols09/

Nick, Aubrey and Julian Savulescu argue for the Longevity Dividend http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/najsld09/

Crooked Timber forum on Charlie Stross features Paul Krugman and Ken MacLeod http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ctcs09/

How Machine Minds Would Escape From Friendliness Programming http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/notsaia09/

Asocial Singularitarianism - Breeding an Incomplete View of Convergent Accelerating Change http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11747013.html

The Octuplets:  Or why reprotech needs some regulating http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11598401.html

The Onion: Genetic Experiment Goes Horribly Right http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11578076.html

Nassim Taleb, Black Swan author’s rules for living http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11574323.html

Ecourse: H+, S^, and Far Out Futures - Feb 23-April 5 http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11574271.html

Bruce Sterling’s dystopian and utopian 2009 http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11572777.html

How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovations http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11528200.html

FDA whistleblowers on risky devices being investigated http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11528012.html

Obama seeking ban on space weapons
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11527705.html

CO2 effects will persist for 1000 years
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11503971.html

Reports says US research offers chance to address social, ethics concerns http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11499562.html

Scientists call for US re-investment in science http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-news-11494218.html

FROM TRANS-SPIRIT LIST
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit

Zen meditation alleviates pain
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1519

Rapid Thinking Makes People Happy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1518

Sociability Traced To The Amygdala
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1517

Rapid Thinking Makes People Happy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1516

Happiness also requires sense of empowerment
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1515

Dalai Lama to fund ‘neuroscience of compassion’
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1508

‘Warrior gene’ predicts aggressive behavior after provocation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Trans-Spirit/message/1507

FROM LONGEVITY DIVIDEND LIST
http://ieet.org/mailman/listinfo/ieet-life

Aging & Longevity Research in US Stimulus Package http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11473080.html

Freitas: Nanotechnology and Radically Extended Life Span http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11466258.html

Biodesign Institute profile
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11341045.html

‘Mini-submarine’ Invented To Blast Diseased Cells In The Body http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11219645.html

WaPo: Paying for Longer, Healthier Lives http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-life-11114741.html

FROM BIOCULTURE LIST
http://ieet.org/mailman/listinfo/ieet-images

Dystopian Lit and the End of Politics
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-images-11548853.html

New Blog: Tolkien and H+
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-images-11338033.html

Battlestar Galactica primer
http://www.mailbucket.org/ieet-images-11266001.html

________________________________

IEET SPEAKER EVENTS

Jamais @ Expanding the Vision of Sustainable Mobility Art Center College of Design, Pasadena California
2009 Feb 18-19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090219/

Hughes, Scarlato on “The Ethics of Battlestar Galactica”
2009 Feb 19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/heg20090219/

Andy @ A European Approach to Human Enhancement Brussels, Belgium
2009 Feb 24-24
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/miah20090224/

Goertzel @ Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-09.org) Arlington, Virginia
2009 Mar 6-9
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/agi09/

Kristi @ Cybercultures: Exploring Critical Issues Salzburg, Austria
2009 Mar 13-15
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ceci09/

Hughes, Glenn @ Human Enhancement & Nanotechnology Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2009 Mar 27-29
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hen0903/

Jamais @ Futuresonic
Manchester UK
2009 May 13-16
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090513/

Jamais @ Mobile Monday
Amsterdam Netherlands
2009 Jun 1-1
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090601/

Aubrey @ HealthQuake summit
Detroit, Michigan, USA
2009 Jun 8-9
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090608/

Goertzel @ Workshop on Machine Consciousness Hong Kong, China
2009 Jun 15-15
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/iwmc09/

Aubrey @ IdeaCity
Toronto, Canada
2009 Jun 17-19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090717/

Aubrey @ FutureFest 2009
Cambridge, UK
2009 Jun 23-25
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090623/

Bostrom @ Converging Tech and Philosophy Enschede, The Netherlands
2009 Jul 8-10
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ctcs09/

Aubrey @ SENS4
Cambridge, UK
2009 Sep 4-7
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubreysens4/

ALL EVENTS

American Association for the Advancement of Science Chicago, Illinois USA
2009 Feb 12-16
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aaas09/

Jamais @ Expanding the Vision of Sustainable Mobility Art Center College of Design, Pasadena California
2009 Feb 18-19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090219/

Hughes, Scarlato on “The Ethics of Battlestar Galactica”
2009 Feb 19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/heg20090219/

Andy @ A European Approach to Human Enhancement Brussels, Belgium
2009 Feb 24-24
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/miah20090224/

US Basic Income Guarantee Congress
New York City, NY USA
2009 Feb 27-1
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/usbig09/

Goertzel @ Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-09.org) Arlington, Virginia
2009 Mar 6-9
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/agi09/

Tickle Your Catastrophe!
Ghent, Belgium
2009 Mar 6-7
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/tyc09/

Bioethics: The New Issues
Harvard University, Cambridge MA USA
2009 Mar 13-14
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/bioethics_the_new_issues/

Kristi @ Cybercultures: Exploring Critical Issues Salzburg, Austria
2009 Mar 13-15
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ceci09/

StemCONN 09
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
2009 Mar 23-24
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/stemconn_09/

Hughes, Glenn @ Human Enhancement & Nanotechnology Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2009 Mar 27-29
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hen0903/

Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness Portland, Oregon
2009 Apr 1-5
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/anthcon09/

Somatechnics: The Technologisation of Bodies and Selves New South Wales, Australia
2009 Apr 16-18
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/stbs09/

Jamais @ Futuresonic
Manchester UK
2009 May 13-16
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090513/

Philosophical Inquiry into Pregnancy, Childbirth and Mothering University of Oregon
2009 May 14-16
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/motherphil09/

Jamais @ Mobile Monday
Amsterdam Netherlands
2009 Jun 1-1
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20090601/

Aubrey @ HealthQuake summit
Detroit, Michigan, USA
2009 Jun 8-9
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090608/

Toward a Science of Consciousness 2009
Hong Kong, China
2009 Jun 11-14
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/tsc09/

Goertzel @ Workshop on Machine Consciousness Hong Kong, China
2009 Jun 15-15
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/iwmc09/

Aubrey @ IdeaCity
Toronto, Canada
2009 Jun 17-19
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090717/

First World Congress on Positive Psychology Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
2009 Jun 18-21
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pospsycon2009/

CyberTherapy and CyberPsychology Conference (CT14) Lago Maggiore, Verbania-Intra, Italy
2009 Jun 21-23
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ct14/

Aubrey @ FutureFest 2009
Cambridge, UK
2009 Jun 23-25
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubrey20090623/

Ethics for the 21st Century
Edinburgh, Scotland
2009 Jul 2-4
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ef21c09/

Technological Singularity and Acceleration Studies Barcelona, Spain
2009 Jul 2-4
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/tsas09/

Metaphysics of Science
Melbourne, Australia
2009 Jul 3-5
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/mos09/

Visions of Humanity in Cyberculture, Cyberspace and Science Fiction Oxford, UK
2009 Jul 6-8
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/vhccsf09/

Bostrom @ Converging Tech and Philosophy Enschede, The Netherlands
2009 Jul 8-10
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ctcs09/

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
Veronda, VR. Italy
2009 Jul 18-22
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aimed09/

Science in Society
Cambridge University, United Kingdom
2009 Aug 5-7
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scisoc09/

Aubrey @ SENS4
Cambridge, UK
2009 Sep 4-7
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/aubreysens4/

Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies Seattle, WA USA
2009 Sep 8-11
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/s_net09/

Politics of the Life Sciences in an ‘Age of Biological Control’
London, UK
2009 Sep 16-18
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/lse2009/

New Directions in Neuroethics
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
2009 Sep 24-26
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/ndne09/

_______________________________

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Contact:
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
http://ieet.org/
Executive Director,
Dr. James J. Hughes
Williams 229B, Trinity College
300 Summit St.
Hartford CT 06106 USA
Email: director @ ieet.org
Phone: 860-297-2376

________________________________

Emergence encourages submissions for publication. Please send submissions to: director@ieet.org. Submissions will be reviewed by the IEET staff, and final determinations regarding publication are at the sole discretion of the IEET.