IEET Culture News http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/visions Building a future friendly culture by challenging bioconservative and libertopian tropes in popular media, and building models of a sexy, high-tech and radically democratic culture in virtual worlds http://ieet.org/images/ieet.jpg Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/visions Promoting the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities en mtreder@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-21T13:38:42+00:00 Is Earth past the tipping point? http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/is_earth_past_the_tipping_point/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/is_earth_past_the_tipping_point/#When:13:38:42Z Biodiversity loss. Land use. Freshwater use. Nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Stratospheric ozone. Ocean acidification. Climate change. Chemical Pollution. Aerosol loading in the atmosphere.

A team of 30 scientists across the globe have determined that the nine environmental processes named above must remain within specific limits, otherwise the “safe operating space” within which humankind can exist on Earth will be threatened.

]]> Security > Eco-gov > Life > Health > Vision > Technoprogressivism]]> 2010-03-21T13:38:42+00:00 Hughes @ Technologies of Awareness: Buddhism and the New Mind Sciences http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hughes201004101/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hughes201004101/#When:03:32:51Z Technologies of Awareness: Buddhism and the New Mind Sciences

April 10, 2010

Leo Weinstein Auditorium, in Wright Hall
Smith College
Northampton, MA

a one day symposium with some of the greatest minds in the spiritual and scientific communities. Learn about the intersection of Buddhist practice, Western psychology, and modern technology from leaders in these diverse areas of study. Register now, seating is limited.

]]> Vision > CyborgBuddha > Staff > J. Hughes]]> 2010-03-21T03:32:51+00:00 Time Machine http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/xkcd20100320/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/xkcd20100320/#When:19:05:20Z image

]]> Security > SciTech > Rights > Personhood > Vision > Futurism]]> 2010-03-20T19:05:20+00:00 Philippe Verdoux If Only We Were Smarter! http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/verdoux20100320/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/verdoux20100320/#When:17:41:45Z The history of our belief in progress is a complicated one. This belief first arose during the eighteenth century Enlightenment and became a central feature of the Western worldview until circa the mid-twentieth century, when the first anthropogenic “existential risk” was introduced. Although progressionism suffered a serious blow with the inauguration of the Atomic Age, a renewed belief in the goodness and historical reality of techno-progress has reemerged within the transhumanist movement.

]]> Security > Eco-gov > SciTech > Life > Enablement > Innovation > Vision > Technoprogressivism > Contributors > Philippe Verdoux]]> 2010-03-20T17:41:45+00:00 Kristi Scott The Baroque Body: The Role of Body Modification in Scott Westerfeld´s Uglies http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scott20100320/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/scott20100320/#When:15:34:42Z (with co-author M. Heather Dragoo)  Abstract: As a genre, science fiction provides a uniquely fertile medium from which we can extrapolate the defining characteristics of personhood, explore our future potentials, and project our current selves onto tomorrow. One such example is the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.

]]> Rights > Disability > Life > Enablement > Vision > Bioculture > Interns > Kristi Scott]]> 2010-03-20T15:34:42+00:00 Tech Pace Fast, Opposition Uncertain: IEET Readers http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/poll20100319/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/poll20100319/#When:15:51:19Z By an overwhelming majority, respondents to a recently concluded poll said they expect the pace of development in emerging technologies to remain swift over the next two decades, but they are divided over how strong the opposition will be to human enhancements.

]]> Security > SciTech > Life > Access > Innovation > Vision > Futurism > Technoprogressivism]]> Which of these four scenarios for the future of transhumanism over the next 15 or 20 years do you think is most likely?

image

Here is how the question was originally defined...

Opposition to Transhumanism: Will it be strong, perhaps even getting stronger as transformative new technologies emerge? Or will it weaken, either due to slower than expected tech development or because a large majority of people simply accept transhumanist concepts without much argument?

Emerging Technology Development Pace: How fast will nanotechnology, bio-engineering, machine intelligence, and robotics—among other technologies—continue to develop? Is the pace likely to quicken, or might things slow down a bit, perhaps due to a sluggish global economy or because the work itself is so extremely difficult?

]]> 2010-03-19T15:51:19+00:00 Mining Space http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/brinvid20100319/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/brinvid20100319/#When:14:17:18Z IEET Fellow David Brin proposes economic incentives for exploring space. Can space exploration pay for itself? 

]]> Rights > Economic > Vision > Futurism > Fellows > David Brin]]> 2010-03-19T14:17:18+00:00 Design Outside the Box http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/design20100318/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/design20100318/#When:02:02:47Z Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jesse Schell offers a funny, fast-paced, enlightening presentation on the strange new world of online interactive gaming.

]]> Rights > Personhood > Vision > Bioculture > Virtuality]]> 2010-03-19T02:02:47+00:00 John Robb Online Games, Super Empowerment, and a Better World http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/robb20100318/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/robb20100318/#When:20:11:09Z For active online gamers, real life is broken. It doesn’t make any sense. Effort isn’t connected to reward. The path forward is confused, convoluted, and contradictory. Worse, there’s a growing sense that the entire game is being corrupted to ensure failure. So why play it?

]]> Rights > Economic > Vision > Virtuality > Contributors > John Robb]]> 2010-03-18T20:11:09+00:00 Kyle Munkittrick Are You There, Dog? It’s Me, Gordon. http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/munkittrick20100318/ http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/munkittrick20100318/#When:15:12:25Z One of the biggest letdowns for me about the film Wall-E was that all of the robots, save the evil navigator, were in some way visually anthropomorphic. They had hands, eyes, voices, that were unmistakably humanish. Pixar’s great mascot, Luxo Jr., managed to be lovable without these traits. There is a certain extra level of magic involved in making a great character that is utterly unrecognizable as human.

]]> Rights > Personhood > Vision > Bioculture > Contributors > Kyle Munkittrick]]> 2010-03-18T15:12:25+00:00