IEET Culture News

Kristi Scott The Baroque Body: The Role of Body Modification in Scott Westerfeld´s Uglies

2010-03-20T15:34:59+00:00

(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.

Tech Pace Fast, Opposition Uncertain: IEET Readers

2010-03-19T15:51:19+00:00

Which of these four scenarios for the future of transhumanism over the next 15 or 20 years do you think is most likely?

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?

Mining Space

2010-03-19T14:17:18+00:00

IEET Fellow David Brin proposes economic incentives for exploring space. Can space exploration pay for itself?

Design Outside the Box

2010-03-19T02:02:47+00:00

Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jesse Schell offers a funny, fast-paced, enlightening presentation on the strange new world of online interactive gaming.

DS Games - E3 2010 - Guitar Hero 5

John Robb Online Games, Super Empowerment, and a Better World

2010-03-18T20:11:09+00:00

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?

Kyle Munkittrick Are You There, Dog? It’s Me, Gordon.

2010-03-18T15:12:25+00:00

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.

Where Next for the Space Program?

2010-03-17T15:12:44+00:00

IEET Fellow David Brin speculates on the future of the space program. Where should we be going? Brin suggests caching supplies ahead of sending a manned mission.

Mike Treder History is Contingent, Built on Flukes, Accidents, and Surprises

2010-03-17T13:46:40+00:00

Yesterday in Shanghai, a woman miscarried. The child that wasn’t born would have led a unified China to attack and defeat India, Russia, and finally Europe, resulting in a Chinese empire that ruled the world from 2050 to 2100. Instead, China wilted under internal political strife caused by economic and environmental pressures, and became a second-rate power in the 21st century.

Ben Goertzel Compassion

2010-03-17T12:06:40+00:00

We tend think about compassion on the level of individual selves and minds: Bob feels compassionate toward Jim because Jim lost his wife, or his wallet, etc. Bob sympathizes with Jim because he can internally, to a certain extent, “feel what Jim feels.”

Rocky Rawstern What Would You Say?

2010-03-16T18:22:55+00:00

After a yearlong hiatus, I thought it was about time that I got back on the nano-horse and giddy-upped into some new thoughts and understandings regarding that tiny little thing we call “nanotechnology.”