The H + Summit Conference in June 2010 brought together hundreds of people to discuss advanced technologies under the theme “citizen science”. We papered over the campus with posters of the conference and the character Robert Langdon in Dan Brown’s bestselling book by, played by Tom Hanks in the movie, wonders if it was not a chemistry lecture. Instead it was the largest gathering of transhumanists ever. At that time I was Chairman of Humanity+, the world transhumanist association, of which today I am an Advisor. Transhumanism is the philosophy that defines humanity through its ability to overcome its limitations. Through technology, we now live in an intrinsically transhumanist era and we have the opportunity to ask ourselves how we want to manage future sections of the journey that led us tofundamentally transform the planet on which we live.

In its own manner, the Hollywood movie industry aims to highlight the spectacular dangers of negative applications of technology which, however, is a positive-sum game. Statistically the gain that we have from our knowledge about the world far outweighs the negative effects. We must be alert to avoid existential risks, through a correct analysis of the most devastating implications. For this, for example, once the scientific consensus is clear, avoiding prolonged effects of human activities on the climate through a rapid conversion of the energy base of civilization on solar photovoltaics is so important.

This post is also available in: Italian