Design Principles for Minds and Societies - Humanity+ @Parsons 2011

2013-04-04 00:00:00

==Design Principles for Minds and Societies==
Resilience has become a central concept in for both psychology and social planning. A growing body of research suggests that one's capacity for a resilient response to life's challenges is a pre-set personality trait that determines well-being, one which may be amenable to behavioral, chemical and genetic enhancement. The resilience of a society is determined in part by decisions about the kind of agricultural, energy, transportation and communication technologies that we use. As the recent disasters in Japan painfully underline intentionally designing more resilient minds and societies is key to mitigating the risks of rapid social change and catastrophic threats.



Transhumanism Meets Design - http://humanityplus.org/conferences/p... http://humanityplus.org
On May 14-15 2011, Humanity+ International is partnered with Parsons The New School for Design in New York City to produce Transhumanism Meets Design. The conference was co-chaired by Ed Keller, Associate Dean of Distributed Learning at Parsons and Natasha Vita-More, Chairperson of Humanity+. The aim was to explore emerging technology, transdisciplinary design, culture and media theory, and biotech.

The conference brings together futurists, cyberneticists, life extensionists, singularity advocates, A[G]I and robotics experts, human enhancement specialists, inventors, ethicists, philosophers, and theorists to meet with the creativity and rigorous scholarship of design at Parsons.

Technological innovation permeates all aspects of society—from tiny water purification packets and portable LifeStraw filters, to GPS tracking devices, wearable Timex iPods and Gel-Kinsei high-tech running shoes. Because technology and society evolve together, it has become increasingly important to develop a greater understanding of how technology is shaping the course of our lives. We are faced with a need to continuously become more innovative in harnessing and controlling technology's acceleration. Nevertheless, innovation develops in stages. When it speeds up, we are faced with an urge to become ever more resourceful. When it slows down there is an impending impatience to compete with the exuberance of China. There is no doubt that even the most conservative thinkers agree that we have stepped into an era of a massive change. The good news is that our human diversity continues to spawn inventiveness and novelty.

Humanity+ @ Parsons NYC explores how society can establish innovative thinking through design to harness this adventurous ride into the future where Transhumanism Meets Design!

==Design Principles for Minds and Societies==
Resilience has become a central concept in for both psychology and social planning. A growing body of research suggests that one's capacity for a resilient response to life's challenges is a pre-set personality trait that determines well-being, one which may be amenable to behavioral, chemical and genetic enhancement. The resilience of a society is determined in part by decisions about the kind of agricultural, energy, transportation and communication technologies that we use. As the recent disasters in Japan painfully underline intentionally designing more resilient minds and societies is key to mitigating the risks of rapid social change and catastrophic threats.



Transhumanism Meets Design - http://humanityplus.org/conferences/p... http://humanityplus.org
On May 14-15 2011, Humanity+ International is partnered with Parsons The New School for Design in New York City to produce Transhumanism Meets Design. The conference was co-chaired by Ed Keller, Associate Dean of Distributed Learning at Parsons and Natasha Vita-More, Chairperson of Humanity+. The aim was to explore emerging technology, transdisciplinary design, culture and media theory, and biotech.

The conference brings together futurists, cyberneticists, life extensionists, singularity advocates, A[G]I and robotics experts, human enhancement specialists, inventors, ethicists, philosophers, and theorists to meet with the creativity and rigorous scholarship of design at Parsons.

Technological innovation permeates all aspects of society—from tiny water purification packets and portable LifeStraw filters, to GPS tracking devices, wearable Timex iPods and Gel-Kinsei high-tech running shoes. Because technology and society evolve together, it has become increasingly important to develop a greater understanding of how technology is shaping the course of our lives. We are faced with a need to continuously become more innovative in harnessing and controlling technology's acceleration. Nevertheless, innovation develops in stages. When it speeds up, we are faced with an urge to become ever more resourceful. When it slows down there is an impending impatience to compete with the exuberance of China. There is no doubt that even the most conservative thinkers agree that we have stepped into an era of a massive change. The good news is that our human diversity continues to spawn inventiveness and novelty.

Humanity+ @ Parsons NYC explores how society can establish innovative thinking through design to harness this adventurous ride into the future where Transhumanism Meets Design!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBnI9u_rtLw