June 14, 2007
Metanexus Institute recently released a digital recording of the lecture: “Facing the Challenges of Transhumanism: Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Considerations” by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson from the Metanexus 2007 Conference. The lecture has been made available through iTunes.
June 7, 2007
Part human, part machine the cyborg is not just a piece of science fiction any longer. Professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, UK, Kevin Warwick shocked the international scientific community when he became the world’s first cyborg by … Read More
May 18, 2007
Cyborgs are often imagined as devoid of emotion and empathy. We need a new understanding of the cyborg, one with the capacity for altruism and love. (IEET)
May 15, 2007
The “Bionic Man/Bionic Woman” in us gives thanks for microchips that help our damaged bodies, pills that keep our brains happy and focused, Palm Pilots that put information in our hands and eye implants that improve our vision. (JS Online)
May 10, 2007
The most recent issue of Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 16(3) has a special section devoted to “Technology and the Body: Linking Life and Technology.” Articles are available by subscription only. TOC: “The Ethics of Enabling Technology” by SVEN OVE … Read More
April 12, 2007
So, now researchers believe they can make sperm from a woman’s bone marrow stem cells. And in this way, a woman may one day father a child. From the story in the Independent: Scientists are seeking ethical permission to produce … Read More
April 11, 2007
I talk to a lot of people and do a lot of stuff that is fun in the way of educating people, such as with the website: How Stuff Works. One thing I know about talking with the general public … Read More
March 3, 2007
Reports keep coming on the efforts of some of our smartest people to reverse engineer the brain – the so-called Human Cognome Project. This one in Wired describes a Silicon Valley entrepreneur’s project to rebuild it from the bottom up. … Read More
February 26, 2007
The transhumanist guru, James Hughes, grouses about an essay apparently written by Rich Hayes of the Center for Genetics and Society. Hayes and the Center are definitely and firmly on the political and pro choice left. But since he and … Read More
February 18, 2007
India has discovered grisly evidence of what happens when eugenics consciousness takes hold. In this case (as in China), it is a belief that boys are better than girls. As a consequence, female infanticide and abortion based on sex is … Read More
January 30, 2007
We are witnessing the beginning of the public normalization of the profound mental illness known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID)–also known as “amputee wannabe” because its sufferers become obsessed with losing one or more limbs. This column published in … Read More
January 30, 2007
IIT’s Techfest had a special lecturer on Sunday. A lanky Englishman who calls the Terminator a documentary and predicts that a large chunk of the Indian population will consist of cyborgs in a little over thirty years. (Hindustan Times)
January 29, 2007
DoveThis ad has been around awhile, but I think it punctures the transhumanists’ naive presumption that the post human future would be wildly individualistic and iconoclastic. I believe the opposite would be true. Just as today we are herded by … Read More
January 28, 2007
I was interviewed on Saturday in a talk radio format, but it is a podcast called Peering Into the Darkness, with Derek and Sharon Gilbert. The topic was transhumanism and related issues. What astounds me is that communication technology is … Read More
January 27, 2007
Now, here’s a story of how and why transhumanism isn’t going to cure what ails the human condition: Second Life, which I had not even heard of until a correspondent wrote asking to interview me about it a short time … Read More
January 24, 2007
Four years ago, Stuart Cracraft became a father at age 45. As his twin daughters grow up, he worries that his body and mind might not be able to keep up. Having recently witnessed his mother’s death following a devastating … Read More
January 23, 2007
In the current edition of Brave New Bioethics, I discuss the new religion of transhumanism, which fervently believes in a post human eschatology of human immortality and redesign.
January 22, 2007
Bryan Appleyard’s How to Live Forever or Die Trying offers an intriguing look at the geeky, freeze-dried, pill-popping world of people who want to go on and on. (The Observer)
January 15, 2007
George Dvorsky, the radical transhumanist–well, now there’s a redundant phrase–has come up with a long list of terms of which “intellectuals” should be aware. These include: Cosmological Eschatology (aka physical eschatology): CE is the study of how the Universe develops, … Read More
January 14, 2007
Thanks to China’s one child policy, mixed with what I consider to be a eugenics mindset that sees boys as more valuable than girls–certainly based in part on cultural issues and the perceived need of parents to be cared for … Read More
January 4, 2007
I have done a little more reading from the Edge, the self-described meeting place of the “most interesting minds” in the world. As some of you will recall from an earlier posting, the Edge is asking the brilliantly interesting among … Read More
January 1, 2007
Transhumanism is, in my view, a branch of scientism, that is, a quasi religion that seeks to use science in ways for which the great method is not meant. Here’s a little proof. A transhumanist named Giulio Prisco is optimistic … Read More
January 1, 2007
In writing the last post, I discovered Edge, an online community for “the third culture” that claims modestly, “Its informal membership includes of some of the most interesting minds in the world.” Edge asserts that “third culture” intellectuals “are taking … Read More
December 31, 2006
This story about the fuss being raised over experiments to turn “gay” sheep “straight” is a preview of coming attractions of the bitter arguments that will be unleashed if parents gain the power to biotechnologically mold their progeny to suit … Read More
December 28, 2006
The January 07 issue of Christianity Today (no link available) has a fine editorial warning against what it calls an “ethic of immortality” that has “warped our culture’s perspective” and that of the church. It quotes Leon Kass–always a good … Read More
