The fourth discussion of the NEW NOW program, “Transhumanism: Beyond the Human Frontier?”, took place on December 16.

Together with our guest experts, we tried to identify the latest technology that has either already become a reality or is currently in development, focusing on the ethical aspects of the consequences that ensue. We reflected on the question of whether the realization of transhumanist ideas is likely to entail a radical change in the ways people relate to one another. How far are we prepared to go in changing our bodies in order to attain these enhanced capacities? We will attempt to identify the “human frontier”, beyond which the era of posthumanism awaits.

Speakers:

James “J.” Hughes Ph.D. is a bioethicist and sociologist who serves as the Associate Provost for the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB), and as Senior Research Fellow at UMB’s Center for Applied Ethics. He holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago where he taught bioethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Since then Dr. Hughes has taught health policy, bioethics, medical sociology and research methods at Northwestern University, the University of Connecticut, and Trinity College.

Timothy Morton is Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University. They have collaborated with Laurie Anderson, Björk, Jennifer Walshe, Hrafnhildur Arnadottir, Sabrina Scott, Adam McKay, Jeff Bridges, Olafur Eliasson, Pharrell Williams and Justin Guariglia. Morton co-wrote and appears in Living in the Future’s Past, a 2018 film about global warming with Jeff Bridges. They are the author of the libretto for the opera Time Time Time by Jennifer Walshe.

Eric Schwitzgebel. Most of Professor Eric Schwitzgebel research explores connections between empirical psychology and philosophy of mind, especially the nature of belief, the inaccuracy of our judgments about our stream of conscious experience, and the tenuous relationship between philosophical ethics and actual moral behavior.

Transhumanists are redefining what it means to be human. This talk takes a deeper look at the movement and its implications for the future.
About this event.

From bionic eyes to designing new senses and extending life expectancy, transhumanists are redefining what it means to be human. This talk takes a deeper look at the movement and its implications for the future of humanity.

Transhumanism is the belief that human beings are destined to transcend their mortal flesh through technology. From bionic eyes to designing new senses and extending life expectancy, transhumanists are redefining what it means to be human.

The profiles of transhumans are as diverse as its application. From artists and CEOs to academics and bedroom hackers, the transhumanist movement raises some important questions for us all.

While we love the efficiency and connectivity technology provides, can we embrace a future where it goes beyond our environment and enters our bodies and minds? Could we reach a point where we gift friends and family cognitive implants and new senses? If we are able to defy death, what are the implications for the meaning of life? And, most importantly, will this evolution divide or unite us?

Biographies:

Video on prosthetic Esper hand.

New York-based engineering startup Esper Bionics has developed a flexible prosthetic mind-controlled hand that learns how to suggest the best grip faster than similar prosthetics.
Esper Bionics’ robotic arm is designed to be lighter and learn faster than many of the prosthetics currently available for amputees. The more the wearer uses the hand, the better and quicker it is to suggest the right grip.

Called Esper Hand, the arm uses an electromyography-based brain-computer interface (BCI) – a computer-based technology system that gathers brain signals and information from nerve stimulation of the muscle.

Over 30 sensors on the wearer’s forearm and shoulder skin pick up on this muscle activity or “electrical cues” and relay the information to trigger an action in the hand.

Read more on Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/?p=1768536

WATCH NEXT: Inflatable robotic hand gives amputees real time tactile control — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1d8i2lwuFw&feature=emb_imp_woyt.

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In a study recently published in Nature Materials, Prof. Wang Shutao from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Liu Huan from Beihang University revealed the secret of ultra-slow motion of pine cones and developed mimicking actuators enabling unperceivable motion.

Responsive actuators have attracted extensive attention by virtue of their great potential applications in flexible robotics, sensors, energy conversion and other fields. Pine cones are a well-known bionic model for constructing artificial actuators.

However, little attention has been paid to the fact that the hygroscopic motion of pine cones is an ultra-slow process. Hygroscopic deformation has long been attributed to the uneven hygroscopic expansion of vascular bundles (VBs) and sclereids, controlled by their different microfibril orientations. The mechanism cannot explain the observation that VBs themselves are capable of reversible hygroscopic motion. Therefore, the mechanism of ultra-slow motion in pine cones has long been unclear.

The micro-robots consist of a special kind of bacteria.

Scientists have conceived of a new way to deliver cancer-killing compounds, called enterotoxins, to tumors using bionic bacteria that are steered by a magnetic field, according to a report by Inverse.

“Cancer is such a complex disease, it’s hard to combat it with one weapon,” said Simone Schürle-Finke, a micro-roboticist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland, and one of the authors of the new study.

Wildpixel/iStock.

These bacteria function as “micro-robots” that can hunt down and rally around a specific tumor. They then release their own naturally produced anti-cancer chemicals and shrink the tumor.

A continuation of the enlightenment values that freed mankind of superstition.

Anders Sandberg discusses achieving a transhumanist utopia.

Watch more from Anders Sandberg at https://iai.tv/player#utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description.

From the objectives of the transhumanist movement, to actioning these objectives through science and to the importance of risk evaluation in dealing with modern technologies, Anders Sandberg delves into how we’re preparing for a transhumanist Utopia.

#AndersSandberg #Transhumanism #transhumanist.

Anders Sandberg is the James Martin Fellow at the Future of Humanity Insitute at Oxford University whose research centres on the ethical and social implications of future technologies and human enhancement.

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The Institute of Art and Ideas features videos and articles from cutting edge thinkers discussing the ideas that are shaping the world, from metaphysics to string theory, technology to democracy, aesthetics to genetics.

Nanotube-modified bacteria could produce electricity as living photovoltaic devices, say researchers.

From a Transhumanist Perspective.

For COVID-19 sufferers who have lost their sense of smell there is the promis of a future bionic nose.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University are building a neuroprosthetic to help those who lose their ability to smell.

Do we need a new criteria for death, that covers the technicalities around neuro preservation, issues of legal identity upon reanimation and an approach to rehabilitation? What are the misunderstandings or misinformation that surround transhumanism and endeavour to make the distinction between transhumanism and technocracy? Should we be worried about the wrong headedness of The Population Bomb, climate catastrophism and the fashionability of long termism?

Today, I speak with Max More. As some of you may already know, Max is considered to be the founder of modern transhumanism, a philosopher and futurist who writes extensively on technology and humanity. He’s also currently ambassador and President Emeritus at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, having served almost 10 years as President and CEO there, and having been its 67th member. His 1995 University of Southern California doctoral dissertation, ‘The diachronic self identity continuity and transformation’, examined several issues that concern transhumanists, including the nature of death. He is the Co-editor of Rhe Transhumanist Reader, and he’s written many articles on transhumanism and extropianism, including the 1990 essay, ‘Transhumanism: toward a futurist philosophy’, in which he introduced the term transhumanism, in its modern sense.

This episode of The Future of You covers: