From: Hughes, James (james.hughes@trincoll.edu)
Date: Fri Apr 11 2003 - 10:39:09 MDT
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Presentations Scheduled for Transvision 2003 USA
"The Adaptable Human Body: Transhumanism and Bioethics in the 21st Century"
June 27-29, 2003
Yale University
New Haven, CT
-------------------------
Pre-register at: http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/
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Linda MacDonald Glenn LLM
Institute for Ethics, American Medical Association
"The Future Boundaries of Personhood: Evolving Technological, Legal, and
Ethical Definitions"
As barriers between the species and man/machine begin to blur and blend, how
will these affect legal and ethical notions of "personhood"?
Linda MacDonald Glenn, LLM is currently a senior fellow at the Institute for
Ethics at the American Medical Association. Her thesis was entitled,
"Biotechnology At The Margins of Personhood: An Evolving Legal Paradigm."
Prior to returning to an academic setting, she consulted and practiced as a
trial attorney with an emphasis in patient advocacy, bioethical and
biotechnology issues, end of life decision-making, reproductive rights,
genetics, parental/biological "nature vs. nurture", and animal rights
issues. She was the lead attorney in several "cutting edge" bioethics legal
cases, including Gray v. Romeo (697 F.Supp. 580, District of Rhode Island,
1988). She has advised governmental leaders and agencies, published numerous
articles in professional journals, and has a book chapter in Nursing
Malpractice: Sidestepping Legal Minefields (Lippincott, Williams, and
Wilkins Publishers, 2002.). She has taught at the University of Vermont
School of Nursing and the Community College of Vermont, and addressed public
and professional groups internationally. Her extensive experience and
passion for the issues facing the legal and medical professions make her a
compelling and thought-provoking lecturer. Her current research areas
encompass End-of-Life Care and evolving notions of personhood.
------------------
Mark Walker Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
Trinity College, Univ. of Toronto
"Offensive Transhumanist Ethics"
Transhumanists often defend their ethical position "defensively" in terms of
rights, e.g., it is sometimes claimed that we have the right to modify our
bodies as we see fit. I argue that this concedes far too much to our
opponents, and seriously underestimates the promise of transhumanism. I
offer a more "offensive" view: we have a duty to employ technology for the
purpose of improving ourselves.
Dr. Walker is the Editor of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, and a
research fellow of the Department of Philosophy of Trinity College,
University of Toronto.
------------------
Nick Bostrom Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy, Harris Manchester College
Oxford University
"Our Human and Posthuman Dignity"
Opponents of transhumanism sometimes appeal to the idea of human dignity as
a ground for resisting proposals to use technology to modify human nature.
Genetic engineering, life-extension technology, psychopharmacology, and
anticipated future technologies such as nanomedicine and artificial
intelligence, are seen as threatening to undermine our human dignity. I
argue that these objections to human enhancement rest on a narrow and
misguided understanding of what human dignity is. Technology has already
changed humanity profoundly. Our lives, concerns, abilities, thoughts,
beliefs, and activities are vastly different from those of our
"technologically naked" ancestors of a hundred thousand years ago. In this
sense, we are already transhumans. Yet these developments have not made us
less human. Rather, the use of technology to expand our human capacities and
to develop ourselves in accordance with our ideals can be seen as a central
aspect of our humanity. Furthermore, it would be naive to suppose that we
have reached the endpoint of this long process of human self-transformation.
It is much more likely, provided a species-destroying catastrophe is
avoided, that we will one day in a not so distant future use technology to
make ourselves posthumans beings with much longer lifespan, and vastly
greater intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities than any
currant human. This transhumanist perspective, I argue, suggests a different
idea of human dignity and a family of ethical principles to go with it. We
need to expand our concept of dignity to encompass also posthuman dignity,
and we need to apply this broader concept when evaluating possible
directions of current technological developments.
Dr. Bostrom founded the World Transhumanist Association, and is one of
principal expositors of transhumanist philosophy. He is author of Anthropic
Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy. Dr. Bostrom
is currently a research fellow in the Department of Philosophy at Oxford
University.
------------------
Mike Treder
President
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology
"Meeting the Challenge: Safe Utilization of Advanced Nanotechnology"
One of the postulated results of advanced nanotechnology is molecular
manufacturing. If achieved, this could result in a world filled with
billions of desktop-size nanofactories that manufacture almost anything in
just a few hours. The first step in building a nanofactory is building an
assembler. Once a basic assembler has been completed, it can begin the job
of constructing a nanofactory. The blueprint will already be in place.
Common wisdom says that progress from today's nanotechnology to an assembler
to a nanofactory will be very slow. However, research by CRN suggests that
the span of time from first assembler to first nanofactory could be measured
in weeks. Nanofactories can then begin making products, including other
nanofactories. The combination of rapid prototyping and simple CAD programs
for product design will enable unprecedented levels of innovation and
development. Resulting economic, environmental, and social changes worldwide
could be extremely disruptive. The price for safe introduction of
nanofactory technology is thorough, conscientious preparation.
Mike Treder is a business professional with a background in technology and
communications company management. A native of California, Treder attended
the University of Washington in Seattle, majoring in Biology. He currently
lives in Brooklyn, New York. Within his adult life, Treder has been a
husband, a father, a truck driver, a teacher, a salesman, a radio station
manager, a website developer, an actor, and a vocational counselor for
parolees. In recent years, he has become an active and well-known figure in
the transhumanist movement. Treder serves on the Boards of Directors of the
Human Futures Institute and the World Transhumanist Association, and is a
member of the Executive Advisory Team for the Extropy Institute. He is
Executive Director of the New York Transhumanist Association, developer of
the Incipient Posthuman website, and is listed as a "Big Thinker" on
KurzweilAI.net. In 2002, Treder co-founded the Center for Responsible
Nanotechnology (CRN) with Chris Phoenix. CRN is a non-profit organization
working to raise awareness of the issues presented by advanced
nanotechnology: the benefits and dangers, and the possibilities for
responsible use. Treder is Executive Director of CRN.
------------------
Austin Dacey Ph.D.
Philo
Center for Inquiry
"Is there 'human nature' after 'nature-nurture'? A developmental systems
approach"
Many biological theorists seek to replace the problematic "nature-nurture"
dichotomy with the concept of a "developmental system": the set of all
reliably occurring structures (genetic, cellular, ecological, etc.) that
contribute to ontogeny. I explore some implications of developmental systems
theory for traditional notions of human nature, in light of transhumanist
concerns.
Dr. Austin Dacey works for the Center for Inquiry, a think tank based near
SUNY-Buffalo, where he is a visiting research professor of philosophy. He
serves as director of educational programs and executive editor of Philo, a
journal of philosophy. His writing has published in Free Inquiry, Skeptical
Inquirer, Journal of Value Inquiry, and elsewhere. He is co-author (with
Lewis Vaughn) of The case for humanism: An introduction (Rowman &
Littlefield, 2003). He lives in New York City.
------------------
Gregory Stock Ph.D.
Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society
UCLA
"Should Humans Accept or Reject the Genetic Path to the Post-Human? Accept"
(A Debate with George Annas)
Gregory Stock has explored the larger evolutionary significance of
humanity's recent technological progress for many years, and examined the
subject at length in his 1993 book, Metaman: The Merging of Humans and
Machines into a Global Superorganism.
------------------
Natasha Vita-More
President
Extropy Institute
"Primo (3M+) Posthuman"
Engineering a new human body genre will happen, but not in one fall swoop.
This new genre, "Primo (3M+) Posthuman," will occur sequentially by
replacing the human body bit by bit. Despite the fact that "Primo" is a huge
undertaking, the sequential process is already taking place. From electronic
prosthetics and cochlear implants to neurological pharmaceuticals, we are
replacing the human form, its skeletal system and the brain, with innovative
technologies that will improve the vulnerability of the body and mental
processes. Engineering programmable blood, respiratory and digestive
systems, and building a human-like frame comprised of nanobots, are just a
few of the possibilities. Our emotions, the guidepost for our human
evolution, will undergo successive upgrades for enhanced interactive sensory
experiences with other transhumans and nonbiological machine intelligence.
Natasha Vita More is an artist, author, bodybuilder, and advocate of
Transhumanist Art.
------------------
Jason Scott Robert Ph.D.
and Francoise Baylis Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
Dalhousie University
"Confusion about crossing species boundaries: Scientific, ethical, and
social aspects of chimaera making in stem cell biology"
The creation of novel beings from the genetic and cellular material of
humans and creatures of other species tends to inspire moral unrest. But why
should it? We survey the scientific justification for the creation of one
sort of novel being (the human-to-animal chimaera), and critically assess
ethical objections to such research.
Dr Jason Scott Robert is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie
University, and holds a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research. Robert is a philosopher of biology with interests in
bioethics. His first book, Embryology, Epigenesis, and Evolution: Taking
Development Seriously, is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.
Dr Francoise Baylis is Professor in the Departments of Bioethics and
Philosophy at Dalhousie University. Her current research involves social and
ethical aspects of novel biotechnologies, and she has published widely in
this area. Robert and Baylis have co-authored three forthcoming articles (on
genetic enhancement, the creation of chimaeras, and germ-line genetic
engineering), are both investigators in the Stem Cell Network (a member of
the Networks of Centres of Excellence program), and are co-founders of the
Novel Genetic Technologies Research Team at Dalhousie.
--------------------------
William Edmundson Ph.D.
Depts of Law and Philosophy
Georgia State University
"Posterity and Embodiment"
Our duties to posterity raise questions about human nature, embodiment, and
the identity of our kind over time. What is the right time-horizon to
consider? Is consciousness essential to anything that should count as a
human continuer? Is laissez-faire or dirigisme the better approach to
prolonging our kind?
William A. Edmundson is Professor of Law and of Philosophy at Georgia State
University, in Atlanta. He is author of Three Anarchical Fallacies and An
Introduction to Rights, published by Cambridge University Press.
--------------------------
Alice Dreger Ph.D.
Center for Ethics & Hums in the Life Scis
Michigan State University
"The Once and Future Freak: What the History of the Medical and Social
Treatment of People with Unusual Anatomies Might Tell Us about the Future of
Transhumanism"
This presentation explores the history of the medical and social treatment
of people with unusual (and typically threatening) anatomies with an eye
towards predicting likely medical and "mainstream" popular responses to
transhumanism.
Alice Dreger, Ph.D., is a historian of anatomy whose titles include
Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Michigan State
University and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Intersex Society of
North America, an international non-profit advocacy group that seeks to
build a world free of shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for
people born with atypical sex anatomies. Her books include Hermaphrodites
and the Medical Invention of Sex (Harvard, 1998) and One of Us: How
Conjoined Twins Unite Us All (Harvard, forthcoming). Her essays on science,
medicine, and life have appeared in the New York Times.
--------------------------
Andrew Ward Ph.D., M.P.H.
and Paul Baker Ph.D.
Philosophy, Science and Technology Program
Georgia Tech
"Strategies for Workplace Disability Integration: a New Model of Universal
Access"
Current strategies for workplace accommodation either make use of
specialized assistive technologies or, more recently, environments designed
to permit "universal" access and use. Both strategies have serious
limitations. A more robust strategy expands design considerations from the
external environment to a reconfiguration of the users of and within that
environment.
Andrew Ward is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at
Georgia Institute of Technology, the Director of the "Policy Initiatives to
Support Workplace Accommodations" portion of the RERC on Workplace
Accommodations, the Director of the Georgia Tech's "Philosophy, Science and
Technology Program", and a faculty member of Georgia Tech's Cognitive
Science Program. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Ward was a faculty member
at schools such as the University of Minnesota and San José State
University, and was a Research Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies
of the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Paul M.A. Baker is Associate Director of Policy Research, Georgia Centers
for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT), a Project Director for
the Policy Research Initiative of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research
Center on Mobile Wireless Technologies for Persons with Disabilities
(Wireless RERC); and a Project Director on the Workplace Accommodations
RERC. His research is in the area of information and communication
technology policy and the use of technology in the public sector. He is also
an adjunct Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Tech; and
an Affiliate Professor with the School of Public Policy, George Mason
University.
---------------------------
Barbara Gibson MS, PT
Dept. of Phys. Therapy, U. of Toronto
"Identity Experiments: The Connectivity of Disability"
Through a discussion of disability experience and the intimate connections
between humans, technologies and the environment, this presentation will
draw on the work of Deleuze and Guattari to explore the fluid and
contestable boundaries of human identity.
Barbara Gibson is a physical therapist and lecturer in bioethics in the
Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. She completed
her Masters of Science in the Collaborative Program in Bioethics at the
University of Toronto where she explored physicians' attitudes and practices
towards long-term ventilation for young men with muscular dystrophy.
Currently she is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research PhD fellow in
Health Care, Technology and Place at the University of Toronto, where she is
conducting an ethnographic study of young men with disabilities who use
ventilators.
---------------------------
Craig DeLancey Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
SUNY Oswego
"Systematic Biocentric Axiology: Environmental Ethics as a Foundation for
Transhuman Ethics"
Many ethical traditions assume that humans have moral value because they are
human. The possibility of transhumans challenged this approach, since such
individuals could lack features that traditional humans share, and could
thus be deemed not deserving.
Craig DeLancey is assistant professor of philosophy at the State University
of New York at Oswego. He holds a joint Ph.D. in cognitive science and
philosophy, and an M.S. in computer science. He works on issues in the
theory of mind and environmental ethics, and his publications include
_Passionate Engines: What Emotions Reveal about Mind and Artificial
Intelligence_ (Oxford University Press, 2002). He has also worked as a
business consultant for issues of finance and sustainable development.
---------------------------
David Calverley J.D.
"Imagining an Artificial Intelligence as a Legal Entity"
AI, even before they come into existence, will tax the current legal systems
and its concept of rights. This paper examines some of the possible areas
where problems may arise and begins to set out a framework for the debate
which will come in the future.
David Calverley is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law. For
more than twenty five years he has practiced law in the private sector.
---------------------------
David Donnelly Ph.D.
School of Communications
Quinnipiac University
"The Ethics of Forecasting: A Look at Current Visions of the Future Human
Race"
This presentation will examine the technological and social forecasts
surrounding developments in the areas of biotechnology and transhumanism.
The utilization of such forecasts in public discourse and the formulation of
public policy will be discussed in conjunction with a consideration of the
ethical responsibility of the forecaster.
Dr. David F. Donnelly is the Associate Dean of the School of Communications
at Quinnipiac University. He is the creator of online Media Futures
Archives, and the web-based educational site Media Ethicopoly. His
research areas include the social and cultural impact of technology, the
process of technological innovation, and communication policy and new
media. He has contributed to seven books and numerous scholarly and popular
press publications. He received his MA. and Ph.D. from the University of
Massachusetts in Communication, and his BA in Radio-Television- Film from
the University of Maryland.
---------------------------
David Wasserman Ph.D.
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy
University of Maryland
"Human Variation and Fairness in Sports and Games"
This panel will examine the significance of variations in human functioning
for the fairness of athletic competition and for the various purposes that
sports serve.
David Wasserman is a research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and
Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He currently works on ethical
and policy issues in genetic research and technology, assisted reproduction,
health care, and disability.
---------------------------
Dorothy Wertz Ph.D.
American Society for Law, Medicine & Ethics
"Controversial Choices after Prenatal Diagnosis: Has Autonomy Gone Too Far?"
Growing respect for individual autonomy in Western nations, combined with
controversial requests for prenatal diagnosis (e.g., sex selection) do
not provide evidence of a trend toward "perfect babies," according to a
survey of 2906 genetics professionals in 36 nations and 1463 genetics
patients in the US, Germany, and France.
"Twenty-one Arguments Against Human Cloning, and Their Responses"
Using a consequentialist (utilitarian) approach, this paper examines each of
21 arguments commonly given against human reproductive cloning, including
effects on the individual, family, society, sexual reproduction, and the
moral order. It concludes that the only valid argument against cloning is
safety.
Dorothy C. Wertz is Research Professor of Psychiatry , University of
Massachusetts Medical School, Shriver Division, in Waltham, MA., and Senior
Scientist at the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics in Boston,
MA. She has authored over 150 articles and book chapters on ethics,
genetics, and reproduction. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard in the Study
of Religion, and taught sociology and anthropology for 18 years. Her
books include Genetics and Ethics in Global Perspective (forthcoming),
Lying In: A History of Childbirth in America, 1989, and Ethics and Human
Genetics: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (1989). She is an expert advisor
to WHO, a member of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Ethics Committee,
Chair of the New England Regional Genetics Group Ethics Committee, founder
of Geneletter, an online educational resource, and a contributor to Genedit
at the University of Montreal's HumGen website. She has received a 3-year
grant from NIH to study "DNA Fingerprinting and Civil Liberties".
---------------------------
Evelyne Shuster Ph.D.
Philosophy in Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
"To Live Forever: A Blessing or a Curse?"
The religious cult, the Raelian, has pledged to achieve eternal life on
earth using cloning techniques. To live forever is a philosophical theme
more real today than it was 450 years ago when Descartes made it famous. Is
living forever likely to be a blessing or a curse for posthumans?
Evelyne Shuster is a medical ethicist, founder (and first chair) of the
Ethics Committee at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She
also holds a faculty position as adjunct associate professor of philosophy
in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.
---------------------------
George Annas J.D.
Health Law Program
Boston University
"Should Humans Accept or Reject the Genetic Path to the Post-Human? (Debate
with Greg Stock): Reject"
George J. Annas is the Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law, Chairman of
Health Law Department at the Boston University School of Public Health. He
holds a degree in law from Harvard Law School and an M.P.H. from the Harvard
School of Public Health. He is a widely published national expert in the
field of law and medicine, whose books include The Rights of Patients and
Some Choice: Law, Medicine and the Market. Professor Annas is the cofounder
of Global Lawyers & Physicians and the Patients Rights Project. Professor
Annas has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nightline, Frontline, Today, and Good
Morning America as well as the nightly news programs of NBC, ABC, CBS, and
Fox. For five years, he was the director of the Boston University School of
Law's Center for Law and Health Sciences. Professor Annas teaches bioethics.
---------------------------
Iain McKenna
Dept. of Philosophy
Concordia Univ.
"Transhuman Identity: Distentio Animi"
If technological advances manage to alter the brain, then we will have to
rethink the intentional structures of action, speech and the very notion of
identity. I will examine ways in which we might approach the question
"who?" with respect to Transhuman identities.
Iain McKenna worked in the high-tech industry for twelve years and currently
is studying Philosophy at Concordia University.
------------------------------------------------
John Davis J.D., Ph.D. Medical Humanities
Brody School of Medicine
"Methuselah's Children: Life-Extension and Fears of Collective Harm"
There is little merit to Malthusian objections to life-extension, for
denying life-extension to those who wish it is tantamount to sentencing
everyone to a needlessly early death in order to preserve a standard of
living which not everyone values more highly than longer life.
John K. Davis is assistant professor of medical humanities at the Brody
School of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of
Washington, and his J.D. at the New York University School of Law. Besides
life extension ethics, his research interests include the right to control
one's future self in medical and other contexts, reproductive technology and
theory of beneficence, and moral reasoning.
------------------------------------------------
John Alan Cohan J.D.
Law Offices of John Alan Cohan
"The Question of Self-Identity and Brain Transplants"
Until recently, the concept of human brain transplantation was considered to
be the realm of science fiction. The body for transplantation would be a
decedent who had been declared brain dead but whose other vital organs were
extant. Is the real person
John Alan Cohan is an attorney in California.
------------------------------------------------
Kenneth Sills
Co-Director
Immortality Institute
"Why Immortality?"
With average human lifespans nearly doubling in the past century, one might
think the question of immortality had been answered by now. Yet, we're still
grappling with this seemingly simple, exceedingly thorny issue. Scientist
fear to tread near the topic for fear of cook labels and religious
retribution. Irregardless, a small group of visionaries have willingly
placed their credentials on the line. This paper will attempt to help these
scientist and leaders by providing some answers to the question - why
immortality?
Sills, also known as Lazarus Long on the ImmInst forums, is a long time
advocate for the possibility of physical immortality. A designer and
researcher, he is a bi-lingual, multi-cultural expert educator. with special
insight when it comes to physical immortality related issues. Sills is
interested in participating in scientific and philosophical discussions in
all the areas between anatomy and zoology including immortality. Look for
his crafty wit and insightful posting on the forums as he'll be happy to
answer questions.
---------------------------------------------
Lanfranco Aceti
Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design
"Prosthesis' Digital Aesthetic: The Integrated Technology of Human
Extensions"
The concepts of endotechnology and esotechnology, as described by
Baudrillard and Virilio, represent the transhuman body as an incongruous
cybernetic metastasis. But what if the categories used by these authors to
describe the cyber body are incongruous and imprecise?
Lanfranco Aceti's research focuses on the avant-garde in fine art and
digital media. In his research endeavor he has analyzed how technology and
cross platform media are expressions of cutting edge creativity. He is
working on a theoretical structure for evolutionary media, which remodels
the philosophical and aesthetic approach to the human body. The human body,
therefore, is a medium: the world is not externalized but internalized. In
this context, cybernetic is an aesthetic tool which will redesign humans
according to new digital perceptions.
----------------------------
Mark Gubrud Ph.D.
Research Associate,
Center for Superconductivity Research
"A Humanist Response to Transhumanism"
It is irrational and immoral for humans to subordinate humanity to any
"higher purpose" or view any nonhuman form as a desirable replacement for
our species. Describing the transfer of our species' "identity" to another
species, or of our individual selves to other bodies, requires the
invocation of supernatural entities.
Mark Avrum Gubrud is a physicist, writer and social activist. His Ph.D.
dissertation, completed in early 2003, is on superconducting devices for
quantum computing. He has worked in political and antiwar campaigns and in
arms control research. He is the author of a seminal analysis of the
effects of advanced nanotechnology on military stability, and other essays
on technology, war and peace, and the human future.
----------------------------
Patrick Hopkins Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
Millsaps College
"Barbie Bodies, Bacon Bodies, Plato Bodies, Nietzsche Bodies: Differing
Visions of How Biotechnology Should Be Used to Transform Human Bodies"
Very different philosophies underlie the desire to transform bodies. I
examine four-the Barbie approach (reforming bodies into superficial human
ideals); the Bacon approach (staying human but getting rid of disease); the
Plato approach (abandoning body for a transhuman existence); and the
Nietzsche approach (augmenting bodies for superhuman existence).
Patrick D. Hopkins teaches philosophy and science and technology studies at
Millsaps College in Mississippi. He is the author of numerous articles on
bioethics, technology studies, and gender studies. He is editor of
Sex/Machine: Readings in Culture, Gender, and Technology (Indiana
University Press, 1999).
---------------------------------
Stuart Hameroff M.D.
Center for Consciousness Studies
University of Arizona
"Artificial quantum consciousness: Is it possible, what would it look like,
how would it feel?"
Quantum models imply that consciousness occurs at the fundamental level of
the universe, connected to the brain via quantum computations within
neurons. Artificial consciousness based on specific types of quantum
computers (e.g. fullerene technology) may be possible, and lead to
posthumous consciousness extension and a scientific basis for spirituality.
Stuart Hameroff M.D. is Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology and
Psychology, and Associate Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies
at the University of Arizona in Tucson. A clinical anesthesiologist and
editor/author of 5 books and numerous papers on the problem of
consciousness, Hameroff has teamed with British mathematical physicist Sir
Roger Penrose to develop a specific theory of consciousness (Orchestrated
objective reduction: "Orch OR") based on quantum computation in
"microtubules" within neurons. The Orch OR model links the brain to
fundamental proto-consciousness and Platonic values embedded at the most
basic level of the universe. Hameroff's work can be found at
www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff
---------------------------------------
Susantha Goonatilake Ph.D.
Center for Studies of Social Change
New School for Social Research
"Body, self and environment as constructed and reconstructed: Insights from
Buddhist philosophy for the ethics of the future transhuman and posthuman"
When we are constructed and reconstructed, from new developments in
biotechnology and information technology as say clone or robot or admixtures
of both, deep questions are raised that challenge existing ethical systems.
Dominant Western ethical systems are derived from Christianity, Judaism or
Islam (the latter included as part of the larger Western "Abrahamaic" family
of religions); the ethical system being "revealed" and to be "God's word".
New developments from abortion, to cloning and in the future, artificial
genes and artificial chromosomes challenge some of these ethical
assumptions. Recent approaches to the living world and the environment have
utilized cultural elements from major non-Western philosophies as well as
those of simpler belief systems. A major cultural approach that has change
as its core is Buddhist philosophy. Some core Buddhist approaches have
direct relevance to a future where both the human and his/her environment is
constructed and reconstructed. The paper describes the central Buddhist
position on both the human person, including his body and mind, as well as
the environment he operates in, as not given or sacred but constructed and
changing. The paper suggests that an orientation from this core Buddhist
perspective of continuous change, no permanent self and both human and
nature as constructed would fit better as a cultural orientation to examine
and live in a future world under continuous change and where man and nature
are continuously reinvented and reconstructed. It also suggests that
Buddhist ethics derived from such a perspective (which unlike the revealed
religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is not absolute but contingent
and situational) may better fit as a means of navigating the coming
interconnected world of the clone, the robot and the cyborg. The paper
describes what such an ethical perspective could be and its implications for
a transhuman and posthuman society.
Susantha Goonatilake teaches at the New School of Social Research, and is
author of Merged Evolution: the Long Term Implications of Information
Technology and Biotechnology and Evolution of Information: Lineages in
Genes, Culture and Artefact.
-------------------------------------------------
Twyla Gibson
McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology
University of Toronto
"Philosophical Foundations and Methodological Framework for a Transhumanist
Bioethics"
This study considers the moral choices and ethical dilemmas raised by the
use of technology to augment the human body. It presents the philosophical
foundations and methodological framework for a transhumanist bioethics that
is grounded in the Platonic definitions. The study offers this definitional
framework as a basis for establishing a dialogue among transhumanists,
bioethicists, anti-technology activists, and critical social theorists of
science and technology. Emphasis is placed on understanding how the
definitions can be mutually accessed and applied to the core of identified
problems and to an expanding range of issues.
Twyla Gibson is a senior postdoctoral fellow at the McLuhan Program in
Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. She is concurrently
pursuing postdoctoral work on the history of ideas at the University of
Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Toronto,
where she also earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in philosophy, religious
studies, and education. Gibson is an award winning writer with numerous
credits in film, television, and print media. She recently developed a
bioethical framework for dealing with privacy issues stemming from genetic
information for a study commissioned by the Canadian Biotechnology
Secretariate. She has also been a researcher and conference organizer for
topics related to the future of Canada's health care system for U of T's
department of philosophy and Center for Bioethics. As senior research
associate for Vocational Rehabilitation Associates and Robert D. Katz
(Canada's leading expert witness on issues of employment and employability)
she prepared over 200 legal briefs aimed at defending the rights of disabled
workers in the Canadian law courts.
-------------------------------------------------
Wendell Wallach
WW Associates
"Robot Morals: Creating an Artificial Moral Agent (AMA)"
With the advent of increasingly autonomous software agents and robotic
systems, developing artificial agents capable of making moral decisions
becomes a necessity. The engineering issues entailed in creating an AMA
offer a unique perspective on ethics and practical decision-making in both
humans and machines.
Wendell Wallach founded and managed two computer consulting companies. Among
his clients were PepsiCo International, the State of Connecticut, and
educational
institutions in the Northeast. He is presently working on two books, one
on Robot Morals and the other on ethics and human decision-making in the
Information Age.
--------------------------------------------
William Grey Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
University of Queensland
"Design constraints for the Posthuman Future"
This paper examines the force of objections to germline engineering based on
the principle that we ought not place individuals at significant risk
without their consent.
Dr William Grey is a graduate of Cambridge University, and was appointed to
the Department of Philosophy at the University of Queensland in 1994. He has
been involved with the development and teaching of ethics courses across the
curriculum. He is current
-----------------------------------------------
Wrye Sententia
Co-Director
Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics
"The Case for Cognitive Liberty"
Wrye Sententia is co- Director of the Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics
(CCLE). As director of the CCLE, she oversees projects that aim to focus
public attention on cognitive technologies in relation to individual rights
of mind, as well as neuroethical concerns about trends in
psycho-pharmacology & related neuroscience fields.
---------------------------------------------
Greg Pence Ph.D.
Philosophy & School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham
"Why Not Re-Invent Humans? Is This The Best We Can Do?"
Greg Pence, author of Who's Afraid of Human Cloning? and Designer Food:
Mutant Harvest or Breadbasket of the World?.
-----------------------------------------------
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Research Associate
Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
"Posthumanity: A Nice Place To Live?"
We spend so much of our time around other humans, we forget to ask what
other possibilities might exist. Step outside the human space and take a
look around. Transhumanists know that changes can sometimes be for the
better. Let's examine some really big changes.
Eliezer Yudkowsky serves on the Board of Directors of the Singularity
Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the World Transhumanist
Association. His publications include "Levels of Organization in General
Intelligence" and "Creating Friendly AI."
--------------------------------------------
Hatuna Pokrovskaia
NYU Colleges Against Cancer
New York Transhumanist Association
"Ecce Trans-Homo: The Progression of Ethics in the Technological Revolution"
An interdisciplinary approach to Transhumanism, focusing mainly on the
adaptability of the biological human to the technological human.
Ms. Pokrovskaia is currently an undergraduate student in my sophomore year
at New York University. I am pursuing a pre-medical track and a major in
Psychology/Neuroscience.
-----------------------------------------------
James Hughes Ph.D.
Public Policy Studies
Trinity College
"Transhumanist Bioethics: An Overview"
A summary of the emergence of transhumanism as a bioethics viewpoint, and
its principal arguments.
James Hughes teaches health policy at Trinity College in Hartford
Connecticut, and serves as Secretary of the World Transhumanist Association,
a nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the use of technology to
transcend the limitations of the human body. His weekly radio program,
Changesurfer Radio, can be heard in streaming MP3. You can reach him at
jhughes@changesurfer.com.
------------------------------------------------
Jose Cordeiro
President
Sociedad Mundial del Futuro Venezuela
"The Global Geopolitics towards Transhumanism and Beyond"
According to the UN, the average European cow receives more in subsidies
than an African farmer earns to feed his or her family. This is a terrible
situation that makes progress toward transhumanist ideas difficult in the
current world context. Will humanity survive its present dilemmas up to the
point in which transhumanity becomes a reality? A quick review of world
development with a millennial perspective serves of introduction to what
might happen in the next few decades. Demographic, economic and scientific
forecasts will also be presented, taking into consideration the current
accelerating trends. Technological change is incorporated into the analysis,
from the printing machine to biotechnology. A view from the developing world
is a fundamental part of this global picture if the whole of humanity is
going to make it to some sort of "singularity" threshold. Major countries
like China and India, the former with biotechnology and the second with
computer science, for example, are making impressive advances in new fields
that will be fundamental in the future. Even small countries like Singapore
or Costa Rica are ahead in some areas of the scientific race for a better
world. For better or for worse, the weight of strong or weak States, large
or small countries, rich or poor nations should not be underestimated. The
risks of overlooking these geopolitical factors open the frightening
possibility of another Hitler, Stalin or Osama Bin Laden. Transhumanity can
only become an utopia if we avoid dystopian global scenarios.
José Luis Cordeiro is a Venezuelan citizen with a B.Sc. (1983) and M.Sc.
(1984) in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, with a minor in languages
(Spanish, French and German). He later obtained an economics degree from
Georgetown University (1989) and an MBA (1991) from the European Business
School (INSEAD) in France. He did his masters thesis on dynamics behavior of
the NASA "Freedom" Space Station and worked as an engineer for UNIDO in
Vienna, and then for Schlumberger in many oil countries around the world. He
is director of the Club of Rome (Venezuela Chapter) and president of the
World Future Society Venezuela. He has written eight books, mostly about the
future of Latin America.
-----------------------------------------
Rafal Smigrodski M.D., Ph.D. Department of Neurology
University of Virginia
"Emerging Life Extension Therapies"
I will present an overview of life extension, with practical advice for
today, subjects to follow in the near future, and some dreams worth paying
attention to. Life extension, one patient at a time, has been the goal of
medicine since its very beginning but for the most part, only persons with
identifiable pathological conditions could hope to benefit from therapy. In
the last few decades, however, a small mumber of pharmacological treatments
has been developed, which appear to prolong survival of healthy humans by
preventing many of the deadly conditions associated with aging, such as
stroke, or myocardial infarction. These drugs include statins, ACE
inhibitors, aspirin, as well as possibly some other compounds, and are
available today. For the near future, the progress in elucidating the cause
of aging gives us for the first time in history some hope of directly
influencing the rate of aging, perhaps by mitofection, caloric restriction,
and stem cell therapy. And, last but not least, there are even more daring
approaches on the far horizon, such as cryonics, and uploading, offering the
distant but so tempting vision of freedom from aging, the fulfilment an
age-old dream.
Dr. Smigrodski was born in 1965 in Poland. MD-PhD in human molecular
genetics at Heidelberg University, involved in the identification of genetic
causes of epilepsy. Postdoctoral work at University of Pittsburgh on brain
cortex development. Neurology residency at University of Pittburgh.
Presently a movement disorders fellow at the University of Virginia, working
on mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.
------------------------------------------
Ron Bailey
Science Editor
Reason Magazine
"Who's Afraid of PostHumanity? politics and ethics of genetically
engineering people"
Fear of posthumanity ranges across the political spectrum from Left to
Right. In fact, strange bedfellow alliances between the Left and Right have
formed as evidenced by joint op/eds by long time leftwing anti-biotech
activist Jeremy Rikfin and conservative Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.
My presentation will look at what these groups fear, and how they are
organizing to stop biotech progress. I will show that their fears are
exaggerated and/or misconceived. Biotech advances will tend to enhance
values like liberty and equality rather than threaten them.
Ron Bailey, the science and ecology correpsondent for the libertarian Reason
Magazine, and the editor of Earth Report 2000. Ron is currently writing a
book entitled, Liberation Biology: A TechnoPolitical Manifesto for the 21st
Century.
------------------------------------------------------
Ramez Naam CEO
President and CEO
Apex Nanotechnologies
"The Wired Brain"
Researchers in the burgeoning field of neural prosthetics have now used
electrodes implanted in the brain to restore sight to blind man, given
quadriplegics the ability to control a computer simply by thinking, and
more. Come learn about recent work and future directions in brain computer
interfaces.
Ramez Naam is CEO of Apex NanoTechnologies, a Computer Aided Molecular
Design software company. Prior to Apex he served as Lead Program Manager for
Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer. He is currently writing his book
More Than Human, an exploration of the technologies that may soon enhance
human beings and the ethics of their use.
-------------------------------------------
Munawar Anees Ph.D.
Editor-in Chief, Periodica Islamica
Knowledge Management Systems
"Transhumans and humans: Conflict or Convivencia?"
Extrapolating what we have learnt from the contemporary tensions arising out
of technological impact upon social and cultural structures, this
presentation is an attempt to speculate about the future of
social/technological interface. These speculations will largely be derived
from the religious culture and its role in resistance to technological
change.
Dr. Anees is a writer and a social critic. One of his books on bioethics,
Islam and Biological Futures, is considered a classic. Author of half a
dozen books and over 300 articles, he founded the world's premiere journal
of current awareness: Periodica Islamica. It has been recognized as "an
invaluable guide." An advisory editor of the Journal of Islamic Science, in
2000, he was selected as Religion Editor for the online encyclopedia,
Nupedia. He is a founding member of the International Society for Science
and Religion. An American citizen, he was nominated for the 2002 Nobel Peace
Prize.
---------------------------------------
Aubrey de Grey Ph.D.
Department of Genetics
University of Cambridge
"Foreseeable, radical life extension: the biology to inform the philosophy"
Anti-aging biotechnology is far closer than most biologists realise: in ten
years we should be able to treble the remaining healthy life expectancy of a
late-middle-aged mouse that has received no treatment before that age. I
will discuss the biology underlying this claim and its present-day
sociological and ethical implications.
Aubrey de Grey is a biogerontologist at the University of Cambridge, UK. He
designs interventions to reverse (not just retard) the cellular and
molecular changes that accumulate with age and reduce remaining life
expectancy (i.e., cause aging). He has coined the term "strategies for
engineered negligible senescence" (SENS) to describe these interventions,
which he has argued are the only feasible way to extend human lifespan by
more than a decade. He has published widely on such technology (see
http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/sens/AdGpubs.htm). He is holding a major conference
on such technologies in Cambridge, UK on September 19-23, 2003 (see
http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/iabg10/).
------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Zolli
President
Z + Partners
"Visions of the Future"
Andrew is a forecaster, design strategist and author, working at the
intersection of culture, creativity, technology, and futures research.
Andrew specializes in helping people and institutions see, understand and
act upon complex change. Most recently, Andrew was the editor of the Catalog
of Tomorrow, (QUE Publishing, 2002) which explores 100 trend and
technologies for the next 25 years. His next book, In Good Company, about
the complex relationship between brands and culture, will be published in
2003. Andrew is the former Chief Marketing Officer of one of the world's
leading brand consultancies, Siegelgale, where he helped develop new brands,
businesses, products and services for companies such as The Weather Channel,
Netscape, Kodak, American Express, AT&T, Toys R Us, Silicon Graphics,
Lucent, Hewlett Packard, Forrester Research, Sappi, T. Rowe Price, The
Industry Standard, and IBM, among many others. While at Siegelgale, Andrew
was also instrumental in creating the CRAVE Conference, a design event
exploring the nature of and craft of compelling design experiences. In the
mid-1990's, Andrew helped found the company's new media practice, and helped
envision and develop next-generation approaches to product development, user
experience, and communications. He also created and led the company's
research and development lab, which explored digital user experience and
interface design. Under his direction, the lab developed significant virtual
reality and graphics applications for the Web. Prior to this, in the early
1990's, Andrew participated as an academic researcher in core technology and
standards research and development that shaped the World Wide Web.
Andrew speaks and writes widely on the subjects of technology, design,
communications and long-term forecasting. He has spoken at conferences
around the world, including at The Design Management Institute, Internet
World, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, The Conference Board, the
American Center for Design, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Columbia,
the Federal Trade Commission, as well as for Fortune 500 and other
institutions. He has edited several books on new technology and his work,
ideas and writing have appeared in publications such as the New York Times,
Wired, I.D., The Industry Standard, Eye magazine, and National Public Radio.
Andrew is a past board member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts' New
York chapter. He has served as an advisor to TRUSTe, the leading Internet
privacy organization, to The Doctors' Company, a leading healthcare
insurance concern, and to the Arlington Institute, a leading futures
research firm. He has also served as a conference programming advisor to
CNET and the Seybold Seminars.
---------------------------------------------------
Miller Brown Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty
Trinity College
"Sports and Transhumanism"
W. Miller Brown, a philosophy professor and a highly respected member of the
Trinity College faculty since 1965, serves as the Dean of the Faculty. Brown
has lectured and written extensively in the areas of philosophy of science
and philosophy of sport. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of
Kent in Canterbury, England, and was a member of the Society of Fellows of
the University of Durham in Durham, England. He is active in the community,
having served as, among other things, a lecturer for the past 13 years in
Hartford's Classical Magnet Program. Prior to joining Trinity's faculty,
Brown was a teaching fellow at Harvard University (from 1963-1965) and a
lecturer in French at Boston University (from 1960-1963).
-----------------------------------------------
Anita Silvers Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy
San Francisco State University
"Human Variation and Fairness in Sports and Games"
Anita Silvers, Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University,
has published seven books, including Medicine and Social Justice (with
Rosamond Rhodes and Margaret Battin), Americans With Disabilities: Exploring
Implications of the Law for Individuals and Institutions (with Leslie
Francis), Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in
Bioethics and Public Policy (with David Wasserman and Mary Mahowald),
Sociobiology and Human Nature (with Michael Gregory). and The Recombinant
DNA Controversy (with Michael Gregory). She has written more than one
hundred book chapters and articles on ethics and bioethics, social
philosophy, aesthetics, law, feminism, and disability studies, In 2002,
Silvers co-directed (with Eva Kittay) an NEH Summer Seminar on "Justice,
Equality, and the Challenge of Disability". The California Faculty
Association honored her with its Equal Rights Award for her work in making
higher education more accessible to people with disabilities.
------------------
George Dvorsky
Toronto Transhumanist Association
"Reproductive Rights, Designer Babies, and the Consent of the Unborn"
State enforced limitations of human reproductive options in the 21st century
will need to be considered neugenic and dysgenic. Assisted reproductive
technologies and the advent of `designer babies' are a legitimate
reproductive option that will require monitoring and regulation. Parents
have the consent of the unborn to commit their genome to these changes, and
an ethical imperative to do so is forthcoming.
George Dvorsky is the Deputy Editor of Betterhumans and author of the
Transitory Human column. He is also a co-founder and the Vice-President of
the Toronto Transhumanist Association. Primarily concerned with the ethical
and sociological impacts of Transhumanism and future technologies, George
actively promotes informative, honest and open discussion for the purposes
of education. George writes and speaks on a wide range of topics, including
bioethics, futurism, science, technology and Transhumanism in general.
------------------
Michael Anissimov
Co-Director, Immortality Institute for Infinite Lifespans
"Accelerating Progress and the Potential Consequences of Smarter than Human
Intelligence"
According to a growing group of prominent futurists and academics,
exponentially accelerating trends in nano-, cognitive, and computer sciences
will create a technological environment conducive to the creation of
genuinely smarter than human intelligence by the middle of this century.
This presentation will review the technologies currently moving in this
direction, state how these technologies might be applied to the creation of
transhuman intelligence, analyze the possible consequences of such an
advance, and suggest actions that transhumanists can take to raise the
probability of a positive outcome.
Born in 1984, Michael Anissimov is a co-director of the nonprofit
Immortality Institute for Infinite Lifespans, an organization devoted to
spreading information regarding the prospect of extending human lifespan
indefinitely through the fruits of science and technology. He also
volunteers for the nonprofit Singularity Institute for Artificial
Intelligence, an organization explicitly focused on creating self-improving
AI and ensuring its integrity. Michael is currently pursuing a degree in
Computer Science at the City College of San Francisco.
------------------
Anatoly Nichvoloda
Associate, Internatura Think Tank
"System Completion Theory: from Local to Global Consciousness-Humans, AI and
Beyond"
System Completion Theory describes evolution and role of Human Consciousness
and conscious AI systems in the context of evolution of the Universe by
identifying them as a Converging (local) Consciousness en route to Diverging
(global) Consciousness.
Anatoly Nichvoloda received his Master's degrees in Journalism and
Philosophy with minor in Psychology from Dnepropetrovsk State University,
Ukraine in 1996. Anatoly Nichvoloda received his Bachelor's Degree in
Marketing/Advertising from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in 2000. In
1998 he joined "Internatura" think tank under the auspices of St. Petersburg
State University, Russia. The goals of this organization include development
of the systematic description of our reality and role of Human Consciousness
in it. Anatoly developed System Completion Theory coauthoring it with
professor Victor Tolkachev. This theory lays out the structure of Human
Consciousness, its role and function in the Universe. Theory suggests that
main organizational and functioning principles of Human Consciousness will
serve as the foundation for future AI systems. Anatoly Nichvoloda is
currently a PhD student and a contributing writer/speaker to "Internatura"
think tank. In December 2002 Anatoly joined New York Transhumanism
Association and has been an active participant and a presenter.
--------------------------
Simon Smith
Founder, Editor-in-Chief
Betterhumans
"Mainstreaming Offensive: Making Transhumanism the Next Big Thing"
Some propose that Transhumanism is inherently offensive to most
sensibilities and that it could never become a mainstream movement without
weakening what makes it valuable and unique. This presentation argues that
Transhumanism can become the Next Big Thing.
Simon Smith is founder and editor-in-chief of Betterhumans.
------------------
Benjamin Hyink
TransCentral, Chicago Transhumanist Association
"Organizing Campus Transhumanist Groups and an International Facilitation
Network"
This proposal to create an international facilitation network for the
organization of campus transhumanist groups finds its justification in the
need to continually engage young generations in transhumanist dialog in
order to undo the hegemony of the bio-conservative political establishment,
to catalyze sympathetic students, and to educate communities of learning
about transhumanist issues and ideas. A number of options for implementation
of the network will be offered, as well as perspectives on key resources,
target cultures, specific v. broad groups, inclusive involvement, local
chapter support, advocacy, a rough timeline, and a wish list to which the
audience may add suggestions.
------------------
John Smart
President
Institute for Accelerating Change
"Development after De Chardin: The Accelerating Transhumanist Frontier"
Will accelerating change ever slow down? What cosmological, computational,
information theoretic, or systems theory interpretations have been proposed
for this phenomenon? We'll explore the latest literature and informed
speculations on these topics, and consider what increasingly autocatalytic
technological change might mean to transhumanists, futurists, and
singularity-unaware society in coming years.
John Smart is chairman of the Institute for Accelerating Change, a nonprofit
community of 1,200 academics, futurists, and lay scholars dedicated to
data-driven analysis, informed speculation, and agendas for action in the
understanding and management of accelerating change. He is organizing the
world's first conference on these fascinating topics, the Accelerating
Change Conference 2003, Sept. 12-14 at Stanford University. John has a B.S.
in Business from Berkeley and seven years of biological, cognitive, computer
and physical science at UCLA, Berkeley, and UC San Diego. He is currently
completing the M.S. in Future Studies at the University of Houston, and
writing his second book, Destiny of Species, on the coming technological
singularity.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Apr 12 2003 - 12:25:05 MDT