Transvision
2003 Panel
SUNDAY June 29, 2003
9am-10:30am
Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 62
High St., New Haven CT
Governing Transhuman Technologies
William
Edmundson Ph.D., J.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.
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.
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.
Jose 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.
