Transvision 2003 Panel 

Sunday June 29, 2003    

10:45-12:15pm

Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 62 High St., New Haven CT

Transhumanism vs. Humanism

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.

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.

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.