News Index

NEWS OF THE
WORLD TRANSHUMANIST ASSOCIATION

May 28, 2003

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Editor in Chief: J. Hughes – jhughes@changesurfer.com
Managing Editor: Christopher Camp - CCamp@OMM.com

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WTA News is a monthly e-newsletter of the World 
Transhumanist Association, a non-profit organization
dedicated to the study of and advocacy for the use 
of technology to overcome the limitations of the 
human body.

To submit news about your chapter or affiliate, 
or about transhumanism in general, please send 
it to Managing Editor Christopher Camp <CCamp@OMM.com>.
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CONTENTS:

Events 

TRANSVISION June 27-29, 2003, New Haven CT USA

WTA News 

Volunteer Posts for TV03USA 

New Email List - WTA Politics

News from the Field US Congressional Hearings on Posthumanity

News from Affiliates and Friends 

Web Upgrade for Betterhumans 

Transhumanity Offers Self-Publishing

Things to Read and Watch 

New in Transhumanity 

New in Betterhumans 

Movies: Matrix Reloaded / X2

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EVENTS

TRANSVISION June 27-29, 2003 - New Haven, CT USA

"The Adaptable Human Body: Transhumanism and Bioethics in the 21st Century"

The premier Transhuman conference is next month and will feature some of the most interesting minds asking provocative questions and pushing forward the debate on the future of the body. An intensive one day seminar on Transhumanism will be held Thursday - with discussion to be led by Nick Bostrom, James Hughes, Natasha Vita- More, Robin Hanson and Robert Bradbury (joined by prominent bioethicists, such as Linda MacDonald and Adrienne Asch, and transhumanists, such as Anders Sandberg and William Sims Bainbridge.)

The conference will officially start on Friday with a debate between Greg Stock and George Annas on whether 'Humans should accept or reject the genetic path to the Post-Human?' The next two days will find a great number of cutting edge thinkers leading an expedition into the vast unknown territory that is our collective future.

So far more than one hundred people are pre-registered for the conference, from ten countries.

TV03 is sponsored by the World Transhumanist Association, and to be held at Yale University, New Haven, CT USA. For those interested in attending or learning more visit: http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/

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WTA NEWS

VOLUNTEER POSTS FOR TV03USA

Transvision is fast approaching and there are still opportunities for you to participate. Help us put together an incredible conference and have a great time working behind the scenes. We still need volunteers to man the registration table, tape talks and provide rides to visiting guests. If you have an interest in helping with any of these contact James Hughes at jhughes@changesurfer.com

WTA-POLITICS DISCUSSION LIST

The family of WTA of email lists continues to grow with WTA-Politics serving as the most recent addition. WTA-Politics joins WTA-talk, WTA-Arts, WTAHall, and two dozen other specialized WTA-affiliated lists to better serve in our collective exploration of the transhuman meme-space. Most are low volume. Find out more at: http://www.transhumanism.org/discussion.htm

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NEWS FROM THE FIELD

US Congressional Hearings on Posthumanity

On April 9, 2003 the US House of Representative Science Subcommittee held a hearing on the social implications of nanotechnology, as part of deliberation of a massive funding package for nanotechnology research (which was subsequently passed). This hearing apparently marked the first ever debate on the coming of posthumanity in the US legislature. The hearing heard from Ray Kurzweil, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Kurzweil Technologies, Inc.; Dr. Vicki Colvin, Executive Director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology and Associate Professor of Chemistry at Rice University; Dr. Langdon Winner, Professor of Political Science in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Christine Peterson, cofounder and President of Foresight Institute.

More info can be found at http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0558.html? m%3D10

An audio clip of Kurzweil and Winner debating posthumanity can be found in mp3 format at: http://www.changesurfer.com/CongTestimony.mp3

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NEWS FROM FRIENDS AND AFFILIATES

BETTERHUMANS 

www.betterhumans.com

Betterhumans launched an improved version of its Betterhumans.com Website on April 27. The new Website is sharper, cleaner and better organized. Betterhumans.com will continue to provide complete coverage of cutting-edge science and technology through news, reports, columns, reviews, in-depth resources, event listings and more.

In addition to its improved Website, Betterhumans also launched a syndication service to provide organizations with high-quality, up-to- date health, science and technology news. Free syndication of headlines that link to Betterhumans.com is available in JavaScript and RSS. Licensed syndication of full Betterhumans news articles is available in multiple formats. Visit http://www.betterhumans.com/About_Us/Syndication/ to learn more.

Betterhumans also integrated text advertising into its Betterhumans.com Website, and several transhumanist advertisers have already taken advantage of the service with positive results. The text advertising is extremely cost-effective -- $3 per 1,000 views or $0.25 per click. If you want to run a virtually risk-free advertising experiment on Betterhumans.com, now is your chance. Visit http://www.betterhumans.com/About_Us/Advertising/Text_Ads/index.aspx to learn more.

To celebrate the relaunch of Betterhumans.com and the new stage in the company's evolution, Betterhumans hosted a part called "Betterhumans: Reloaded" at Element Bar in Toronto on May 15, 2003. Attendance was excellent and a great time was had by all.

In the past few months, Betterhumans has also received quite a bit of media attention. Betterhumans senior editors contributed heavily to the first issue of the official magazine for Terminator 3, published by Beckett Total Access. They are now working on contributions for the second issue. Check local newsstands and magazine stores for copies. Editor-in-chief Simon Smith was also interviewed for the pilot episode of Technica, a new technology show from Cirrus Broadcasting.

Expect more positive developments from Betterhumans in the next few months, such as more writers, expanded news production and events related to the impact of advancing science and technology.

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TRANSHUMANITY 

www.transhumanism.com

GET PUBLISHED!

Self-publish your articles and news

As of April 28, 2003 all registered readers can now self-publish articles and news summaries. All submissions will be reviewed by editors and published soon if appropriate. So get busy, open your word processor and let's create some content!

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THINGS TO READ AND WATCH

The last few weeks have provided a wealth of new transhuman related media. Most prominently the release of two explosively popular movies packed with transhuman memes. There is also a good crop of new articles from both Betterhumans and Transhumanity. Topics range from the debunking of Kass' Yuck Factor to the exploration of the future of complex systems - all are worthy of attention.

NEW IN BETTERHUMANS 

www.betterhumans.com

Posthuman Possibilities and The Future of Intelligent Life by Jose Cordeiro We could redesign ourselves in any number of ways, argues futurist Jose Cordeiro as he examines radical scenarios for humanity's evolution.

Repugnance Isn't Wisdom by James Hughes In the end, once conservatives enter democratic debate in a liberal society, taboo-based bioethics is bound to lose. But for now it's hard to ignore the fact that moral libertarians don't have the ear of the president of the lone global superpower.

Genetic Ignorance Isn't Bliss by George Dvorsky Many surveys reveal a shocking lack of public knowledge about genetics. Yet despite their lack of knowledge, most people will rage against genetically modified foods and -- even more dangerous -- direct policy against them. It's time to implement a new policy of our own: If people can't answer basic questions about genetics and genetic modification, they should be barred from debate and ignored by government.

NEW IN TRANSHUMANITY 

www.transhumanism.com

Eternal City Grapsody #5 - Parmigianino's Golden Transformations by Amara Graps Historians who study European and Eastern medieval life often encounter two interpretations of the 'art' of alchemy. The methods of concentration, distillation, maturing, and mixing could be considered as a physical chemistry exercise or as human psychological transformation, that is, a disguised form of a spiritual quest. What confuses the two interpretations is that one of the origins of alchemy - the Sufis, did indeed work in laboratories performing real alchemy experiments

Some Thoughts About Future Complex Systems by Herbert Haas Some authors and scientists anticipated that the enormous complexity of future machines will make it impossible for humans to understand their functionality nor the underlying principles. This article shows that current developments in computer science and communication engineering reveal significant steps in this direction.

MOVIES

Matrix Reloaded and X2

The past few weeks have seen the release of two major blockbusters chock full of transhuman themes. If box office receipts are any indication then it looks like the masses are ready for more of these future-focused movies that creatively bend our philosophical boundaries in an addictively entertaining way. The industry will likely be looking to continue in this direction so finish up that transhuman screenplay you've been working on and let's start spreading some pro-transhuman/anti-luddite memes by way of the big screen. For reviews on both the Matrix and X2 visit: www.transhumanism.com

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