28 replies to this topic

[mentatpsi]

I was wondering, what are some movies/books/art that satisfy your palate of transhumanist thoughts? Was there a movie you found that really satisfied your demand for seeing a transhumanist society, or perhaps just made you wonder about our future? Perhaps there was a book so influential, that it is the very cause of your transhumanist ideologies...

[Cyberbrain]

I was wondering, what are some movies/books/art that satisfy your palate of transhumanist thoughts? Was there a movie you found that really satisfied your demand for seeing a transhumanist society, or perhaps just made you wonder about our future? Perhaps there was a book so influential, that it is the very cause of your transhumanist ideologies...

Books:

Amazon Listmania for Transhumanism

Movies:

Cyberpunk films like AI, The Matrix, Blade Runner, and so forth.

A search through amazon.com would give you an excellent list of movies and books that have inspired many transhumanists.

[mentatpsi]

I was wondering, what are some movies/books/art that satisfy your palate of transhumanist thoughts? Was there a movie you found that really satisfied your demand for seeing a transhumanist society, or perhaps just made you wonder about our future? Perhaps there was a book so influential, that it is the very cause of your transhumanist ideologies...

Books:

Amazon Listmania for Transhumanism

Movies:

Cyberpunk films like AI, The Matrix, Blade Runner, and so forth.

A search through amazon.com would give you an excellent list of movies and books that have inspired many transhumanists.

Damn that is an excellent list . Damn you Kostas, now i'm gonna have to buy things lol.

I really need to watch more cyberpunk films... i recently got myself a subscription to netflix, but i believe it's difficult to find ones that really provides the essence of transhumanism while also being a good film... i suppose i'd be in luck to just look for foreign flicks lol.

[forever freedom]

Since i'm mainly into anti-aging, (but i also love transhuman concepts like singularity) these two are the most recent movies that deal with aging and death.

The Fountain

The Man From Earth



These two are excellent movies and very worth watching even for people who don't even know about transhumanism and anti aging.



That list that Kosta posted is really awesome indeed.

[Cyberbrain]

Damn that is an excellent list . Damn you Kostas, now i'm gonna have to buy things lol.

Bwa ha ha! I'm making you buy things ... but I do hope you enjoy the books! Citizen Cyborg, A Transhumanist Manifesto, and The Singularity is Near are books you should definitely read

I really need to watch more cyberpunk films... i recently got myself a subscription to netflix, but i believe it's difficult to find ones that really provides the essence of transhumanism while also being a good film... i suppose i'd be in luck to just look for foreign flicks lol.

OK here's a list of movies you have to watch:

AI
Bicentennial Man
Blade Runner
The Matrix
Metropolis (the anime)
2001: A Space Odyssey
Gattaca
Equilibrium

And, oh yes, the best of them all .... Ghost in the Shell!!!

The 2 movies are good, but it's the series that really draws you in.

If you search on Google you should find some websites which host the episodes for free.

[forever freedom]

Damn that is an excellent list . Damn you Kostas, now i'm gonna have to buy things lol.

Bwa ha ha! I'm making you buy things ... but I do hope you enjoy the books! Citizen Cyborg, A Transhumanist Manifesto, and The Singularity is Near are books you should definitely read

I really need to watch more cyberpunk films... i recently got myself a subscription to netflix, but i believe it's difficult to find ones that really provides the essence of transhumanism while also being a good film... i suppose i'd be in luck to just look for foreign flicks lol.

OK here's a list of movies you have to watch:

AI
Bicentennial Man
Blade Runner
The Matrix
Metropolis (the anime)
2001: A Space Odyssey
Gattaca
Equilibrium

And, oh yes, the best of them all .... Ghost in the Shell!!!

The 2 movies are good, but it's the series that really draws you in.

If you search on Google you should find some websites which host the episodes for free.

Aeon Flux the movie isn't bad either...

[cyborgdreamer]

Since i'm mainly into anti-aging, (but i also love transhuman concepts like singularity) these two are the most recent movies that deal with aging and death.

The Fountain

The Man From Earth



These two are excellent movies and very worth watching even for people who don't even know about transhumanism and anti aging.

Really? I've heard that The Fountain ended up supporting deathist themes.

[brokenportal]

I cant think of any that might have inspired me to become a life extentionist, but I remember seeing "The Astronaut Farmer" recently and thinking that it had a ton of parrelels and morals to us as life extensionists.

[cyborgdreamer]

I cant think of any that might have inspired me to become a life extentionist, but I remember seeing "The Astronaut Farmer" recently and thinking that it had a ton of parrelels and morals to us as life extensionists.

That's funny, I remember thinking the same thing when I watched The Astronaut Farmer. Of course, I might just have immortality on the brain.

[Sasuke]

Not a book or movie, but perhaps art... the computer games Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2 fostered fondness for ideas about enhancement and immortality.

Set slightly in the future, in Deus Ex you start out as an engineered being and you can augment your abilities (although only combat related ones, for the purposes of the game) with nanotech. At the end of Deus Ex, you have your choice of several endings, you could send the world back to the stone age, take over the world, or merge with a sentient AI program. I chose the latter.

In Deus Ex 2 you play as a younger clone of the character you played in the original Deus Ex, and it follows the AI-merge ending. In this game you can choose to side with that AI-human character from the first game, who wants to augment every human on the planet, mentally and physically. One of the arguments to persuade you to take this side is that everyone will have the same intelligence and the same physical attributes--everyone will have the same abilities. So, what will distinguish people from one another will only be their integrity. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it.

[Cyberbrain]

Oddly enough, all the movies, including the ones I posted, have somewhat of a deathist theme. I can't seem to find any films that support longevity. Most films that have life extension themes in them usually portray it in a greedy evil type of way.

Astronaut Farmer was a great movie! Contact was also a good movie

[Cyberbrain]

Not a book or movie, but perhaps art... the computer games Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2 fostered fondness for ideas about enhancement and immortality.

Set slightly in the future, in Deus Ex you start out as an engineered being and you can augment your abilities (although only combat related ones, for the purposes of the game) with nanotech. At the end of Deus Ex, you have your choice of several endings, you could send the world back to the stone age, take over the world, or merge with a sentient AI program. I chose the latter.

In Deus Ex 2 you play as a younger clone of the character you played in the original Deus Ex, and it follows the AI-merge ending. In this game you can choose to side with that AI-human character from the first game, who wants to augment every human on the planet, mentally and physically. One of the arguments to persuade you to take this side is that everyone will have the same intelligence and the same physical attributes--everyone will have the same abilities. So, what will distinguish people from one another will only be their integrity. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it.

Ah yes, Deus Ex was a classic!

Deus Ex 3: "Who We are is but a stepping stone to what we can become"

Edited by Kostas, 09 June 2008 - 04:20 AM.

[brokenportal]

Im sure we both did have immortality/indefinite life extension on the brain.

"I couldn't get my family to eat together. You have your family dreaming together."

Thats one of my favorite quotes from the movie. My last ex wrote it down while we were watching it. I was impressed, the movie was going to stick with me anyways, but her writing what I felt was a powerful quote when I didnt expect her to want to do it or care to do it, helped it stick in my brain a lot more.

[Sasuke]

Not a book or movie, but perhaps art... the computer games Deus Ex and Deus Ex 2 fostered fondness for ideas about enhancement and immortality.

Set slightly in the future, in Deus Ex you start out as an engineered being and you can augment your abilities (although only combat related ones, for the purposes of the game) with nanotech. At the end of Deus Ex, you have your choice of several endings, you could send the world back to the stone age, take over the world, or merge with a sentient AI program. I chose the latter.

In Deus Ex 2 you play as a younger clone of the character you played in the original Deus Ex, and it follows the AI-merge ending. In this game you can choose to side with that AI-human character from the first game, who wants to augment every human on the planet, mentally and physically. One of the arguments to persuade you to take this side is that everyone will have the same intelligence and the same physical attributes--everyone will have the same abilities. So, what will distinguish people from one another will only be their integrity. I thought that was a cool way of looking at it.

Ah yes, Deus Ex was a classic!

Deus Ex 3: "Who We are is but a stepping stone to what we can become"

http://www.youtube.c...qzaoIyG0o&hl=en

Wow, I never expected a DX3... The part of the company that made it was shut down, and the things that led to the shut down were believed to have interfered and weakened DX2 (iirc). What a nice surprise.

[mentatpsi]

Ya Deus Ex was an amazing game, I want cybernetic enhancements . The concept of socialized cybernetic enhancement without variety seems a bit misplaced, an impossibility for certain, variety is the spice of life, still looked like an interesting game. I can't wait for Deus Ex 3, probably will have to wait more since the costs of the next generation consoles is way too high.

I agree, the fountain had a deathist theme, but it's main aspect was the appreciation for life, how the guy focused for the cure to death but never lived to appreciate life until later in the movie. Still a pretty cool movie. The Man from Earth also looks like a great movie, will have to rent that as well.

Kostas we must have similar tastes in movies because most of those i've watched and thoroughly enjoyed . I'm renting Equilibrium, though it seems more action-oriented than thought provoking... but considering my line up i might need it .

Astronaut farmer is also in my queue, damn sounded like a good movie but you guys really sold it lol.

[Cyberbrain]

Kostas we must have similar tastes in movies because most of those i've watched and thoroughly enjoyed . I'm renting Equilibrium, though it seems more action-oriented than thought provoking... but considering my line up i might need it .

Awesome! lol, Equilibrium, is a very action movie. However, V for Vendetta or better yet the film 1984 are very thought provoking!

I forgot one more movie from the list ... I, Robot

[Anaxim]

If you can withstand the antiquated, ugly graphics, the PC game Alpha Centauri is packed with immortalist and transhumanist stuff.

[Cyberbrain]

I also forgot the movie Titan AE ... its not about transhumanists, but it has nice space themes:P

Speaking about games, you have to play Outpost 2 ... (can be downloaded here: http://www.outpostun...amedownload.php)

And of course the best game of all time Half-Life 2!

[Mind]

Agree with Matrix (1st installment only) and Blade Runner as a couple of good classics that had mass appeal. One that also made me think about the future was Solarus. Maybe the George Clooney version wasn't the best version but it was good enough and it did make me think about the future and identity.

[forever freedom]

Since i'm mainly into anti-aging, (but i also love transhuman concepts like singularity) these two are the most recent movies that deal with aging and death.

The Fountain

The Man From Earth



These two are excellent movies and very worth watching even for people who don't even know about transhumanism and anti aging.

Really? I've heard that The Fountain ended up supporting deathist themes.

It's about a man trying to do everything possible to save the life of his beloved one, and the visuals are just amazing. I think that whether it is pro death or anti death is still up for debate, because there is more than one way to interpret it. There are pro death and anti death arguments in the movie, so it's not really pro death.

[forever freedom]

Agree with Matrix (1st installment only) and Blade Runner as a couple of good classics that had mass appeal. One that also made me think about the future was Solarus. Maybe the George Clooney version wasn't the best version but it was good enough and it did make me think about the future and identity.

You mean Solaris.. and yes it was a good movie although not an outstanding one.


And Matrix probably only caused the public to be more wary of AIs emerging... but it was nice the discussions it brought to the public about the possibility that we may be in a simulation. Familiarizes people more with some transhuman concepts. Don't know if it's good or bad, the way it was presented in Matrix.

[dr_chaos]

The concept of socialized cybernetic enhancement without variety seems a bit misplaced, an impossibility for certain, variety is the spice of life, still looked like an interesting game.

they were not socialized, I guess. unatco was a government agency. therefore all the people had the same enhancements. furthermore i don't think that there will be lots and lots of different types of enhancements irl. in the end enhancements need to be developed and manufactured which costs lot of money which again leads to mass manufacturing. therefore: enhancements wont be any more unique as cars are today.

Edited by dr_chaos, 09 June 2008 - 11:57 PM.

[mentatpsi]

The concept of socialized cybernetic enhancement without variety seems a bit misplaced, an impossibility for certain, variety is the spice of life, still looked like an interesting game.

they were not socialized, I guess. unatco was a government agency. therefore all the people had the same enhancements. furthermore i don't think that there will be lots and lots of different types of enhancements irl. in the end enhancements need to be developed and manufactured which costs lot of money which again leads to mass manufacturing. therefore: enhancements wont be any more unique as cars are today.

i meant deus ex 2... the original deus ex made sense.

Look at it this way though, there's always going to be a market for enhanced cybernetics, to reach levels above the previous norm... those with money will have access. It's like hardware today, it's always blossoming in capacity, and there doesn't appear to be an asymptote in sight. Why would any person that has the funding want to be at the top of the distribution bell curve, or norm... this concept would only "work" in socialist nation's ideologies. There would always be competition for better equipment, because it would mean increased security.

I really hope that we're not simply going to have the same enhancements when it comes out, it should be personalized... tailored to the individual. You might be right about mass production, but this would simply be for those who can't afford higher models... it would be the bare necessities.

[mentatpsi]

the 13th floor was also another good example of simulations over reality, as was dark city (though more of an evolved civilization influencing a less evolved one).

[dr_chaos]

Look at it this way though, there's always going to be a market for enhanced cybernetics, to reach levels above the previous norm... those with money will have access. It's like hardware today, it's always blossoming in capacity, and there doesn't appear to be an asymptote in sight. Why would any person that has the funding want to be at the top of the distribution bell curve, or norm... this concept would only "work" in socialist nation's ideologies. There would always be competition for better equipment, because it would mean increased security.

I see. But still. Show me one unique car or pc or mobile phone or whatever high tech product you desire, which is
1. not a product of mass manufacturing
2. better than the other products on the market
Developing a car or a microchip is in the price range of several 100 million. No matter how rich you are. You can't fund such things on your own. Take sports cars. Porsche is manufacturing for the mass market and has secure cars of good quality and good performance. Ferrari has superior performance( easy to do), but still the security level of their cars is relatively low and they are less reliable compared to other high priced cars. Ferrari simply lacks the budget big Porsche has due to the number of their customers. The best thing you can get for individuality is plug and play of already available components.

I really hope that we're not simply going to have the same enhancements when it comes out, it should be personalized... tailored to the individual.

definitely. but not custom made. you don't want to be the first to find out your enhancement has a flawed design.

[advancedatheist]

How about a few nonfiction transhumanist books published in the early 1970's?

Man Into Superman, by Robert Ettinger

Up-Wingers, by F.M. Esfandiary (PDF)

Future Sex, by Saul Kent

A fiction anthology titled Transhuman also came out earlier this year, but it didn't impress me.

[advancedatheist]

I'd also like to add Damon Knight's story, published in the late 1950's, titled The Dying Man (PDF). The narrative focus of the story, a not particularly bright woman who has lived for centuries in a society where everyone enjoys engineered negligible senescence (until something goes wrong), has trouble processing the idea that humans can die. She exclaims, "But that doesn't happen to people."

Edited by advancedatheist, 11 June 2008 - 05:22 AM.

[mentatpsi]

ya, dr_chaos, your viewpoint does make a lot of sense, though we'll have to consider exponential decreasing of chip prices over time in addition to possible focuses of software over hardware in brain interfacing. Still, I just hope there will be more variety then a borg like race.

thanks advancedatheist, i'll have to take a look at those books. I'm writing a novel of my own so new ideas always come in handy .

[mentatpsi]

another recommendation for you guys, Ergo Proxy is quite an interesting series if interested in the prospects of sentient robots. Though, truly, more on the philosophical side of science fiction. Enjoy