3 replies to this topic

[John_Ventureville]

Annalee Newitz, is once again fighting against transhumanism. But she has gotten more restrained as she does it...

http://io9.com/56615...kyline=true&s=i

This 2008 blog by Michael Annisimov deplores Annie Newitz for her
"Extropian trash" column from that year. I suppose she has somewhat
toned herself down... I wonder why? Perhaps the rising academic
and media respect for transhumanism has caused her to stay out of
full-bore rant mode. I've been told there is an online photo of her
where she is "giving the finger" to transhumanists! lol

http://www.accelerat...-transhumanism/

John Grigg

[forever freedom]

At least she doesn't deny that the Singularity can happen. I'm not expecting a perfect future either, i'm just expecting to be part of the future, and if nothing else i'm sure the Singularity will help us beat aging, unless the machines take over and kill us all. But dying by aging or by machines, it makes no difference to me. At least with machines around we have a chance to beat aging.

Edited by forever freedom, 04 November 2010 - 12:11 PM.

[Maosef]

She's right Adam Smith didn't see the problems of industrialisation such as urban squalor... but Alexis de tocqueville did. At least she isn't calling people trash anymore still could do with the prozac though.

[niner]

At least she's actually thought about human history and the ways in which technology affects us. This is the first time I've read her stuff, so my opinion's not colored by whatever crazy things she may have said in the past. On the face of it, what she says here isn't that bad. She's not a Luddite; she's just trying to keep it reality-based. Note that she isn't saying the Singularity isn't going to happen; just that it isn't going to be the blissed-out heaven on earth that some seem to expect.

All I'm saying is that if you're looking for a narrative that explains the future, consider this: Does the narrative promise you things that sound like religion? A world where today's problems are fixed, but no new problems have arisen? A world where human history is irrelevant? If yes, then you're in the fog of Singularity thinking.

But if that narrative deals with consequences, complications, and many possible outcomes, then you're getting closer to something like a potential truth. It may not be as tasty as potato chips, but it's what we've got. Might as well get ready for the mutation to begin.