Ishtvan’s entire approach is so ethically disturbing and PR-toxic, it really doesn’t help the transhumanist movement to promote him. The first and second of his “Transhumanist Laws” basically amount to just screaming “I defect!” repeatedly. This is unfortunate because he’s a decent writer and he also does on occasion make interesting points that I haven’t seen elsewhere.
Istvan’s constant self-promotion bothers me. I never heard of this guy until two years ago, when he published The Transhumanist Wager. I read that and reviewed in Cryonics magazine because it involves cryonics as a subplot.
Then I started to see his writings in several places. And last summer he got on one of John Stossel’s specials on the Fox network, where both he and Stossel represented him as a leader in the cryonics community.
Again, I signed up with Alcor a quarter century ago, and I never heard of Istvan until early in 2013. Who made him a “leader” in the cryonics movement, and based on what criteria?
Now he has started a “Transhumanist Party” and he wants to insert himself into American national politics. We could see him in one of those debates with the other off-brand Presidential candidates from the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and other fringe groups.
Now, I approve of the fact that he wants to draw attention to some ideas for technological progress that we should push on a lot harder than we have so far. But what has he really offered us other than telling us about his action-hero life on the sailboat, how he doesn’t want to die, please read his novel (he often discounts his Kindle version, or even offers it for free), and vote for him for President?
Istvan claims he was born in L.A., grew up there and then went to Columbia University. But something about his accent doesn’t sound right to me. I lived in Southern California during the years 1991-2004, so I’ve had plenty of exposure to how people in the Southland talk.
I think “Transhumanism” is a political non-starter as it just has too many weird/negative mental associations. A serious attempt at a pro-science/pro-technology political party should start by shedding the term “transhumanism” and some of its associated themes, like cyborgs and strange/unnecessary human modification.
There is a huge amount of enthusiasm for technology and science among the Millennials and even some Gen Xers, but most of it is just frittered away on worthless projects like Solar Freakin Roadways and enthusiasm for consumer electronics.
There is a huge amount of enthusiasm for technology and science among the Millennials and even some Gen Xers, but most of it is just frittered away on worthless projects like Solar Freakin Roadways and enthusiasm for consumer electronics.
I think there is a huge amount of enthusiasm for consumer electronics which is misinterpreted as enthusiasm for technology and science.
Radical Muslims have embraced social media, for example. And I’ve gathered that the snuff film of the Jordanian prisoner shows good production values, though I don’t care to watch that because I’ll just hear the Middle English song “Sumer is icumen in” in my head.
What Can Supporters Do for Transhumanism? by Zoltan Istvan:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zoltan-istvan/what-can-supporters-do-fo_b_6564536.html
Zoltan suggests changing careers, assuming that you can find ones which allow for feasible transhumanist-sounding projects to work on.
But I would add the fallback one of just figuring out how to make and save a lot more money to give you the resources to do some of these things.
Ishtvan’s entire approach is so ethically disturbing and PR-toxic, it really doesn’t help the transhumanist movement to promote him. The first and second of his “Transhumanist Laws” basically amount to just screaming “I defect!” repeatedly. This is unfortunate because he’s a decent writer and he also does on occasion make interesting points that I haven’t seen elsewhere.
Istvan’s constant self-promotion bothers me. I never heard of this guy until two years ago, when he published The Transhumanist Wager. I read that and reviewed in Cryonics magazine because it involves cryonics as a subplot.
Then I started to see his writings in several places. And last summer he got on one of John Stossel’s specials on the Fox network, where both he and Stossel represented him as a leader in the cryonics community.
Again, I signed up with Alcor a quarter century ago, and I never heard of Istvan until early in 2013. Who made him a “leader” in the cryonics movement, and based on what criteria?
Now he has started a “Transhumanist Party” and he wants to insert himself into American national politics. We could see him in one of those debates with the other off-brand Presidential candidates from the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and other fringe groups.
Now, I approve of the fact that he wants to draw attention to some ideas for technological progress that we should push on a lot harder than we have so far. But what has he really offered us other than telling us about his action-hero life on the sailboat, how he doesn’t want to die, please read his novel (he often discounts his Kindle version, or even offers it for free), and vote for him for President?
Leadership?
It’s a rare quality. I didn’t like his book, but I did like him in interviews he’s done. People have a tendency to rally behind anyone who leads.
Istvan claims he was born in L.A., grew up there and then went to Columbia University. But something about his accent doesn’t sound right to me. I lived in Southern California during the years 1991-2004, so I’ve had plenty of exposure to how people in the Southland talk.
Yeah, I think it is pretty clear that he’s a shameless self-promoter. Maybe he’d argue that it is consistent with his Second Law of Transhumanism?
I think “Transhumanism” is a political non-starter as it just has too many weird/negative mental associations. A serious attempt at a pro-science/pro-technology political party should start by shedding the term “transhumanism” and some of its associated themes, like cyborgs and strange/unnecessary human modification.
There is a huge amount of enthusiasm for technology and science among the Millennials and even some Gen Xers, but most of it is just frittered away on worthless projects like Solar Freakin Roadways and enthusiasm for consumer electronics.
I think there is a huge amount of enthusiasm for consumer electronics which is misinterpreted as enthusiasm for technology and science.
Radical Muslims have embraced social media, for example. And I’ve gathered that the snuff film of the Jordanian prisoner shows good production values, though I don’t care to watch that because I’ll just hear the Middle English song “Sumer is icumen in” in my head.