I think you need to try and narrow your focus on exactly what you mean by a “futurist institute” and figure out what specifically you plan on doing before you can think about any of these issues.
Are you thinking about the kind of consulting agency that companies get advice from on what the market might look like in 5 years and what technologies their competitors are using? Or about something like a think-tank that does research and writes papers with the intent on influencing political policy, and is usually supported by donations? Or an academic group, probably tied to a university, which publishes academic papers, similar to what Nick Bostrom does at Oxford? Or something that raises money primarily for scientific and technological research? Or maybe an organization similar to H+ that tries to spread awareness of transhumanist/ singularity related issues, publishes newsletters, has meetings, and generally tries to change people’s minds about futurist, technological, AI, and/or transhumanist issues? Or something else entierly?
Basically, without more details about exactly what you are trying to do, I don’t think anyone here is going to be able to offer very good advice. i suspect you may not be sure yourself yet, so maybe the first step is to try to think about the different options and try to narrow your initial focus a bit.
You’re right. Here is a reply I left on a Reddit thread answering this question:
This institution will essentially be a formalization and scaling-up of a small group of futurists that already meet to discuss emerging technologies and similar subjects. Despite the fact that they’ve been doing this for years attendance is almost never more than ten people (25 attendees would be fucking woodstock).
I think the best way to begin would be to try and use this seed to create a TED-style hub of recurring discussions on exactly these topics. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit to be picked in the service of this goal. For example I recently convinced the organizer for the futurist group to switch to a regular spot at the local library instead of the nigh-impossible-to-find hackerspace at which they were doing it before. I’ve also done things like buy pizza for everyone.
Once we get to where we have a nice, clean, well-lit venue and have at least 20 people regularly attending, I’d like to start reaching out to local businesses, writers, artists, and academics to have them give talks to the group. As it stands it probably wouldn’t be worth their time just to speak to 8 people.
TEDxMileHigh does something vaguely like this, but it isn’t as focused and only occurs once per year.
Once I get that lined out, I’d like the group’s first ‘product’ to be a near-comprehensive ‘talent audit’ for the Denver/Boulder region. If I had a billion dollars and wanted to invest it in the highest-impact companies and research groups I’d have no idea of where to get started. Here are some questions I’d like to answer:
What are the biggest research and investment initiatives currently happening? Is there more brainpower in nanotech or AI? In neurotech or SENS-type fields? AFAICT nobody knows. Who is doing the most investing? What kind of capital is there available from hedgefunds or angel investors? What sorts of bridges exist between academia, the private sector, think tanks, and investment firms? How can I strengthen them?
So we’ll start by aping TED and then try to figure out what kind of talent pool we have to work with. These two goals alone will surely require several years, and there’s more than one avenue to monetization (ticket sales; subscriptions to the talent audit)
Beyond this horizon things get fuzzier because it’s hard for me to say what direction the institute will take because I need to answer other questions first.
For example, I’m very interested in superintelligent AI and related ethical issues. I have even thought of a name for a group devoted to research in the field: ‘the Superintelligence Research Group’, S.I.R.G (pronounced ‘surge’).
But is there enough AI/mathematics/computation brainpower around to make such a venture worthwhile? I mean there’s more than one computing research group just in Boulder, but are they doing the kind of worked that could be geared toward SAI work?
If so maybe I’ll maneuver in that direction; if not, it would probably make more sense to focus on other things.
So that’s one possibility. Another is either providing consulting to investors wanting to work with companies in the front range, or angel investing in those companies myself.
But if I’m publishing a newsletter about investment opportunities in the Front Range would I even be allowed to personally invest in companies (i.e. is there any legal conflict of interest or whatever involved)? Would the decision to make the institute an LLC or a 501C3 impact future financial maneuvering?
So you have a short-term, concrete answer to your question and a long-term, speculative answer to your question.
I think you need to try and narrow your focus on exactly what you mean by a “futurist institute” and figure out what specifically you plan on doing before you can think about any of these issues.
Are you thinking about the kind of consulting agency that companies get advice from on what the market might look like in 5 years and what technologies their competitors are using? Or about something like a think-tank that does research and writes papers with the intent on influencing political policy, and is usually supported by donations? Or an academic group, probably tied to a university, which publishes academic papers, similar to what Nick Bostrom does at Oxford? Or something that raises money primarily for scientific and technological research? Or maybe an organization similar to H+ that tries to spread awareness of transhumanist/ singularity related issues, publishes newsletters, has meetings, and generally tries to change people’s minds about futurist, technological, AI, and/or transhumanist issues? Or something else entierly?
Basically, without more details about exactly what you are trying to do, I don’t think anyone here is going to be able to offer very good advice. i suspect you may not be sure yourself yet, so maybe the first step is to try to think about the different options and try to narrow your initial focus a bit.
You’re right. Here is a reply I left on a Reddit thread answering this question:
This institution will essentially be a formalization and scaling-up of a small group of futurists that already meet to discuss emerging technologies and similar subjects. Despite the fact that they’ve been doing this for years attendance is almost never more than ten people (25 attendees would be fucking woodstock).
I think the best way to begin would be to try and use this seed to create a TED-style hub of recurring discussions on exactly these topics. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit to be picked in the service of this goal. For example I recently convinced the organizer for the futurist group to switch to a regular spot at the local library instead of the nigh-impossible-to-find hackerspace at which they were doing it before. I’ve also done things like buy pizza for everyone.
Once we get to where we have a nice, clean, well-lit venue and have at least 20 people regularly attending, I’d like to start reaching out to local businesses, writers, artists, and academics to have them give talks to the group. As it stands it probably wouldn’t be worth their time just to speak to 8 people.
TEDxMileHigh does something vaguely like this, but it isn’t as focused and only occurs once per year. Once I get that lined out, I’d like the group’s first ‘product’ to be a near-comprehensive ‘talent audit’ for the Denver/Boulder region. If I had a billion dollars and wanted to invest it in the highest-impact companies and research groups I’d have no idea of where to get started. Here are some questions I’d like to answer:
What are the biggest research and investment initiatives currently happening? Is there more brainpower in nanotech or AI? In neurotech or SENS-type fields? AFAICT nobody knows. Who is doing the most investing? What kind of capital is there available from hedgefunds or angel investors? What sorts of bridges exist between academia, the private sector, think tanks, and investment firms? How can I strengthen them?
So we’ll start by aping TED and then try to figure out what kind of talent pool we have to work with. These two goals alone will surely require several years, and there’s more than one avenue to monetization (ticket sales; subscriptions to the talent audit)
Beyond this horizon things get fuzzier because it’s hard for me to say what direction the institute will take because I need to answer other questions first. For example, I’m very interested in superintelligent AI and related ethical issues. I have even thought of a name for a group devoted to research in the field: ‘the Superintelligence Research Group’, S.I.R.G (pronounced ‘surge’).
But is there enough AI/mathematics/computation brainpower around to make such a venture worthwhile? I mean there’s more than one computing research group just in Boulder, but are they doing the kind of worked that could be geared toward SAI work?
If so maybe I’ll maneuver in that direction; if not, it would probably make more sense to focus on other things.
So that’s one possibility. Another is either providing consulting to investors wanting to work with companies in the front range, or angel investing in those companies myself.
But if I’m publishing a newsletter about investment opportunities in the Front Range would I even be allowed to personally invest in companies (i.e. is there any legal conflict of interest or whatever involved)? Would the decision to make the institute an LLC or a 501C3 impact future financial maneuvering?
So you have a short-term, concrete answer to your question and a long-term, speculative answer to your question.
Is there anything else you’d like to know?