Somewhat offtopic, but: Do we believe the Russian allegedly-rich transhumanist movements actually have any backing? It’s much easier to claim that then to have it, and I’ve seen no signs of actual large spending by them.
I am one of the founders of Russian Longevity party. I dont think russian transhumanists are very rich. Also there is a big difference between what anyone have and what he invests in the projects. For example i live in appartment that costs half a millon dollars and I own it. But I am not going to sell it or even rent for some resons (I have large art collection which I keep here). I decided that I will invest time, but not money in russian longevity party.
Another cofounder of our party is Michael Batin and he owns a lot of land—but it is illiquid asset. Batin spent a lot on Macciarini organ regeneration operation for example.
Also russian transhumaists are known for hystory of uneffective spending mostly on lifeextension projects. I spent last year 10k usd to go to NY to singularity summit, mostly on expensive hotels. If my social skill were better I could find free accomodation.
I dont think Itzkov is billioner. I estimate his fortune in 10 million USD.
The Longevity Party is grassroots, it emerged from the Russian transhumanist movement and has no powerful sponsor.
Evolution 2045 is the project of a rich guy (Dmitry Itskov) who’s a futurist nationalist and a Kurzweil fan. The proposal that everyone should have a chance to upload is part of a broader program which also includes more conventional affirmations of national development, interfaith outreach to show that religion isn’t threatened by these ideas, etc. I think it still exists mostly on the level of conferences, networking, and mission statements, and that he hasn’t spent much money yet.
I would welcome a better answer from someone in Russia who actually knows the facts on the ground!
Do we believe Dmitry Itskov is a billionaire? Google shows MSM outlets repeating the claim, but it doesn’t look very researched and there are no hits except to the 2045 project.
Somewhat offtopic, but: Do we believe the Russian allegedly-rich transhumanist movements actually have any backing? It’s much easier to claim that then to have it, and I’ve seen no signs of actual large spending by them.
I am one of the founders of Russian Longevity party. I dont think russian transhumanists are very rich. Also there is a big difference between what anyone have and what he invests in the projects. For example i live in appartment that costs half a millon dollars and I own it. But I am not going to sell it or even rent for some resons (I have large art collection which I keep here). I decided that I will invest time, but not money in russian longevity party. Another cofounder of our party is Michael Batin and he owns a lot of land—but it is illiquid asset. Batin spent a lot on Macciarini organ regeneration operation for example. Also russian transhumaists are known for hystory of uneffective spending mostly on lifeextension projects. I spent last year 10k usd to go to NY to singularity summit, mostly on expensive hotels. If my social skill were better I could find free accomodation. I dont think Itzkov is billioner. I estimate his fortune in 10 million USD.
The Longevity Party is grassroots, it emerged from the Russian transhumanist movement and has no powerful sponsor.
Evolution 2045 is the project of a rich guy (Dmitry Itskov) who’s a futurist nationalist and a Kurzweil fan. The proposal that everyone should have a chance to upload is part of a broader program which also includes more conventional affirmations of national development, interfaith outreach to show that religion isn’t threatened by these ideas, etc. I think it still exists mostly on the level of conferences, networking, and mission statements, and that he hasn’t spent much money yet.
I would welcome a better answer from someone in Russia who actually knows the facts on the ground!
Do we believe Dmitry Itskov is a billionaire? Google shows MSM outlets repeating the claim, but it doesn’t look very researched and there are no hits except to the 2045 project.
Note that Itskov spoke at the 2011 Singularity Summit.
I changed the description to “entrepreneur”. He’s president of the company that owns some major Russian portals, that much is verifiable.