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#off-topic
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2018-06-29
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frontiertech07:06:50

Transhumanist Technologies to Live Forever, Become Bionic and Build a Better Political System with Zoltan Istvan Had a real popular podcast episode and I was curious to get some feedback and hear what you guys thought? http://fringe.fm/3-transhumanist-technologies-to-live-forever-become-bionic-and-build-a-better-political-system-with-zoltan-istvan/ What do you think? Hope it is okay to post this here, if not please let me know ASAP. Thanks, In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: Why Zoltan believes he will live forever How Zoltan thinks about AI and the future of intelligence The exciting science of life extension and which areas are most promising What happens to nation-states when humans start to live longer How and when genetic engineering and implants will start to impact society Why transparency may be the savior of humanity How Zoltan sees blockchain in the bigger picture Why Zoltan wants a mechanical heart ASAP What average individuals can do to live longer http://fringe.fm/3-transhumanist-technologies-to-live-forever-become-bionic-and-build-a-better-political-system-with-zoltan-istvan/

jgh07:06:59

Just read this guy's wikipedia page, I think I will avoid.

andre.stylianos08:06:00

Why? Just curious, I skimmed through his page, but I didn't find anything too strange.

jgh08:06:32

Primarily I'm turned off by the mixture of libertarianism and transhumanism. I think if we're going to achieve "immortality" our society will need to be more collectivist or at least democratic for the thing to work. His ideas come across as very exclusionary and seem to demand extreme selfishness. Basically, many people will have to suffer for the privileged few to live forever.

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andre.stylianos09:06:05

Ah, I see. Guess I didn't read it like that because I tend to have some libertarian leanings. Not sure what gave you that feeling though, he even advocates for UBI.

jgh09:06:06

His "Transhumanist three laws":

A transhumanist must safeguard one's own existence above all else.
A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible—so long as one's actions do not conflict with the First Law.
A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe—so long as one's actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.
Perhaps I'm reading this too cynically but priority #1 is to look out for #1.

thisisfine 4
andre.stylianos13:06:10

Ah, I see. I certainly agree that's definitely worded really strongly. I don't think it's you being cynical.

fellshard15:06:32

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch It's nothing new. Read 'Crime and Punishment' to see how Dostoyevsky saw this idea working itself out in culture. Basically, if you see yourself as transhumanist, you give yourself license to commit the worst of deeds 'for the greater good'. That third law leaves 'value in the universe' so subjective and vague that you could twist it to mean any number of very good or very horrifying things. The classic literature villains often entail this kind of twisting.

andre.stylianos16:06:55

> Basically, if you see yourself as transhumanist, you give yourself license to commit the worst of deeds 'for the greater good'. Based on what?

fellshard22:06:48

Based on those 'laws'. Self-interest, self-defined values, self-defined goals above all; this would lead to taking whatever actions you perceive as being best for you. If you think you've found a route to optimal 'state of being' and that route involves, say, genocide of the unfitting according to your definition of 'value in the universe', you are perfectly justified by those laws to do so, and only this universe you've constructed in your own philosophy can judge you right or wrong.

andre.stylianos01:06:33

But those laws are purely of his own making, it’s not a general transhumanism thing.

fellshard04:06:52

True, this is primarily a criticism of these 'laws' he proposes. But transhumanism itself still implies that same concept of making allowances as long as you believe you are breaking beyond human limitations.

jgh20:06:07

i have no particular opinion on transhumanism in general, but i dont like his particular flavor of it from what i read

ScArcher22:06:05

Do you have to register an account to download docker?

jgh22:06:30

i dont think so

ScArcher22:06:21

I don't see where to download it for windows.

andre.stylianos22:06:47

I think for the Windows version you do need an account

andre.stylianos22:06:13

at least back in 2016, when I was using Windows, I had to create one to download it

ScArcher22:06:27

That makes me sad.

ScArcher22:06:46

Thanks for the info though @andre.stylianos