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Category: transhumanism

An introduction to by Johannon Ben Zion candidate for President of the US Transhumanist Party.

US Transhumanist Party candidate for President, Johannon Ben Zion has a futurist new deal for America. This concept stoked my interest when I was listening to the debate between all of the US Transhumanist Party candidates. I wanted more information on this concept and Johannon Ben Zion was kind enough to forward this information to me.

What I am going to do is quote some content from his plan below. It will be short and condensed, to read more into the exact details of the plan you can download the PDF file at the end of the article. I am also going to list an interview that was done between Johannon Ben Zion and Debt Nation and the US Transhumanist Party Presidential Debate.

The primary Futurist New Deal mandate for blockchain technology is evoting. By casting votes as transactions, we can create a blockchain which keeps track of the tally of the votes. This way, everyone can agree on the final count because they can count the votes themselves, and because of the blockchain audit trail, they can verify that no votes were changed or removed, and no illegitimate votes were added.

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As Mark O’Connell points out in his book To Be a Machine, the leading figures in our tech industry – from Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel to Google CEO Eric Schmidt – are resolute that we will live in “a future in which techno-capitalism will survive its own inventors”. Sooner rather than later, it seems, the next update to worry about will be which part of our body to integrate with the newest technology. Just ask Bethany Lyons.

A new study suggests the bridge between human and machine is closing faster than we thought.

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Researchers from RMIT University have drawn inspiration from optogenetics, an emerging tool in biotechnology, to develop a device that replicates the way the brain stores and loses information. Optogenetics allows scientists to delve into the body’s electrical system with incredible precision, using light to manipulate neurons so that they can be turned on or off.

The new is based on an ultra-thin material that changes electrical resistance in response to different wavelengths of light, enabling it to mimic the way neurons work to store and delete information in the brain. Research team leader Dr. Sumeet Walia said the technology has applications in (AI) technology that can harness the brain’s full sophisticated functionality.

“Our optogenetically-inspired chip imitates the fundamental biology of nature’s best computer—the human brain,” Walia said. “Being able to store, delete and process information is critical for computing, and the brain does this extremely efficiently. We’re able to simulate the brain’s neural approach simply by shining different colors onto our chip. This technology takes us further on the path towards fast, efficient and secure light-based computing. It also brings us an important step closer to the realization of a bionic brain—a brain-on-a-chip that can learn from its environment just like humans do.”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbIVHSAEDqs&t=1s

An excellent interview. Fossel and Aubrey de Grey of the SENS Foundation are in disagreement about telomerase.

https://www.singularityweblog.com/michael-fossel/ ‎

Michael Fossel‘s dream is to reverse human aging and since 1996 he has been a strong and vocal advocate of experimenting with telomerase therapy as a potential way of intervention in a wide variety of medical conditions related to aging. In addition, Fossel is one of those unique people who are a real pleasure to not only see speaking from the stage but also to meet in person. And having done both of these, I can honestly say that Michael is as much an impassioned expert speaker as he is a compassionate human being. Not only that but he is also a generous host, who loves entertaining guests visiting his fabulous house near Rapid Falls, Michigan and I have to admit I had tons of fun socializing with him both in front and behind camera. So, all in all, it was a lot of fun meeting and interviewing Dr. Fossel for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast.

During our 1 hour discussion with Michael we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his dream to reverse aging and the desirability and feasibility thereof; the Hayflick limit of cell division and Aubrey de Grey’s concerns that telomerase therapy may cause cancer; the distinction between reversing aging and living forever; his “non-sexy” tips on healthy living; his take on cryonics and transhumanism…

My favorite quotes that I will take away from this interview with Michael Fossel are:

“Ageing is dynamic, not static”

“Never mind the low-hanging fruit. […] Go for the important one!”

“The reason to do this [reverse aging] is not to double somebody’s lifespan. The reason to do this is because people out there are hurting. They are frightened. They are terrified by the things that happen to them when they get disease. The reason to do this is because we are human and we should be working at this. It’s not playing God, it is working at being human. It’s compassion. It’s not a matter of living longer, it is a matter of making people healthy again.”

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The prominent Transhumanist, Zoltan Istvan, discusses about his future involvement in the Transhumanist community, e.g., possibly running for the 2020 US Presidency.

Check out his webiste: zoltanistvan.com

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Watch highlights from the first virtual debate among U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party (USTP) candidates for President of the United States, which took place on Saturday, July 6, 2019, at 3 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time. Candidates Rachel Haywire, Johannon Ben Zion, and Charles Holsopple discussed how their platforms reflect the Core Ideals of the USTP and also answered selected questions from the public.

This highlights reel was created by Tom Ross, the USTP Director of Media Production. Watch the full 3-hour debate here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeKsUFTzPv0

Learn about the USTP candidates here: https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/

View individual candidate profiles:

Johannon Ben Zion — https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/johannon-ben-zion/
Rachel Haywire — http://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/rachel-haywire/
Charles Holsopple — https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/charles-holsopple/

Join the U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party for free, no matter where you reside: https://transhumanist-party.org/membership/

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https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/

Forms of Transhumanism

Transhumanism takes a variety of overlapping forms united around a common commitment to use science and technology to improve human intellect and/or physiology. Many, though not all, are committed to Posthumanism; others focus on artificial intelligence and its implications for human life. All of them raise important worldview questions, though not always the same ones.

One early form of Transhumanism was Extropianism. The name comes from the neologism extropy, a word intended to convey the reversal of entropy. Its focus is on using science, technology, and reason to take control of human evolution through life extension technologies, uploading our minds into computers, etc. An optimistic philosophy, Extropianism expected to extend human lifespans indefinitely and to recover and heal people frozen cryogenically.

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The public is encouraged to watch today’s first-ever virtual debate among Transhumanist primary candidates for President of the United States. We will have candidates Charles Holsopple, Rachel Haywire, and Johannon Ben Zion discussing the principles of transhumanism and Core Ideals of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, as well as a wide range of policy proposals that enables transhumanist candidates to stand apart from and above the conventional political fray.

The first virtual debate among U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party candidates for President of the United States will take place on Saturday, July 6, 2019, at 3 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time and will last approximately two hours.

The candidates will discuss how their platforms reflect the Core Ideals of the USTP and will also answer selected questions from the public. To pose a question, submit it here.

Learn about the USTP candidates here: https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/

View individual candidate profiles:

Johannon Ben Zion — https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/johannon-ben-zion/
Dan Good — https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/dan-good/
Rachel Haywire — http://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/rachel-haywire/
Charles Holsopple — https://transhumanist-party.org/candidate-profiles/charles-holsopple/

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To me cryonics just makes sense. It may not be pretty but, just like open heart surgery, it is one of those things that, without any guarantees, can possibly extend your life [very] substantially. Thus, especially given the alternative, I just can’t quite make sense of the slow rate of adoption evident not only in North America but also across the world. And so I am always happy to discover new books that lay out the scientific argument for cryonics while making it easily digestible and giving it a very personal, human perspective. Since the most recent book, I thoroughly enjoyed on this topic was Frozen to Life: A Personal Mortality Experiment I thought that D.J. MacLennan will make an excellent guest on my podcast. I was not wrong about that.

During our 1 hour conversation with D.j. MacLennan we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why he decided to write Frozen to Life and who is it for; cryonics as a glass-state time travel; why he chose neuro- rather than full-body preservation; the costs and rate of adoption of cryonics; the culture, conservatism and geography of his home on the Isle of Skye; transhumanism and transcending limitations; the differences between Max More and James Hughes; his fear of death; the promise of chemical brain preservation; mindfulness and meditation; writing a transhumanist take on The Wizard of Oz and potentially on Grim’s Fairy Tales…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

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