[extropy-chat] RE: [wtaboard] Report from Balticon

[mike99]

Joseph,
Bravo! Excellent work at Balticon!


Regards,

Michael LaTorra

mike99 at lascruces.com
mlatorra at nmsu.edu

"For any man to abdicate an interest in science is to walk with open eyes
towards slavery."
-- Jacob Bronowski

"Experiences only look special from the inside of the system."
-- Eugen Leitl

Member:
Board of Directors, World Transhumanist Association: www.transhumanism.org
Board of Directors, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies:
http://ieet.org/
Extropy Institute: www.extropy.org
Alcor Life Extension Foundation: www.alcor.org
Society for Universal Immortalism: www.universalimmortalism.org
President, Zen Center of Las Cruces: www.zencenteroflascruces.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wtaboard-bounces at transhumanism.org
> [mailto:wtaboard-bounces at transhumanism.org]On Behalf Of Joseph Bloch
> Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 7:30 PM
> To: WTA Board of Directors List; wta-chapter-officers at yahoogroups.com;
> World Transhumanist Association Discussion List; ExI chat list
> Subject: [wtaboard] Report from Balticon
>
>
> I've just returned from a most extraordinary visit to Balticon
> (http://www.balticon.org), the annual convention of the Baltimore
> Science Fiction Society. I had arranged to get an exhibitor table, and
> was scheduled (along with fellow WTA member Jeff Medina, who also held
> the banner high for SIAI and was a welcome expert on the many questions
> that came up on the subject of artificial general intelligence) to give
> two talks on >H as part of the science track of presentations on
> Saturday (family commitments prevented me from staying through Monday,
> even though the convention was still going strong when I left).
>
> I arrived on Friday afternoon and set up the info table with a number of
> flyers (downloadable from the WTA website--
> http://transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/resources/) I had printed out, as
> well as literature from Alcor (http://www.alcor.org), the New Jersey
> Transhumanist Association (http://www.goldenfuture.net/njta) and my own
> Center for Human Enhancement (http://www.humanenhancement.com). I didn't
> stay around on Friday night, as I was due at some friends' house, but
> figured a few interested early-comers might take some flyers.
>
> Boy, did they! When I arrived to man the table on Saturday morning,
> almost all of the flyers I had left the night before had been taken. I
> know it wasn't a case of someone just cleaning off the table, as
> _everything_ wasn't gone, but 90% of what had been there wasn't there
> any more. I was starting to feel good about this event. I put out more
> of the literature I had brought with me, set up the signs and
> literature-holders, and hung up the 6' vinyl WTA banner in front of the
> table, and even before I could sit down, folks were coming up and asking
> me questions about Transhumanism; turns out some of them had read the
> flyers from the day before and wanted to know more! Many folks stopped
> by and said they had seen our presentations in the convention schedule
> and were very interested and planning on attending.
>
> I was definitely feeling good about this. In fact, by the time Saturday
> was over, four new people had signed up as WTA members on the spot, and
> many more said they would do so on the website.
>
> Throughout the morning, there was such a crush of people asking
> questions, taking literature, and so forth that I barely had time to
> take a ten-minute break and scan through the dealers' area for souvenirs
> for my wife and daughter. Certainly I wasn't going to be attending any
> of the programming myself.
>
> In the nick of time, Jeff showed up for our first presentation at 1 PM,
> "An Introduction to Transhumanism". Without the benefit of any
> PowerPoint slides, any script, or really any preparation, we held an
> audience of 40 or so people enthralled with our description of the
> promise of Transhumanism. Almost as soon as our first sentence had been
> uttered, hands went up with questions, and the hour went by in an
> instant. Folks followed us back to the table, engaged in deep and
> thoughtful conversations.
>
> The 6 PM presentation, "Anti-Transhumanist Themes in 'Star Trek'" (based
> on a paper I am submitting to JET) was an even better success. The
> audience was completely engaged, asking really deep, penetrating
> questions, and the whole thing was completely fun, being bound together
> by examples from the various 'Star Trek' series that the audience could
> relate to directly. Naturally, it wasn't all on a science fiction plane,
> as we took pains to keep reminding everyone that these technologies are
> going to be here long before the 23rd century. After this presentation
> was over, we stayed in the room for a full 45 minutes past the end,
> chatting and answering questions from the audience, until we were
> compelled to leave by the staff (we were the last presentation in the
> room, but it needed to be set up for the costume contest later that
> evening). The conversation continued, once again, as we repaired to our
> exhibitor table. (Both presentations were videotaped, and I'll try to
> make a digitized version available on the WTA website as soon as
> practical.)
>
> This was such a different experience from my time at Lunacon. I can only
> think that it is the nature of the convention which accounts for the
> difference in response. Lunacon is primarily a literary science fiction
> convention, without any sort of science programming, and I think the
> people who attend reflect that emphasis. Balticon is a much larger
> convention, and has a well-established science programming track, and
> some people come just for that. Even those people who never go to the
> science programming are more (pro-)scientifically-oriented, and I think
> they regard the science programming track much like some people regard
> the existence of their city's philharmonic orchestra; they don't want to
> go see it, but they feel a certain comfort that it is there.
>
> This isn't to say that everything was wine and roses, of course. There
> were a few folks who were cautious at best regarding >H's claims
> regarding the promise of technology, and they certainly gave spirited
> arguments. Some folks had their own axes to grind, and imposed their
> expectations on >H and found it lacking. But on the whole, >H was
> extremely well-received by many people at Balticon, and I find the
> experience completely positive overall. I will hopefully be attending
> several more such conventions in the coming year.
>
> We've been invited back to Balticon next year, and I will certainly take
> them up on it. And next time, I'll have a few PowerPoint presentations
> with me.
>
> Joseph
>
> Enhance your body "beyond well" and your mind "beyond normal":
> http://www.humanenhancement.com
> New Jersey Transhumanist Association: http://www.goldenfuture.net/njta
> PostHumanity Rising: http://transhumanist.blogspot.com/ (updated today!)
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