[ExI] The Manifesto of Italian Transhumanists

[John Grigg]

Fabio wrote:
Italy (like any other country) is unique. Part of its "uniqueness" is
the presence of the Vatican and the power of catholic institutions. Is
this an obstacle to the transhumanist project? Often it is (embryonic
stem cells), sometimes it isn't (genetically modified crops). So,
which is the best approach? I don't claim to know, but I see that all
mainstream parties, on both the left and right, are always very
cautious not to upset the "catholic vote", and I see that the most
anti-catholic (in the political sense) parties are the small ones. I
also see that Italians have a healty tendency to take the Vatican's
pronouncements with a pinch of salt. How else to explain Italy's
birthrates (among the lowest in the world), given the Vatican stance
on contraception? Am I the only one to think that twenty years from
now Italians will take the same pragmatic approach to life-extension
therapies?
>>>

An interesting observation regarding Italian politics and the people behind
it.  In the roleplaying game "Transhuman Space" they have a somewhat more
negative section about Italy in the year 2100, which ties in with what
you wrote.  On the other hand, Bruce Sterling's classic novel, "Holy Fire"
had a Roman Catholic Pontiff who imbibed mind altering/enhancing
super-nootropics and a new age of visions and revelations was born!

I have always been fascinated by how Transhumanistic ideas/cryonics, etc.,
seem to find fertile ground in some nations/regions, but not others.  I
would have thought Japan would strongly embrace Transhumanism but that has
not been the case as far as I know.  It might find a place in rapidly
growing and nationalistic China and yet such a philosophy might be seen as
too controversial by the central government.  Would Taiwan, home to a
ferociously capitalistic people, be prone to Transhumanist ideas?  I could
envision Russia over time developing a fairly strong Transhumanist
subculture.  I think it would appeal to the Russian mindset (but might be
combined with ultra-nationalistic memes).  And so at this point I think only
the United States, Canada and some European nations have mildly substantial
Transhumanist presences.

I'd like input from others regarding the "current state of the Transhumanist
global community" and how to encourage things along.

John Grigg
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