<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18812"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>I will be in Lisbon
the second weekend of October speaking at the [INSIDE] conference. This is
a transdisciplinary event which addresses the sciences and arts of human-machine
interfaces. My talk will cover a transhumanist perspective of human
enhancement as aiming for radical extension of personal existence, and which
includes issues of the Singularity. Of concern, and this was addressed on
the IEET blog, why the Singularity appears to be male-centric. I
simply cannot shed any light on this phenomenon. If anyone has
psychological or theoretical pointers as to why this phonemic has happened,
please let me know. (That it is technological and women are not
technological;.mathematical oriented is simply not a good enough defense because
it is not true.) There must be another reason. Misogyny? Does
it trickle down from the top?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>Do you all think
that could be the beginnings of another hijacking of terms, such as with
"cyborg"? With cyborg, which we all know was Manfred Clyne's description
of a man-machine adaptive, self-regulating system for the purposes of space
exploration. Years later, Donna Haraway popularized the term cyborg to
reflect a feminist theory. Now the term is deeply engrained in academic
and public sector as being attached to a feminist worldview. I spoke to
Clynes about this and he was quite certain that the feminist use of cyborg was
wrong.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>Because the
Singularity has a type of inference of chrysalises, it could a metaphor for the
human species reaching a type of maturity in merging with AGI. Because
chrysalis is, on one hand, the life stage of some insects undergoing
transformation; on the other hand it is well-known to women as a transformation
stage from being fertile, reproductive organism to transforming into
non-physically reproductive BUT intellectually productive, wise
organisms.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>"For some women,
menopause can transform their lives with the same power and force as a volcano.
A woman may be radically different in now she lives and moves in the world, and
this transformation affects all hose around her."... Usually this means
that a woman (whose instincts are to nurture and protect offspring), now
reaching outside the body to nurture and protect life. As with Rachel
Carson, a scientist, whose chrysalis brought her deeper into the rigor of
scientific study.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>Because the
Singularity is so male-dominated, I wonder if it is not almost stirring up what
might later be a larger issue of gender misappropriation now, which could lead
to a strong gender appropriation. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=968244914-29092009>I think this is a
darn good quesiton to pose to Vernor ... I'll get back to you all after I
talk with him about it.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=968244914-29092009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal align=left><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-no-proof: yes"><IMG
alt=Nlogo1.tif src="cid:968244914@29092009-3592" width=23 height=48
v:shapes="Picture_x0020_0"></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Freestyle Script'; COLOR: #404040; FONT-SIZE: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191"><A
href="http://www.natasha.cc/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: #404040; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191"><FONT size=2
face=Arial>Natasha Vita-More</FONT></SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns
= "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>