[ExI] Resources for a beginning transhumanist

[Natasha Vita-More]

Hi Sabrina, 

There are numerous resources from which to choose dating back to the 1980s
on "transhuman" and 1989 on "transhumanism", specifically.  The three
authors worth reading on "transhuman" are FM Esfandiary (FM-2030), Damien
Broderick, and myself.  FM was a futurist/idealist, Damien (who is on this
list) is a science fiction writer of high recognition, and I am an
artist/designer, videographer, turned theorist.  We each have different
perspectives, which offer a worthwhile beginning on the transhuman.

Transhumanism is another issue and as you know, it is a philosophical
worldview.  The original ideas and most informative writings are authored by
Max More.  The accumulation of his seminal ideas are located in Extropy
Institute, the original transhumanist organization which is now closed, but
still available on the web, as if frozen in time (like it was put in cryonic
suspension).

Many historical writings lend knowledge to the ideas of transhumanism -
those writers are Nietzsche, Pier de Chardin, Julian Huxley, Norbert Weiner
... The list goes on.

Other authors who took up the theme of transhumanism in their own work are
Anders Sandberg, David Pearce, Nick Bostrom, James Hughes, Simon Smith, Ben
Goertzel, and the list goes on.

Today, the amount of material which includes transhumanist ideas and
writings has grown and I run across new findings all the time.  For example,
I read a lot of academic papers which refer to transhumanism and also I am
finding that over the past five years, more PhD dissertations are referring
to transhumanism - either in areas of accelerating technology, human
enhancement, bioethics, social issues of the future, etc.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Natasha


Natasha Vita-More

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Sabrina Ballard
Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2010 9:30 PM
To: ExI chat list
Subject: [ExI] Resources for a beginning transhumanist

I think that I have been on this list for more than a year, and really
started paying attention to it these last three months. In my various
internet searches, I have come across the names of various list members, and
realized that this list isn't composed of people idly kicking around ideas,
as I was at first afraid.

This is a list composed of people who really mean what they say. That said,
I am rather young, live in a small town, and am new to Transhumanism. Over
the last three months I've realized how little I really know about the
topics discussed on the list, and while I do comment on certian things, I
feel uncertian to stick my nose in because of my spotty background.

So I was hoping that some list members might be able to point me to some
resources for the beginning transhumanist. I am not detered my heavy or long
reading, though I am only proficient in English (working on Spanish, but far
from fluent).

Thank you for any and all suggestions.
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