Dirk Bruere

  Limits to Growth — None The idea that economic growth cannot continue, and that it must not continue is deeply ingrained in the so-called “Green” political view of the future. The simplistic notion is that the Earth’s resources are finite and either we will exhaust them or fatally pollute the planet while attempting to do so. Superficially this makes sense. For example, if economic growth continues for the next century at around three percent per annum everyone will, on average, be twenty times as wealthy as they are now. In fact, almost everyone in Britain would be able to afford to live in a large fifteen bedroom house in several hectares of land with a swimming pool and a collection of top of the range cars. With maybe a private yacht and plane as well. So what’s wrong with this projection? The answer is, there is not enough land for a start. House prices have matched our increase in wealth over the past decades because we have hit the limits of one finite resource — space. Ho...

  Fear and Loathing in Transhumanism Written May 2014 There is a sense of paranoia seething in some areas of “traditional” Transhumanism. There is the smell of change in the air and some people do not like it one little bit. So, what is the change and why is it causing problems? To illustrate, let’s go back almost exactly twenty years to the early days of the Net. Back then very few people outside of the technical elite even knew that the “Internet” existed, let alone what it was. That self selected elite had their own culture, their own in-jokes and their own sense of idealism and freedom in what they saw as uncorrupted cyberspace, along with a utopian vision of how things ought to be in a new world. The vision of people like William Gibson in his seminal novel Neuromancer which appeared around a decade earlier was on one hand an inspiration and on the other an ignored warning of where it would be going, with its domination by mega-corporations, governments and the military. After...

  Our Vampire Future? — Wireheading and Hitech Psychopaths Wireheading — a term from science fiction that was coined some decades back to describe people who use electrical stimulation of the “pleasure center” of the Human brain to achieve the absolute maximum happiness possible. As a result the Wirehead often dies of neglect since the impulse to eat and drink, or indeed do anything at all, becomes insignificant compared to the ecstasy of the next jolt. The concept itself was in turn based upon studies of rats that had been implanted with electrodes in an experimental setup where by pressing a lever a the animal could self administer a jolt of supreme pleasure. The result being that they continually pressed the lever until they collapsed from exhaustion. However, in the years since the term appeared wireheading has not been a problem simply because it requires an operation on the brain and neither prospective addict nor neurosurgeon would ever consider undergoing or performing the ...

  In Praise of the Borg — “Resistance is futile — you will want to be assimilated!” All Star Trek fans have seen them, the relentless, powerful and collective mind known as the Borg. They roam about the galaxy press-ganging everyone they can find into becoming ugly mind controlled drones who work for the good of the hive whether they want to or not. While we might hope for better from Star Trek we should not expect it. Trek has almost a pathological antipathy to anything Transhumanist, and explicitly rejects any kind of enhancement of Humans whether it is genetic (Eugenics Wars), medical (anti aging) or technological (Borg). Even brain computer interfacing seems off-limits. So, given that Trek is a Luddite propaganda tool why don’t we take a look at the “enemy”, the Borg, and examine things from their point of view? First off, why are the Borg depicted as ugly unhealthy creatures with bad skin who can barely stagger after their prey? Surely with such a technology we ought to expect...

  Inventions and Discoveries Out of Time — What might still be missing? Did you know that Magnesium Diboride (MgB2) was first synthesized in 1953 and that it was discovered that it superconducts at a temperature of 39K in 2001? So why does that matter, you might think. It’s just an obscure compound of little interest. However, it could have been made, and this property discovered, over 100 years ago. The fact that up until the 1980s the temperature record holder for any superconducting material was about half that of MgB2 makes it rather interesting. Something rather important to science was missed for decades. What else has been overlooked? Well, in the superconductor arena the biggie was the discovery in the 1980s of the Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide superconductors whose transition temperature was higher than 77K, which was revolutionary. However, we can let off those careless physicists for missing these because it took a dedicated almost random search to find them. Nevertheless,...

  The Transhumanist Declaration 2.0 This was the winner of the competition for a new declaration that was held by Transhumanity. As such it is currently the definition adopted by Zero State. It is shorter than those it was based upon with many of the negative caveats concerning its dangers condensed into a single point. Humanity stands to be profoundly affected by science and technology in the future. We assert the desire ability of transcending human limitations by overcoming aging, enhancing cognition, abolishing involuntary suffering, and expanding beyond Earth. We intend to become more than Human. The single defining factor of Transhumanism that separates it from all previous philosophies is the proposed use of technology to transcend what it means to be Human. However this needs to be constrained by some basic ethical principles, not least for our own benefit and indeed survival. We advocate the well-being of all sentience, including humans, non-human animals, and any future a...

  Why Transhumanism Is Not Private Property Transhumanism (H+), has made some progress recently. Well, at least progress in creating careers, generating PhD theses, raising money and generally attempting to become mainstream. Indeed, I would not be surprised if as much as 1% of the educated population have heard of it. However, a price has to be paid and it seems to be that of giving up H+ and even in some cases appearing to oppose its traditional goals. The techniques of doing so involve a weird kind of cognitive dissonance. On one hand all the grand visions of artificial intelligence, uploading, raising the dead, re-engineering the cosmos and creating new species of PostHumans are being downplayed as somewhat embarrassing fantasies. Even the term “Transhumanism” is being dropped while at the same time those doing the dropping appear to want to exert a stranglehold on how it is defined. On the other, the big money spinner seems to be playing up the dangers and offering to protect ...