2007
From Translook
Dec. 31 2007 - Creation of the SL-Transhumanists group. See Transhumanist renaissance in Second Life on Transumanar. About 20 transhumanists met in Second Life yesterday December 30 and agreed on a plan to relaunch and energize the transhumanist community in Second Life (and hopefully also in RL). Some very well known transhumanists were there, for example Natasha Vita-More, Riccardo Campa, Eugen Leitl (no known personal website, but you know who he is), Dave Pearce, and many others who I may have forgotten (sorry!). Extropia DaSilva (read her last essay) and transhumanist community builder in the metaverse Khannea Suntzu were there, and also the digital persons Sophrosyne Stenvaag and Galatea Gynoid, two of the main animators of the Extropia Core community where the meeting took place.
One of the first decisions was to use Extropia Core as transhumanist central meeting point in Second Life. My extropian parcel is of course available (I will assign it to the transhumanist group, see below), and we can reserve other meeting spaces in the forthcoming expansion of Extropia Core (the plan is to expand it to a block of many contiguous sims in 2008). Another decision emerged from the realization that we have far too many transhumanist large and small groups, subgroups, currents and factions in Second Life. Since we feel that we should not reproduce the fragmentation of transhumanism in RL (ask a question to two transhumanists and you get two different answers, including the question “what is transhumanism") also in the metaverse, we created the new group “SL-Transhumanists” in SL (join it in Second Life) as a replacement for all other groups. I will share the parcel at Extropia Core with the group. Join also the new mailing list SL-Transhumanists on Google Groups. All meeting chat logs and announcements will be posted to the mailing list, and often also to the Extropia Core website. We plan several talks (Charlie Stross, Aubrey De Gray, Dave Pearce, Natasha Vita-More, yours truly presenting a new not-so-secret project that will be announced soon), and regular office hours to introduce all interested avatars and their “primaries” to transhumanism.
See this article for a report of Charlie Stross' talk in Second Life, at Dr. Dobbs Island and mainly dedicated to cyberculture. We are organizing another appearance of Charlie in Second Life, watch this page for news and schedules.
Anders Sandberg in Second Life on converging cognitive enhancement, uvvy island in SL, May 24 2007 10am PST
Seminar on Transhumanism and Religion in Second Life, Sunday, April 29, 2007, 10am SLT-PST, uvvy island in SL
Prof.Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, England will be giving a talk in the Virtual world of Second Life (uvvy island) on APRIL 23,2007. The topic of the talk is “Upgrading Humans: Why not?”. The event is organized by the Second Life Chapter of the World Transhumanist Association. Read more...
DEAF07 Seminar Programme Seminar: Not everything is interaction, April 12, 2007, 6 am PST - 9 am PST, uvvy island in Second Life. Interaction is a key concept in many scientific paradigms and art practices. But critical voices claim that this emphasis is overrated – mere response is often mistaken for interaction. If this is the case, what are the consequences for the theoretical basis of interactivity-based art and science?
Moderator: Eric Postma (NL) Speakers: Mitchell Whitelaw (AUS), Gazira Babeli (Second Life), José van Dijck (NL), Fourth speaker tbc
DEAF07 Seminar Programme Seminar: Critical Ecosystems, April 12, 2007, 1 am PST - 4 am PST, uvvy island in Second Life. In this seminar, technological systems – often described as if they were living entities – meet the current debate on environmental issues. Critical Ecosystems investigates tactical approaches to technology-related ecological issues and cultural activism. What are viable design approaches for new mediated ecologies? How can environmental problems be addressed from an artistic, technological or cultural perspective?
Moderator: Ine Poppe (NL) Speakers and demonstrators: Alejandra Pérez Núñez (CL), Jo FRGMNT Grys (D), Sophie Gosselin (F), Julien Ottavi (F), Antony Hall (UK), Rens Kortmann (NL), Matthew Fuller (UK), Jan Willem Dol (NL)
DEAF07 Seminar Programme Seminar: Interrupting Realities, April 11, 2007, 6 am PST - 9 am PST, uvvy island in Second Life. Our experience of mixed realities (environments where digital and physical objects coexist) is both facilitated and obstructed by technology. Innovation in human-computer interaction usually focuses on smooth transitions between virtual and physical realities; but artists often introduce and emphasize interferences or collisions between both. Interrupting realities wants to investigate and contextualize this artistic approach.
Moderators: Workspace Unlimited – Thomas Soetens (B) and Kora Van den Bulcke (B/CAN) Provocator: Anton H.J. Koning (NL) Speakers and demonstrators: Marnix de Nijs (NL), Armando Menicacci (F), Alma Schaafstal (NL), David "DC" Spensley (US) AKA Dancoyote Antonelli (Second Life)
