David Wood Profile picture
Oct 18, 2018 7 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Looking forward to hearing @mrkocnnll in discussion at #GuardianLive tonight on "Is the future transhuman?" covering themes from his book "To be a machine" membership.theguardian.com/event/to-be-a-…
Ahead of tonight's talk, I can offer some comments on Mark's book (to which I listened all the way through on Audible). On the whole, it’s a good book, from which I learned a considerable amount. goodreads.com/book/show/3055…
Even when the book was featuring people in the transhumanist community that I thought I already knew well, I frequently found out more about their backgrounds, their projects, and their personal struggles. #GuardianLive
The writing is pretty cute – sometimes too cute. It comes as no surprise to learn that the writer has a doctorate in Eng Lit. And there are some touching sections, such as a discussion between his wife and their 3 year old son about the idea that aging might one day be abolished
Other parts annoyed me – the author seemed unnecessarily stubborn in some of his misunderstandings of transhumanism. For example, he erected far too much of an opposition between “biology” and “technology”. #GuardianLive
By no means all transhumanists are fixated on leaving their biology behind. Instead, most of us are keen to enhance our biology - body, brain, mind, and spirit - by taking good advantage of science & technology #GuardianLive
For a different take on the importance and relevance of transhumanism, see my (work in progress) "Sustainable Superabundance: A universal transhumanist manifesto for the 2020s and beyond") #GuardianLive transpolitica.org/projects/abund…

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More from @dw2

Feb 18, 2022
"Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19" by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley was a book that changed my mind. It marshals lots of evidence that significantly raises the probability that the global pandemic resulted from a laboratory incident (1/6) goodreads.com/book/show/5864…
The book highlights many heroic, admirable actions, of Internet sleuths and self-taught researchers around the world, who uncovered evidence which cast new light on the background to the outbreak of the pandemic (2/6)
But it also highlights many examples of actions that were much less admirable: people in both media and academia, as well as in the medical establishment, who sought to turn attention away from facts that were uncomfortable or inconvenient (3/6)
Read 6 tweets
Jun 14, 2021
Whilst waiting for the #CogX2021 sessions to start streaming, why not quickly check out the open preview of my forthcoming new book, which places the future of AI as central to the future of humanity. "Vital Foresight" dw2blog.com/2021/05/26/a-p…
CEO of @RollsRoyce, Warren East, looks forward to the company "smashing" the air speed record for an electrically powered craft. As part of exploring possibilities for greener air travel #CogX2021
... though it looks like this record-breaking @RollsRoyce effort has been delayed from the schedule originally announced (back in December 2019). Given the uncertainties involved in such innovative engineering, that's not too unexpected #CogX2021 rolls-royce.com/media/press-re…
Read 130 tweets
Sep 18, 2020
Live now: "AI, Data & Ethics with Prof. Joanna Bryson" @j2bryson "Joanna will join us at this edition of the London Ethics Meetup to share her insights on AI, Data & Ethics in 2020" meetup.com/Tech-Ethics-Lo…
Good definitions from @j2bryson at the start of her talk on "AI, Data & Ethics" Image
People who say they are "against regulation" benefit from huge amounts of regulation inside their own bodies, that is biological regulation, points out @j2bryson Image
Read 5 tweets
Sep 17, 2020
I'm watching the live stream from #OneSharedWorld #RiseOrFallTogether, "The OneShared World Interdependence Summit 2020". Lots of speakers, artists, and activists are lined up
"The world today faces a wake-up call. The question is: will we wake up?" Opening provocation at #OneSharedWorld by @JamieMetzl
"Because the core problem we face is systemic, our response needs to be systemic too. To safeguard our future, we need to build a new global operating system" - @JamieMetzl at #OneSharedWorld Image
Read 16 tweets
Sep 4, 2020
Starting in just under 2 hours, at 12.00 UK time: the 1st of the 9 sessions of #WeNeedAChange: "Accelerating a new Kind of Thinking & Science for a Sustainable Future". I'll be offering six theses about the kind of change needed. Video will be streamed at leanbase.de/streamaroundth…
The #WeNeedAChange sessions will also be streamed live at youtube.com/channel/UCLzeg…
Copy of the slides I presented in the first session of #WeNeedAChange: Six Theses slideshare.net/DeltaWisdom/dw…
Read 6 tweets
Sep 2, 2020
The #CogXtra panel "What's Needed Now" has just started streaming: "In considering how we rebuild, ideas once-considered radical have been up for discussion. But how radical do we need to go? Can we rebuild along the same lines as before?" cogx.co/event/what-is-… Image
"As the storms of the global pandemic continue to buffet businesses and individuals, we are all in need of a double dose of resilience. If only there were a precise recipe for it, we would all be racing towards a brighter future." This can be viewed on
The pandemic has exposed the extent of the digital divide. The number one infrastructure priority for the country is to fix this divide - former UK Chancellor George Osborne at #CogXtra Image
Read 7 tweets

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