h+ Magazine

Today it is not inconceivable to imagine a race of extraterrestrials that, like brilliant computers, go gallivanting about the universe with the same finesse, capacity for self-knowledge, and manners as alligators in a wetland.

Look at the writings of alienated intellectuals. Listen to the people who say in song or story, “I don’t know who I am.” Almost always, what they are actually saying is “I don’t know who I am … in relation to the larger society.”

Singularity Institute’s Executive Director Luke Muehlhauser interviews AGI researcher (and Humanity+ Magazine Chief Editor, and Humanity+ Vice Chairman) Ben Goertzel on the nature and risks of AGI.

When we think in a grander scope of time and space, both the past and the future can be very thought-provoking, or even elicit powerful emotional responses. But why are our imaginations so easily captivated by stories and images of cavemen and spacemen? Romans and sentient AIs. Fred Flintstone and George Jetson.

Ben Goertzel interviews Adam Ford about the upcoming Humanity+ @Melbourne (May 5-6 2012), which will feature Aubrey de Grey, Natasha Vita-More, Stelarc and many more inspiring speakers.

Schwann Cybershaman, an h+ magazine writer and filmmaker, has been compiling a video series of lectures by the late Terence McKenna, the psychedelic philosopher and proto-transhumanist. Whether or not you agree with McKenna’s specific views, his breadth of knowledge and the boldness of theorizing will have you thinking about life, the universe, and everything in novel ways.

The core belief of transhumanism is that human beings can be biologically and physically improved through radical technologies. Transhumanist meditation means that human intelligence could be augmented by technology either through amplification or through connectivity, allowing humans to transcend physical limits.

Selfishness used to be a virtue. It was a way to advance ourselves in capitalist society. We were supposed to put ourselves before other people and this was supposed to be the gateway to success. Yet this was not the way of the future and many of us were in for quite a surprise.

As computers begin to reach a human level of intelligence, some consideration must be given as to their concept of ethics. Appropriately aligning moral values will mean the difference between a contributing member of society and a sociopath.

Through the due exercise of reason, human thought processes can approximate rational thinking. Rationality skills are a prerequisite for humans to understand how the world works and in order to be able to make better decisions about how to act in the world. Progress in science and technology would not have been possible without the human ability for rational reasoning.

Ben Goertzel converses with Hugo de Garis on his transhumanist argument for the reality of a Creator.