It is important when effecting change that we look at the various elements that we need to assess. Ideally it is my opinion that this be done logically and without emotional baggage but with academic rigor. This essay is my opinion and overview of my actions moving forward. I’m not going to attack anyone here. What I am going to do is articulate my strategy with the various organizations and elements related to transhumanism and my own transhumanist vision and long term strategy.
Why am I a transhumanist?
Let’s start by why I’m a transhumanist. My value system is based on the idea that value is assigned through intelligence, and further that intelligence is defined as human level sapience and sentience and without that intelligence there is no purpose to anything. Therefore my morals and ethics are based on my understanding of these key principals. To me the idea that we should make every effort to be more than what we are and to rise above our biology is the highest thing we can do. It is this evolution either by extending our biology or by building AGI that is my own logically sound ideology that I’ve pursued for over two decades and only really in the past 5 years assigned its relationship to transhumanism. Given that transhumanism embodies my values and all I hold dear, it is this that I then must admit that above all else, my ideology is ‘transhuman’ and thus I am a transhumanist.
Transhumanism as an ideology
From that standpoint I look at transhumanism as my ideology and as that is the case, it is this ideology I want to see succeed. Helping others see what I see in the ideals of transhumanism is the reason that I’m interested in driving the ideology of transhumanism forward.
The Foundations Vision
As only a few of you know, I and my inner circle of friends who align with the above articulated position some years ago created a long term plan. It was really hatched in around 1994 as a long term strategy to affect change and enable certain goals. Those goals and the long term path leading to Foundation was articulated and finally set in motion around 1996. It is only much later that transhumanism became something I was aware of but given the alignment of that ideal we as a Foundation have slowly looked at how to support this as a movement. The long term goals or initial 20 year plan was really about building corporate resources and aligning with the ability to drive sufficient funds to create an organization that would be able to address certain issues. Those resources would then be used to help move us forward in terms of long term success with the ideological goals we had set and help where we could in funding, research and other tasks. One project that was finished last year was the Foundation library (digital and hard copy) that we just moved from Seattle to a remote location that is more geologically stable. Granted the Foundation library is a sort of backup drive but it is the lowering of risk and helping to make sure we can move the movement forward that the Foundation seeks to make sure it can’t go backwards especially from a loss of technology standpoint. (As a side note if you interested in seeing the library, it is in Leavenworth, WA and you can contact me separately).
Why is that relevant to this discussion you might ask? It is this pool of resources that I am trying to move forward and in an effort to be relatively transparent it is only fair to articulate the fact that the Foundation is supporting me in taking these actions publicly.
Transhumanism as an Ideology
Some have argued that Transhumanism is not a movement nor an ideology. Although I understand that viewpoint, we define ideology as:
A set of conscious and unconscious ideas which make up one’s goals, expectations, and motivations. An ideology is a comprehensive normative vision, meaning that it is a set of standards that are followed by a people, government, and/or other groups that is considered the “norm” by that group. (see wiki on ideology)
Given that and if one believes in the transhumanist declaration (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5uqZGA06vE) there is no reason to not apply that as the basis for a transhuman ideology. Since the bulk of society’s resources are controlled by politics it only makes since to get connected with the current structures in society to affect changes based on an ideology based on the transhuman declaration.
If one is going to say that you believe that the transhumanist declaration is something you believe it, it is at least in part your ideology and if it’s an ideology then it makes sense to implement it as best as possible and with the most resources which means politics…
Strategy for Change
Given my ideology and therefore political leanings we would need to have a strategy for executing on that. Based on the Foundation’s original ideas for strategy we had wanted to build additional corporate and financial resources prior to execution on anything public and therefore it was the idea of a policy center where we planned to start. Again given the circumstances it makes since to move forward and an involved version of that strategy which based on that framework this is more or less the framework for the current actions I am working towards. It is a strategy for change…
This is the framework for a Transhuman ideology from a tactical and strategic standpoint to develop as a movement and party which I am trying to execute.
Policy Center
The idea of a policy center goes back along way and was part of the original Foundation long term strategy after the initial 20 years of career building. The idea here is to help create material efforts in the current system to help effect change within the system to support the ideals that are part of the ideology, in this case the forwarding of the ideas in the transhumanist declaration including key areas such as longevity medicine and artificial intelligence. Given the initiatives going on in the community, I started the Transhuman Policy Center some weeks ago given the traction the movement was getting.
The function of the Policy Center as publicly stated is: “The mission of the Transhumanist Policy Center (TPC) is to provide nonpartisan guidance to the public, policy makers and electoral candidates on issues that affect legislation. TPC aims to safeguard the efficacy of scientific fact, empirical research, and critical thinking of documented material and shared information within the political sphere.” (see: http://policy.transhumanity.net/about/ )
Lobby efforts
There are a lot of great groups out there doing great work. A couple that come to mind include the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology (see http://www.ieet.org ). What really differs from a think tank like IEET which is important to the movement too, is that the Policy Center (http://policy.transhumanity.net) is about taking those ideas and putting them in front of the people that make the decisions. It’s about letters to senators and lawyers for the right cause, helping politicians see what can be done to solve problems. The Policy Center should be about helping politicians in all parties to see transhumanist solutions as politically viable.
Political support
For the Policy Center political support is focused on policies not parties. It is about sound transhumanist thought and ideology. The strategy in large part around lobby efforts also includes recommendations, assessments and other tools that help move a particular policy or policy maker if it moves the ideology forward on how to help society with new and innovative thought. If a politician in any party is making a decision in a way that supports our core ideology then the Policy Center is interested in helping them be a success with that one issue.
Academic quality resources
As a lobby organization part of the strategy is to raise the bar in terms of the quality of the content and the supported nature of that content. Policy Center briefs and other documents articulating a given position should be above reproach on any level. They should be sound, logical, well researched and clearly making improvements without going against transhuman ideology at any level.
Molding political thought
A key element of the Policy Center is to help mold mainstream political discourse to embrace transhumanist thought in word and action. It is only through a transhumanist ideological approach that we have the largest degree of success in terms of executing on the transhumanist declaration.
And where does that leave a Transhuman Party?
Transhuman Party in the United States
In my mind and in my experience with main stream politics it was historically unrealistic for a fringe group to be successful in main stream politics. Further it would require a lot of coordinated effort and a lot of energy on the part of a small group to be successful and then only in doing a lot of traditional activities done by special interested groups through various lobbies or PAC’s.
Given that it seems that there is enough social pressure and motivation to be successful, it seems reasonable to move that effort forward by creating an organization and continuing to create and foster local organizations that support transhuman ideology. It is not an easy goal but it is realistic. Such a party and movement must needs be supported by the core constituent.
In many ways a party is really a type of lobby effort that is more grass roots and putting politicians in place locally to solve real problems but to game that traction we need to put forward real world solutions that are realistic to actually implement. This is where a party can gain significant traction. The strategy then is to get organized, get people excited, drive the effort forward to create that gelling as a movement effect and solidly lobby efforts.
Once underway the intent is to look at getting youth and college students involved in driving interested on key points and creating a social meme that students can carry through to other schools to get people excited about the movement on key points of a polished strategy post initial organization. This really needs to be part of a broader movement in the world transhumanist political arena that we hope to collaborate in a worldwide movement that builds on the ideology of transhumanism political and otherwise.
These short and mid-term strategies address at a high level several political tactical objectives as we as a community or movement define that long term strategy that we can focus on in the coming decade. It is the future that we hope to effect by creating a transhuman ideological force in politics, business and the community to the future of us all.
For the short term the execution of national level Transhuman political party is about the following key tasks: creating organizational structure, establish a social media presence, create the digital resources to support the movement, creating community collaboration, helping local groups, building lobby effort infrastructure, encouraging youth and a youth based social engineering strategy and then finally to assess the success so far and developed a far more detailed strategy for action on multiple fronts. This is what I’m trying to do and what I would like help on so that we as transhumanists can work together to affect the future that we care about.
* hero image used from http://jongose.ninja/de/de-foundation-isaac-asimov.html
October 15, 2015 at 9:04 pm
I confirm and apologize all transhumanity ideas and rules and directives. I m agree to modify and create a combination of human System with microrobotics elements to elevate our enormous human Energy and brain power to help the People for a better life and for a correct way of life on the entire universe. I m sure that the transhumanism it s the only way to contrast the robot lobby. You can send me n.c.n.d.a. And i sign contract with your Group.
October 16, 2015 at 7:47 am
If i do not misunderstand you seem to put an emphasis here on building up an infrastructure among those who are already sympathetic to the transhumanist vision, and if so i fully agree with this.
But i also think that there is a lot of low hanging political fruit to be picked among those who know nothing about transhumanism, or just enough to react negatively out of conditioned reflexes. I am thinking of all those, and their numbers are increasing, who struggle with health and financial problems. Two major planks, longevity and UBI, in what would be a transhumanist platform are the solutions for these people, and not particularly hard to grasp.
Besides and beyond addressing policymakers directly i think there is an opportunity to mobilise “customer” demand as well. After Zoltan declared his candidacy i wrote an article (http://wp.me/p4Sv6U-aO) in which indicated, optimistically assuming that he would engage in building up a true partypolitical infrastructure, which apparently is for now beyond his reach and perhaps his interest, some ways of addressing voters, especially on local levels.
While i fully support the policy you outline here David, i suggest thinking about how to address people “where they live” and incorporating that approach as far as possible.
October 16, 2015 at 1:39 pm
Transhumanism in my mind can be defined as any utilization of technological or biological enhancement or augmentation that raises the limit of human capability and intellect.
In 1991, I was sitting in the back of a C-130 en route to Wiesbaden, Germany. Soldiers being a creative lot when it comes to killing time, my Chief tosses out the age-old “What if you could have ONE wish and couldn’t wish for more wishes.” question. After the standard “Billion-dollars, invisibility, flight, teleportation chaff… It was my turn to answer. Without missing a beat, I blurted “100% complete knowledge and control of all of my biological systems.” In retrospect, that was the day I became a transhumanist and futurist.
So I’ve never altered my wish and no one has ever been able to top it. THAT is my life’s goal, because as time moved on- I saw that technology and science evolved inexorably toward the ability to turn my wish into a reality.
Transhumanism does NOT a make a good political ideology. Politics are designed to exercise control over a segment of the community, state or nation. This will not be possible or practical when I finally get my wish, nor should it be the goal of other Transhumanists. I feel that we should move toward a more “advocacy and public outreach” driven ideology.
We all know that transhumanism will ultimately become integrated into the vast majority of the human condition. It is simply technological evolution. We want to “grease the skids” and shift public awareness to its inevitability in an attempt to hasten and ease the impact of its arrival.
Transhumanism CAN be a political organization, and it might be the best route for advocacy, but at the current exponential rate of progress, I feel that it could be a frightening platform to our change-resistant sociopolitical quagmire…
December 1, 2015 at 8:31 pm
Some brief notes.
** Transhumanism as an ideology
I would argue that it is an ideology and a way of life and set of long term commitments. So agreed.
I still don’t hold the declaration as adequate.
The bulk of society’s resources is first of all a problematic phrase and second of all these should NOT be controlled by political means but by the free decision of the people themselves.
** Strategy for change.
*** Why not start with funding by the people, a 501C or other foundation
Have it fund various other things some political but also relevant research and startups with some profits (if any) therefrom going back to the Foundation.
** Policy Center
*** Not non-partisan but different partisan.
merely supporting empiricism and scientific fact is not at all enough. We need to get the real possibility of all the great goals above and basically achieving the species dreams of humanity across as real and doable.
*** IEET has imho some issues
They exclude many from participation on a political bassis and often advocate things I believe are quite counter to achieving the pontential of transhumanism.
*** PAC alone will not do
The basic political structure especially in terms of what government controls is very much the problem. There are far too few of us to sway a vote driven congress critter. We need to awaken the people and enroll those that get it taking in and using whatever they can contribute to the cause. No politician is going to see as viable what his/her constituencies in their majority do not support generally speaking.
** Academic quality resources
I don’t believe this is the point. Academic quality does not sway the public or politicians so much as deeply enrolling visions and ideas. Yes we want to do our homework but academic rigor per se doesn’t really help much.
** Tranhumanist Party in US.
Unrealistic or not I think we need such a party. As a country we definitely need to break the TweedleDee and TweedleDum deadlock. But perhaps it is not yet the time. OTOH it is a great and powerful publicity move.
In any case we need a much clearer statement of principles and goals that is far more enlivening and inspiring than the transhumanist declaration.
I don’t agree that “organizational structure” is that important today until we clarify vision and goals. It is important though to have the means in place for people to contribute what they can and work together.
Creating community is very very important.
Creating shared vision the community forms around and lives (walks the walk) is crucial.
December 12, 2015 at 5:24 pm
so I guess responding in reverse order:
To Samantha:
as to the declaration, your right it is not enough and thats where I get into some of the ‘other’ material sent your privately such as this: http://transhumanity.net/transhumanism-and-sacred-intelligence-wisdomsapience-as-the-basis-a-scientific-but-spiritual-approach-to-transhumansim/ as well as some other ideas that I’m not sure I’m ready to post publicly.
as to the statement: “The bulk of society’s resources is first of all a problematic phrase and second of all these should NOT be controlled by political means but by the free decision of the people themselves.”
yes it is a problematic phrase and yes it should NOT be controlled by political means BUT the problem is that it IS done that way currently… we can’t really effectively change that and therefore must work with in the system to move the system towards a better one.
on the Foundation. it is a 501C but its a funding issue and we have had several major projects including a 62 million dollar fiasco that blew up last year that would be insured a steady income for the Foundation. given that we also have spent some time working on other funding projects moving forward not otherwise articulated here but that is part of the ‘Foundations’ strategy not the over all one related to transhumanism here. Once funded however the plan was to support various transhuman projects.
With the TNC as a PAC we can raise money and fund projects specific to transhumanism and policies including helping write laws and other key elements to drive the TNC agenda forward which will including asking the TPC to write policies for the TNC and to otherwise support groups like it or IEET. For the TNC it needs to be a broad multi pronged approach with in the system in my mind. as to the TPC again it is a tool for the broader strategy.
Initially I didn’t even think the TNC was doable until we saw enough movement in the demographic that I think there is a chance to make it work as a PAC with the intent of evolving into a strategy. There are a few other key elements I think we can use to do this which are noted in the 8 month plan posted online but it will take me time to get all the pieces together given my work schedule and other limitations.
I guess the Academic rigor is more about being better and a bit elitist. I know that the public won’t care and politicians won’t be I’d like to see that Transhumanism works towards being better then other PAC’s or groups or movements. its the same reason the software with the best user experience. its the small details say a UI that is a pixel off or the font not exact that ruins a user experience or lowers the quality. and this is part of the driving force for me to want a higher quality bar in the work we do.
as to Michaels comment, “frightening platform to our change-resistant sociopolitical quagmire”
Yes but if we don’t control the transhuman message some one else will and it might not be as good. With fruit cakes like Alex Jones talking about ‘transhumanism’, (I apoligize for lowering my self to calling him a fruit cake… see this series as a case in point on why I feel that way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZ4CV8fKbk )
and to René’s comments, I guess I feel that once we have some basic structure I think that is a good plan in terms of giving people tools to contribute where they live.