“I set as a goal the maximum capacity that people have. I settle for no
less. I make myself a relentless architect of the possibilities of human
beings.” --Benjamin Zander
Last week Humanity+, an international nonprofit which advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities, held their annual 2010 H+ Summit on the Harvard University campus.
The H+ Summit is part of a larger cultural conversation about what it means to be human and, ultimately, more than human. This issue lies at the heart of the transhumanism movement.
During the two day summit, held at Harvard, the keynote speakers explored the potential of technology to modify your body, mind, life, and world. What will it mean to be a human in this next phase of technological development? How can we prepare now for coming changes?
While the H+ Summit featured keynotes by well-known visionary thought leaders (Ray Kurzweil, Stephen Wolfram and Aubrey de Grey) it was Robert Tercek's keynote, "What Geeks Can Learn from Gurus", that caught both the imagination and attention of many people outside of the transhumanist community.
After Robert's talk was posted online, I had a steady stream of colleagues tweet, FB post and email me the link to both the video and SlideShare of his H+ Summit @Harvard presentation. All of them urged me to take the time to watch the video. I did and was not disappointed.
I don't want to say too much here (no spoilers!) but I urge you to take some time and have a listen and/or review the presentation slides for yourself. Rob Tercek is a very good speaker and he does a masterful job of talking about the challenges and future of the transhumanist movement and how they can better engage with the general public.
View more presentations from Humanity+.
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