My trip to Convergence08 turned out to go extremely well and I had a
great time. My volunteer position was to hawk books at a table in the
hall. I ended up selling almost everything they assigned me. "Read all
about the possible end of the world, edited by Nick Bostrom!" I took
many pics with my cell phone and will send them this way soon.
The "unconference" format was very cool. A huge wall poster schedule
was put up and anyone who wanted to create a topic that they would be
speaking about and group hosting could do so. The response was huge
and at any time a dozen or more interesting things were going on. I
felt like a human pinball trying to take in as much as I could.
The event was held at the Computer History Museum and they had a vast
and amazingly thorough collection of computers. I felt old as I
realized many of the "ancient" machines were from my adult years! hee
Actually, though, the conference was held upstairs and the museum
itself was downstairs. We were so busy that most conference attendees
did not even visit the museum. But I toured it and was astonished at
the vast assortment of computers and how well they had documented
their development and evolution. They even had a Babbage calculating
machine!
I regret that we did not have organized tours for conference attendees
to see the museum. It would have been so cool to be in a group of
geeks (especially the likes of Robert Freitas, Ralph Merkle, Keith Henson, etc.)
and reminisce about various machines and advancements!
Before the conference I toured downtown San Jose. I toured the Tech
Museum of Innovation and they are a top notch kid's museum that adults
can definitely enjoy. The space and oceanic sections were especially
good. I took lots of pics. They had a "once in a lifetime" Leonardo
DaVinci show (on loan from Italy) but it was very expensive and so I
passed on it and just took in the regular parts of the museum. But I
still enjoyed myself.
Afterward, I visited the San Jose University and their (far more impressive
than ASU's!) library. What impressed me was that it was set up to
feel more like a public library, with the latest best sellers, music
and audiobooks available. ASU librarians should be taking notes.
I enjoyed gathering around with the Imminst leadership and discussing matters
As they recorded it for U-stream. Justin, Bruce, Susan, and Shannon (I might have
missed someone, sorry) are sharp folks and very dedicated.
The Imminst made about $53,000 last year (much of it from advertising). The possibility
Of an operations officer to help run things was brought up. This would be a demanding but
paid position. Also, the idea of hiring proposal writing experts to raise money by obtaining
grant money was considered. I brought up my thoughts about having a specific officer whose
sole responsibility Is to help seed and grow Imminst student bodies throughout the globe.
But this was seen as not a good idea because the Methuselah Mouse Project student groups
already exist and are expanding.
Some key moments for me were the following. Fred Moulton laughing so hard you
could hear him throughout the auditorium when a sincere young man said the Torah
says man's lifespan is maximum allotted lifespan is 120 years and if you calculate the
number of heartbeats in that life it would be 4.5 billion, the same age as the known
universe. I thought it was kind of deep.
Paul Saffo was the opening guest speaker and is a supposedly major league futurist.
He brought up some good points but I really disagreed with his comment "the future
will look much like today, But with much better gizmos." This is certainly lacking in
transhumanist vision. But then as one Prominent transhumanist in attendance said,
"they seem confused around here as to whether they even really want to use the
word transhumanist."
Denise Caruso was the naysayer during the synthetic biology panel. I agree with her that
Necessary precautions to protect people and the environment must be made, but she
Really poured out the fear and insecurity vibe. She even dared bring up the "pre-cautionary
Principle." When she did this I wanted to immediately jump up and lecture her about Max and
Natasha's pro-actionary Principle and how fear must not dominate and overcome us.
A Dept. of Defense civilian biochemist attended the conference on official business
and sat next to me during the Friday restaurant get together. She knew nothing
about transhumanism and so I went into detail about various terms and gave her
the run-down on various organizations, websites and mailing lists. A very lovely lady.
I spoke with a NYC based architecture professor who gave a presentation about the
Timeship project of Saul Kent and Bill Faloon. This cryonics temple/body repository
project that I had thought was "DOA" is supposedly back on line. A coffee table book
about the project has been produced and land for the site has been purchased. But the
construction budget has been targeted at a whopping 300 million+, far larger than the
fortunes of Kent and Faloon. The prof was a good man, a classic New Yorker, and
very interested in my life.
Terry Grossman, the popular anti-aging doctor was in attendance. I felt almost lightheaded
as he read a laundry list of medical tests every person should have done. In another group
with him one of his patients took out his laptop and showed the program he had devised for
himself with Dr. Grossman's help. This guy was an engineer and it sure showed with his charts
and records. lol
Gregory Benford, the powerhouse science fiction author and physics professor, was there
promoting his biotech company. Yes, you heard me right, Gregory Benford is now yet
another up and coming biotech mogul! lol He claimed to have a very promising anti-
alzheimer's drug in the works (along with anti-aging stuff). I was rather in awe of him
and spent a lunch listening to him talk. He seems to enjoy having an audience. lol Benford
was in fine form when during the synthetic biology panel he made a dryly sarcastic reply to a
"precautionary principle" advocate who got to be tiring.
I met Scott Cragg (I think it was his name), who is a newbie to transhumanism and was
absolutely brimming with excitement. He wants to create "birthright" machines" that will
follow each person through their life, coaching and protecting them. He did a group
on how transhumanists should ally to do open source work based around Burning Man.
While holding a microphone during a Q & A session a man motioned to me wanting to make
a comment during someone else's question. I said no, but then looked at the name tag and
said, "oh, go right ahead Keith!" It was our bright and persecuted friend, Keith Henson. A
man of almost Extropian legend to me. I could kick myself that I did not make time to
speak one on one with him.
I bumped into my good friend Spike. It was so cool to see him and it was sad that he
could not attend the conference (though he did hang out with the resident transhumanist
brain trust in the evening, lucky bastard). I tried to use my cell phone to take a pic of
the two of us together but I kept on missing one or both of us! lol Then he tried to do
it but without any luck. Finally, I asked a passerby to do it and now I have a memory
of the two of us there. You rock, Spike!
It was so cool seeing our resident geniuses, Eliezer and Anders there. Eliezer has put on
weight and has a sweet ready smile. It was such fun seeing him playfully question Anders
about his AI presentation. And speaking of smiles, Anders still has his trademark smile and
has fortunately not lost his charming Swedish accent. The rumor is that Nick Bostrom (not
in attendance) has.
I finally met Michael Annisimov, charming transhumanist provocateur. He has quite a bit of
boyish charm and he and his friends kept on breaking up into laughter during Michael's lifeboat
presentation. I had no idea the end of the world could be so darn funny! Annisimov, like me,
has painfully light sensitive eyes and so has almost fully closed eyes in many pictures.
I found with both Michael and Eliezer, they each had quite a following of admirers/groupies/
minions. hee This is especially true of Eliezer! "And thus said Eliezer" was something I heard
one way or another during the course of the conference.
Kennita Watson did a group on cryonics acceptance, and the attendees were more focused on
the technical aspects of it rather than the usual "religious objections/I won't fit into the future"
subjects. Kennita was her usual fun and energetic self. Tanya Jones was in the audience.
And speaking of Tanya, she did a group presentation about Alcor goals and plans. But as I was
bouncing around the groups (so many!) I just got a glimpse of the things she must have covered,
one of them being how important it is for Alcor to pre-position standby equipment so that they don't
have to deal with customs. Her group was well attended and she was bright and charming as usual.
It was great to meet Professor James Hughes. He told me a post I had written regarding the ASU
conference
on transhumanism had a positive effect. Now a transhumanist
representative will be present at all the future conferences to balance
things out. Dr. "J" is a charming fellow and it was cool speaking with
him. But I did disagree with him (as many did) about his presentation
called "digital surfs and electronic buddha's." His point was that
future society will be so automated that people will either not work or
only put in a 10-20 hour week. I think as is the case now, better
tools will not stop 40+ hour work weeks a century from now. But it was
still an interesting presentation. His co-presenter, Michael LaTorra,
talked to us about detaching from the ego to gain psychological
strength. I wanted to stay and hear more but I left to bounce around
and take in other presentations. I will have to find out what I missed
from Michael.
I met Stuart LaForge, an extropy list poster. It was cool to put a face to the name. He told
me about his work in biotech and his frustrations due to the current administration. And he
encouraged me, saying that being an "everyman" rather than a scientist or engineer, etc., is
still making a contribution to the cause.
My friend Shannon Vyff was my supervisor as I did my volunteering duties and it was so great
to get to know her better. She had a table set up promoting her 21st Century Kids book. I was
amazed at how she juggled so many things as the conference progressed. Shannon deals with
severe chronic pain due to a nerve/abdominal condition and I deeply respect her mental and
physical endurance. A great lady.
Seeing Bruce and Susan is always a delight. They are the "first couple" of the Imminst and truly
awesome
people. A very cool moment happened when Susan was in Bruce's lap
(they are so romantic) and they were talking to Ben Goetzl and another
person. As I got my cell phone camera aimed there way Bruce gave me
the finger, with a hardcore metal expression on his face! LOL Susan
slapped his hand for being so mischievious. hee When I said goodbye to
Bruce I had a lump in my throat.
Oh, and Ben looks more than
ever like a young old testament prophet due to his long long locks of
hair. I had a discussion with him over snacks and had to disagree with
him that organized religion is going to simply fade away over time. I
see it changing, but definitely not going away. Ben was great on the
panels and always seemed to have a funny observation that caused the
audience to break into serious laughter.
It was very cool
to finally meet my Mormon Transhumanist Association friend, Lincoln
Cannon. We were hotel roommates and it was such a pleasure to stay up
late talking about our lives and how transhumanism fits into it all.
My thanks to Lincoln for his friendship and graciousness.
Though
I have known Natasha Vita-More for many years through the net and
greatly admired her for her achievements and big heart, I had never had
a real world sit down visit. And so it was incredibly cool to join her
at lunch and get to know her better. Her lunch group sat outside on a
balcony and we discussed current events and the gay marriage issue. I
said if people are concerned about this than they will be even more
upset when some folks want to marry an android or an uplifted dolphin.
When Natasha first greeted me at the conference, she gave me a big hug,
which was so great. And then she asked me (she knows me too well)
"John, do you need rescuing?" LOL
I never did talk with George Dvorsky of Betterhumans fame. I saw him whizzing by me at near light speed as he met with people and took care of various tasks. Next conference I hope to speak with him. He's lost weight and looks good. The new and improved George!
The day I left the city the
newspaper headlines told of an Asian engineer who after being fired
from his job shot to death threesenior executives from his former
company. The killer was married with three kids and was known for
being a friendly, easy going guy. I wonder what drove him off the edge?
I
had a wonderful time exploring San Jose and the Tech Museum of
Innovation, attending the Convergence08 Conference, and lastly visiting
the Computer History Museum. I did the best I could to document my
experience so I could share it with others.
My pictures:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=21008688&uid=11823366
Best wishes,
John Grigg : )