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Showing posts from October, 2021

Transhumanist Values

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                                                    Transhumanist Values NICK BOSTROM Oxford University, Faculty of Philosophy H omepage:  www.nickbostrom.com [in  Ethical Issues for the 21st Century , ed. Frederick Adams (Philosophical Documentation Center Press, 2003); reprinted in  Review of Contemporary Philosophy , Vol. 4, May (2005)] [ pdf ] 1. What is Transhumanism? 1. What is Transhumanism? Transhumanism is a loosely defined movement that has developed gradually over the past two decades. [1]  It promotes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and evaluating the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the human organism opened up by the advancement of technology. Attention is given to both present technologies, like genetic engineering and information technology, and anticipated future ones, such as molecular nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. The enhancement options being discussed include radical extension of human health-span, eradication of dise

How fascist is Donald Trump?

  There’s actually a formula for that. Grading the billionaire on the 11 attributes of fascism. “Donald Trump is a fascist” sounds more like a campaign slogan than an analysis of his political program. But it’s true that the GOP nominee doesn’t fit into America’s conventional party categories, and thoughtful people — authors Robert Kagan and Jeffrey Tucker, among others — have hurled the f-word at him. Fascism was born in Italy during World War I and came to power with the ex-journalist and war veteran Benito Mussolini in 1922. Since the 1950s, dozens of top historians and political scientists have put fascism, especially the Italian and German versions, under the microscope. They’ve come up with a pretty solid agreement on what it is, both as a political ideology and as a political movement, factoring in all the (sometimes contradictory) things its progenitors said as they ascended to power. As a political ideology, fascism has eight main traits. As a political movement, it has three

14 Punk Genres (That Aren't Cyber or Steam)

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Phantoms and Monsters

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  Creepy Feminine-Voiced Entity Encountered in Deschutes County, Oregon Posted: 23 Oct 2021 10:53 AM PDT A Seattle woman needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and travel out on her own. She later stopped at a free campground, not knowing that she was about to experience a bizarre encounter. The following account was recently forwarded to me: "Sick to death of working myself to death, I took the first vacation of my life last year. A beat-up rebuilt Yamaha Zuma and a foolish sense of optimism carried me across the western United States on an adventure that seriously made me rethink everything I thought I knew about the world. I loved Seattle, with the hip original hippy neighborhoods and the perma-carnival atmosphere of Pike Place Market. The bridge troll was a highlight. Gotta love a city that sees a bridge and goes "You know what this needs? A giant concrete troll." Getting out of Seattle, however, was a total nightmare. Restricted to back roads by a mot