Martin Rees - AI, SETI, ET & "The Sentinel"

02/10/24 • 39 min

Will SETI find post-biological civilizations in our galaxy, or are extraterrestrial explorers already here? Professor Martin Rees discusses themes from “The End Of Astronauts”, the Breakthrough Listen Conference, and Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel". Professor Martin Rees is a British cosmologist, astrophysicist, and the 15th Astronomer Royal, a post first established in 1675, and to which he was appointed in 1995. Professor Rees has a BA, MA, and PhD from Cambridge, supervised by Dr. Dennis Sciama, and after his postdoctoral studies in the UK and abroad, later worked as a professor at Sussex University, the University of Cambridge, and Gresham College. He has also been the director of the Institute of Astronomy and later the Master of Trinity College at Cambridge. Professor Rees has authored over 500 research papers and numerous books, and made contributions to the origin of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, black hole formation, quasars, gamma-ray bursts, as well as more expansive topics in anthropic reasoning and the multiverse. He has also been a supporter of the SETI project, and chaired to advisory board for the Breakthrough Listen project funded by Yuri Milner. LINKS & RESOURCES: Will SETI detect organic or electronic intelligence? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRVQSRdOYWk The End Of Astronauts https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674257726 Most Aliens May Be Artificial Intelligence, Not Life as We Know It https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/most-aliens-may-be-artificial-intelligence-not-life-as-we-know-it/ The Sentinel (by Arthur C. Clarke) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentinel_(short_story) Martin Rees Homepage https://www.martinrees.uk/ Martin Rees, The Lord Rees of Ludlow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rees Books on Space Science by Martin Rees https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Rees/s?k=Martin+Rees Centre for the Study Of Existential Risk https://www.cser.ac.uk/team/martin-rees/

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Cory Doctorow - Online Platform Decay

Cory Doctorow discusses the 3-stages of online platform decay, characterized by declining quality for users, advertisers & publishers, and applies those principles to the "Big 5" tech companies: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft. Cory has written, "Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die." Cory Doctorow is a well-known science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger, currently engaged in writing atboth Pluralistic.net and Craphound.com. Among his many accomplishments, Cory is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction novels, former co-editor of Boing Boing, former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an a MIT Media Lab Research Affiliate, a Visiting Professor of Computer Science at Open University, a Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of North Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, and co-founder of the UK Open Rights Group. Cory is the winner of numerous awards and honors, including the John. W. Campbell, Locus, Sunburst, White Pine, Prometheus, and Inkpot awards for his writing and the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, in 2022, he earned the Sir Arthur Clarke Imagination in Service to Society Awardee for lifetime achievement. Additionally, York University has made him an Honourary Doctor of Laws; and the Open University made him an Honourary Doctor of Computer Science. LINKS & RESOURCES: Cory Doctorow's Craphound https://craphound.com/ Pluralistic.Net https://pluralistic.net/ Cory Doctorow’s Books on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cory-Doctorow/author/B001I9RSKC Cory Doctorow (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow The Social Life Of Information https://www.amazon.com/Social-Life-Information-Seely-Brown/dp/0875847625

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Zoltan Istvan - Transhumanism & Beyond

Will AI disrupt the US labor market? Transhumanist pioneer Zoltan Istvan discusses the goals, politics, ideals & philosophical underpinnings of the US Transhumanist Party and expresses concerns about artificial intelligence and The Singularity. Zoltan Istvan is a well-known transhumanist, journalist, entrepreneur, political candidate, and futurist. He has worked as a reporter for the National Geographic Channel, his writings have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and Outside, and his coverage of the war in Kashmir was made into a documentary, "Pawns of Paradise". As an entrepeneur, he's experienced in real estate and owns vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina, Bordeaux, France, and Napa Valley, and more. Zoltan's writings and ideas on transhumanism, philosophy, atheism and futurist issues have been featured in major media, including Gizmodo, New Scientist, Salon, TechCrunch, The Daily Dot, International Business Times, Singularity Hub, TechInsider, Newsweek, Futurism and Slate. He's also the author of The Transhumanist Wager, Philosophy and the Future, The Anti-Deathist, The Futuresist Cure, and a number of other books on topics in futurism & transhumanism. Zoltan ran for Governor in California in 2018, and sought Republican nomination for the 2020 Presidential Election on a platform emphasizing science, technology, longevity, transhumanism and Libertarian values - which he has spoken on in forums such as the World Bank, World Economic Forum, Congreso Futuro,Moogfest, the World Future Society's annual conference, Financial Times Camp Alphaville conference, and more. LINKS & RESOURCES: Zoltan Istvan (Homepage) https://zoltanistvan.com/ Zoltan Istvan Books on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/Zoltan-Istvan/author/B00ARY87WC Zoltan Istvan (Futurist Collection) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093CH4X9T US Transhumanist Party https://transhumanist-party.org/ Zoltan Istvan (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoltan_Istvan