Category Archives: Transhumanism

About three years ago, the poet Jack Underwood became a father for the first time. The responsibility weighed heavily: he recalls feeling that there should have been more paperwork. We signed a form or two and then they just sort of let us take you away. A human child. A few months later, he started having panic attacks his love for his daughter had rendered him utterly fucked with worry. He decided to write about it, which helped: my breathing regulated, my thoughts took shape, giving direction to my feelings; finding my thinking voice was like opening an enormous valve. The resulting book is a thoughtful essay-memoir on parenthood, in which Underwood recounts how he learned to manage his angst to live within the fear by embracing uncertainty.

Not Even This takes its title from the ancient philosopher Carneades of Cyrene, who remarked that Nothing can be known; not even this. It is a hybrid work, alternating between two distinct modes of writing: an epistolary memoir in the second person, addressed to the authors daughter; and a freewheeling meditation on the theme of uncertainty, touching on assorted matters of quantum physics, neuroscience, etymology, history, economics and technology. These include, among other things, the disagreement between Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson as to whether time exists independently of human beings; the biomedical ethics of transhumanism; the prospect of the technological singularity, when digital superintelligence will transcend the human intellect; the way time seems to slow down when were doing something interesting; the anomalousness of wave-particles; the reality behind the myth of Joan of Arc.

The gist? Knowledge is inherently tenuous, mutable renegotiable, political and socialised, and the craving for certainty is at the root of many societal ills. The financial system, for example, is wedded to certain rigid orthodoxies that are periodically disproved, with disastrous consequences: When we mistake the power of finance for certainty in its workings, then we only hand it more power, more confidence, and so permit it to act less and less reasonably. Fallibility is integral to human progress, so its best to go with the flow: a parent has little choice but to learn to trust a child to become themselves, and such trust is a kind of love.

The idea of trust also informs his approach to creative writing. Underwood, whose first poetry collection, Happiness, was published by Faber in 2015, sees poetry as a form of dissonant, unruly, uncertain knowledge, in which language is provisional, equivocal, interpretable. The process of composition is built on two-way trust: trusting the reader to get it, and trusting yourself, as a writer, to make yourself understood. Unlike many poets, Underwood doesnt save multiple drafts of his poems, but restricts himself to a single document and if I ruin it well, never mind Maybe I need the fear, the slight risk, to force myself to take responsibility for the poem in my care I have to move forwards in one vulnerable, resolute trajectory.

Underwood rejects the platitudinous notion that having kids turns you into a better person If anything parenthood has made us more selfish, more insular, always directing our hearts resources inwards. But he is, by his own account, a sentimental sort (I find old batteries funereal. I thank cash machines and postboxes), and this is what gives this book its charm. He reminisces fondly about his daughters first unaided steps, and sympathetically recalls how, during the first few months of her life, she would become extremely unsettled a neurotic, crotchety recluse whenever he had guests round: A roomful of strangers bursting out laughing must have been a grotesque, hyperreal tableau of teeth and gums. He believes silliness is intrinsic to intimacy, and encourages her to feast, you daft little cherub. There is practically nothing in life better than being incredibly silly. Elsewhere, overcome with love, he gushes endearments: My bag of fish. My cuddling gammon. Look at you go! Jesus Christ. Let me count the ways.

This is Underwoods first book of nonfiction prose and, like most debuts, it has its flaws. The central argument is somewhat woolly almost any subject might be obliquely tethered to uncertainty and Underwoods rhapsodic lyricism sails dangerously close to feyness at times. But he is a lucid and engaging companion. The voice that comes through in these pages is immensely likable humble, conscientious and emotionally intelligent. The books format flitting back and forth between disquisition and memoir every few pages serves the reader well: the essayistic meanderings are kept in check, and the autobiographical candour doesnt cloy.

A number of recent books on fatherhood have examined the subject through the prism of masculinity. These include Charlie Gilmours Featherhood (2020), Caleb Klaces Fatherhood (2019), Toby Litts Wrestliana (2018), Howard Cunnells Fathers and Sons (2017) and William Giraldis The Heros Body (2017). Though Not Even This also touches questions of gender, the scope of its existential inquiry is broader: Underwoods overarching theme is fear and fear, as he rightly points out, is what underpins the less savoury aspects of conventional masculinity. For all his fretfulness, this is an upbeat book. Underwoods dread gave way to a sanguine sense of purpose and self-sacrifice: Ive experienced a shift in my personhood, he writes, and acquired this sense of my body as happy collateral, a buffer of meat. Im not the important one in my life any more.

Not Even This: Poetry, Parenthood & Living Uncertainly by Jack Underwood is published by Corsair (14.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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Not Even This by Jack Underwood review fatherhood, philosophy and fear - The Guardian

When it comes to skincare, Croatian-born, London-based skin health specialist Jasmina Vico insists on taking a holistic approach. Using skin as an indicator for whats happening inside the body and vice versa, when treating someone Vico looks at gut health, sleeping patterns, stress levels, micronutrient intake, overall diet, and stress levels, which she combines with her bespoke laser treatments, needling, LED facials, and gentle acid peels. There are no quick fixes only continuous care and the investment should be long term, she warns. Its an approach that has earnt her a cult following, including make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench, actors Killing Eves Jodie Comer and The Crowns Claire Foy, and model Shanina Shaik.

With a belief in the power of prevention and a keen interest in biohacking, Vico imagines a future where we will be able to hack our own bodies with the help of science and advanced technologies in order to prolong our lifespan tracking our sleep patterns, monitoring our gut health and even printing our own skin. Here, she shares her predictions for the future of skincare, debunks some of the myths and misconceptions underpinning the industry, and outlines the best ways to protect your skin.

Over-using products that are not suitable for your skin type or condition is something Im correcting and educating my clients about daily. More importantly, spending your hard-earned money on skincare can be a folly if you are not protecting your skin every day from the sun and HEV blue light. Protection is key. There is a misunderstanding that the skin is a surface.

Follow the science is a phrase weve all heard a lot of recently, but when it comes to skincare you cant hear it enough. Many products and procedures promise results that the science if it exists at all does not back up. I also think there has been a lack of industry-led focus on education around the impact that lifestyle choices have on our skin.

My own skincare approach is focused on prevention inside and outside. Im interested in gut health, micronutrient intake, overall diet, regular sleep patterns, and stress levels. Staying out of the sun is obviously the big one. Reducing inflammation is my mission. Inflammation ages the skin, weakening its structure, and degrading the collagen and elastin. Our diet sugar being the worst offender our stress levels and our environment [chemicals/pollution] all profoundly impact and exacerbate inflammation.

Many of us are living at such speed and all of us experience stress. Its necessary to unplug. The Japanese practice shinrin-yoku which translates as forest bathing: a walk in the forest, phone-free, using your senses we could all take a leaf out of that book. A walk in nature, meditation, breathwork, slowing down and being present: these practises have skin benefits too.

Flawlessness is an unrealistic goal. That doesnt mean we cant dramatically improve our skin and make it be the best version of itself. I am a problem solver and one of the things I do is identify issues even when they arent visible and find solutions.

I think the future will focus more on prevention than it has done and at a cellular level. Well be tracking our sleep patterns and sleep depth with monitors on our beds and using grounding mats to help reduce inflammation. Well use our own personal 3D skin printers to deposit sheets of skin, which sounds wild but a handheld printer has already been developed to deposit bio-ink on large burns to help with wound recovery.

Skin bio-printing will use self-assembling peptides and amino acids that create almost a scaffolding-like structure that grows within the skin. There are going to be more devices and bio-electrics, bio-tech and nanorobots to track our sleep because sleep is one of the most important things for skin.

I am naturally a curious person I want to know how the body works, to understand how we age, increasing our life-span. I have always been interested in science and developments in technology. Self-tracking our health will help us understand how our body works and responds to internal and external factors, which will be different for each of us and will be the key to understanding what triggers inflammation in us.

Transhumanism is already with us whether were ready for it or not or even want it. We are already cyborgs in a way Im certainly smarter just by having my phone next to me.

I think it will offer us some control and autonomy over our own health as well have greater access to information but also through our own experimentation. But just as Im interested in the impact on individuals, Im interested in societal patterns and greater understanding. We are all connected, physically, cognitively, mentally and socially.

Im also fascinated by the developments in [the study of] sleep and the effects it has on our overall health not just for the skin. I have been using my Oura ring for about two years to track my sleep. Its essential for mental and physical health to have proper, restful sleep. The developments in grounding mats are helping us reduce inflammation and promoting a good nights sleep.

Socio-economics will play a big part. We understand so much more about ageing because of the research invested into science and biotech. Its going to be about tracking your health. Skincare brands that manage to customise and tailor-make products for the individual with bio-tech will do well. But only if they are transparent and dont make misleading claims.

We will also be looking more into the pillars of health, which has been my approach for many years, to ensure they are working in synergy and functioning at their optimum. Self-discipline will play a big part in this.

Id like to think it is about being unique, and happy in your own skin. When Im with my clients, I want to release their essence, their innocence which is associated with youthfulness and happiness.

Having things wed like to improve on is one thing but acceptance is also important: bottled youth doesnt exist Yet. But who knows in the future with bioprinting, 3D matrix skin, AI, etc.

I am fortunate enough that I have a twin I can compare myself to. In the future we will all have a digital twin that we look at each day in the mirror, on our phone, or as a hologram. The twin will be your double and will help you track your health. For example, it will allow you to see your UVC [ultraviolet] face, your gut face, your hangover face. It will also allow you to see your biological age and therefore help you to experiment and find preventative solutions.

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Is Biohacking The Future Of Skincare? - British Vogue

When Zuriel Hampton-Coffin learned he would have to make a horror film for his Popular Culture and Religion and Philosophy course, he wasnt horrified.

I was very excited and became more interested in the class, said the freshman in entrepreneurship. Knowing that it was a horror film didnt really make a difference, I was just excited to make a movie.

I really enjoyed the filmmaking process. It was much harder than I thought it would be, but it was very enjoyable.

Getting students to think outside the boxor in this case, inside the movie theateris one reason Ethan Mills, associate professor of philosophy and religion, assigns a three- to five-minute horror film as one of the assignments each semester in the course. Students reactions vary.

Usually, they are a little surprised, and theres a whole history of that because the name of the classes are pretty generic title: Popular Culture and Religion and Philosophy, he said. Some people go, Cool. Im really excited. This is going to be awesome. And sometimes I get the reaction, Well, Im not really a horror fan. I dont really want to make movies, but, you know, maybe itll be interesting.

What I hope they get out of it is theyll be able to appreciate popular culture at a deeper level, more thoughtfully, he said. You can think philosophically about anything.

Dr. Mills has used filmmaking technique in the class three times, including this semester. The latest batch will debut on Nov. 18. One will be selected as the best and win prizes.

The films must illustrate one of the philosophical tenets that have been discussed in class, including existentialism, denial of death, authenticity, absurdity, transhumanism and others. Students must explain, in writing, the concept they are highlighting in their script.

When youre making a film, you cant just say, So-and-so is feeling sad. You have to think about: How do you show that that character is sad? How do you show some of these abstract philosophical ideas? How would you take these ideas and put them in a visual medium?

Mr. Hoffman-Coffin said representing the philosophical concepts was easier than he thought.

You would think that writing scripts addressing philosophical concepts would be hard, but it really wasnt. Professor Mills provided us with many different concepts, which made it extremely easy to create a film addressing those, he said.

Breaking off into groups, students write the screenplay and design the filmmaking process from figuring out the camera shots, the lighting, the pacing and choosing the actors. Working with Wes Smith, who is in charge of the recording and filmmaking studio in the UTC Library, they use professional-grade cameras for filming and computer software and equipment to edit, create the music and add special effects their films. Some students use their smartphones to film.

Actually, especially some of the newer phones, have pretty decent video capabilities, so theyre actually not bad, Dr. Mills said.

Along with discussing the philosophical writings of Jennifer McMahon, Albert Camus, and W.E.B. DuBois, his students have read books and short stories and watched films of horror, then connected the two. Theyve discussed books such as the original Frankenstein, in which the monster is very intelligent but reviled. In doing so, the novel examines xenophobia and the nature of what it means to be human.

Theyve watched Get Out!, the 2017 horror film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar which tackles racism and transhumanism, the idea of using science to improve humans. Theyve read novels by Stephen King and the short stories of H.P. Lovecraft, whose writings conclude that the universe doesnt make any sense and we are simply specks on an infinite canvas.

Thinking about something like Frankenstein, which is still part of the popular culture 200 years after the novel was published, I find it kind of interesting to go back to the original source and see where it all came from, Dr. Mills said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, though, certain changes had to be made

I have to remind them that when theyre filming to be careful interacting with other people. So Ive really been stressing the safety, especially on the filming aspect, Dr. Mills said.

Group discussions can be done over Zoom, he noted, and social distancing and masks are used by students when actual filming takes place, except for the actors who have to speak the lines, of course.

One of his suggestions for safety-first is to create a found-footage filmthink The Blair Witch Project or the Paranormal Activity movies. Those can be made using Zoom, reducing the amount of time students spend in face-to-face groups.

Whatever the style, students hopefully will discover new ways to enjoy what they read and see, Dr. Mills said.

When were watching films or reading the short stories and novels that we cover, what Im trying to train them to do is to find the philosophical content, getting those works. But when theyre making the films, its kind of from the other side. Theyre putting that content into their own work, so they see it from both sides. I think thats a really unique learning experience.

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UTC Professor Blends Together Philosophical Concepts And Filmmaking - The Chattanoogan

We can hardly blame the creators of this busy one-man show for endlessly worrying about whether the finished work counts as theatre. Much effort is made to satisfy stretched definitions of the form. The audience members are asked to upload video of themselves - staring, laughing, sleeping - and the rendered images, each transferred to tablet, are scattered about the auditorium in Project Arts Centre. Sitting at home before a streaming computer, you cannot control your avatar, but, as a few reverse shots clarify (apologies for cinematic rather than theatrical jargon), you are there in some cybernetic sense.

Jack Gleeson, best known as the horrid Joffrey in Game of Thrones, spends much of the brief running time pondering the ups and downs of this hybrid form. You can go to the lavatory with less inconvenience. Maybe you are on the lavatory right now. Try to forget the screen, he says before - in my case, anyway - a brief buffering issue (was that deliberate?) made that task impossible.

All this might have proved exhausting if the self-conscious experiments did not complement the plays core theme. Happily, the experimental format is well-suited to an exploration of transhumanism. Adapted from Mark OConnells acclaimed non-fiction book, To be a Machine, a Dead Centre production, goes among those scientists, entrepreneurs and philosophers who believe technology will allow consciousness to survive the bodys passing. Somewhere in Arizona, a company called Alcor keeps an array of upended heads in Perspex containers. The comparison with the two-dimensional heads scattered about the Projects auditorium is unavoidable. The digitally assisted survival of this theatre piece in the time of Covid acts as a neat metaphor for the process by which computers may allow our thought streams to outlast physical annihilation.

Playing a tweaked version of OConnell, Gleeson sometimes struggles to energise a monologue that carries a few stubborn reminders of its origins in long-form prose. But the technological flourishes keep the show engaging throughout.

Questions remain about its status as theatre. At one point, Gleeson, employing the famous Turing test, seeks to discover if the audience is really out there? We could ask him the same question. We know the show is live because we have been told as much, but, for those of us not having our comments in the chat-box read out, little on screen distinguishes it from a one-take movie. The pieces creators almost certainly savour that ambiguity.

Online until Sat, Oct 10th. For booking see dublintheatrefestival.ie

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To be a Machine review: Experimental format well-suited to plays core theme - The Irish Times

The pandemic has forced authorities around the world to scramble for solutions within the realm of possibility. One of the more futuristic, radical solutions which is still relegated to the sidelines is transhumanism. It is a branch of philosophy that believes in transcending the limitations of the human population through technological augmentation. From hearing aids, pacemakers, bionic arms, the manifestations of transhumanism are very much present in our lives. However, the radical applications of being able to tweak biology to suit ones interests and needs at a commercial cost is yet to see the light of day. The basic tenet of transhumanism is extension of human life. Yet, eternal life comes across as a utopian thought where inadequate manufacturing of PPE kits for doctors and nurses have us jolted back to the harsh realities of current pandemic dwelling.

Since the globalized nature of modern capitalistic order and the consequent interconnectedness of our lives has made the possibility of frequent pandemics ever so plausible, we find ourselves at the juncture of a major shift towards increasing receptivity to transhumanist solutions. The famous American inventor and futurist Kurzweil wrote in his book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology about a journey towards a meshing point of humans and machine intelligence The Singularity. He envisioned nanobots which allowed people to eat whatever they want while remaining healthy and fit, provide copious energy, ward off infections or cancer, replace organs and augment their brains. There will come a future where human bodies will carry so much augmentation that they would be able to alter their physical manifestation at will.

Even if the coronavirus fades off without wiping humans off the planet, it has given an eerie trailer of what future outbreaks might hold in store. Hence due security measures have to be pondered upon -whether in the labs, where deadly pathogens are being researched upon or in the malicious possibilities of a biowarfare. Frontline workers can be provided tech enhancements to ensure better armament against infectious, mutating viral diseases. Protective exoskeletons, real-time blood monitors for pathogens, can bid riddance to any temporary means of protection which are vulnerable against quality and efficacy issues.

In 2011, surgeons in Sweden had successfully transplanted a fully synthetic, tissue-engineered trachea into a man with late-stage tracheal cancer. The trachea was created entirely in a lab with tissue grown from the patients own stem cells inside a bioreactor designed to protect the organ and promote cell growth. Under transhumanism, artificial organs would be superior to ordinary donor organs in several ways. They can be made to order more quickly than a donor organ can often be found; would be grown from a patients own cells and hence wont require dangerous immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection.

As of 2018, prototypes of artificial lungs are also surfacing at the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, where the team spent the last 15 years developing the prototype. Upon completion, the bioengineered lungs were transplanted into four pigs. There was no indication of transplant rejection when the animals were examined at regular intervals for months after transplant. The researchers also observed that the bioengineered lungs became vascularized, establishing the necessary blood vessel networks to do its job. For diseases like covid-19, which affect a particular body organ, having an option of a bioengineered organ could very well be a safeguard.

But transhumanists are not just trying to extend human lives, they also want to revive them. They aim to merge bioengineering, AI capabilities, 3-D printing to resurrect the dead victims of any catastrophe much like the pandemic on our hands right now. Ways of dealing with grief at the loss of a loved one can possibly be placated with measures like interactive custom-holograms, social media feed powered by AI that could generate new messages based on the pattern of the old ones.

There are strong ethical considerations that also pop up in the discussion of transhumanism. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, a German philosopher and bioethicist believes that processes like cryonics will go against most ecological principles given the amount of resources needed to keep a body in suspended animation post-death. Even though, transhumanism does not explicitly encourage breeding for the superiority of one specific group, the methods endorsed by some prominent transhumanists aim for physiological superiority. Considering that for the time being, solutions emanating will be heavy on the monetary end in the healthcare set-up, it could breed inequality in access. A huge gap in resources will be experienced in the society, as the affluent section amasses money and influence to set out an eternal timeline for themselves, coming at a lethal cost for the other half of the society.

Solving problems that will plague us in the future is a rising urge shared by leaders, philanthropists and billionaires around the world. This is why proponents like Zoltan Istvan fear the fact that the exponential rise of transhumanist technologies might leave governments fumbling to discuss and bring about policy directions to regulate and guard changes. Important questions like how far is too far? will need phased guidance as we have learnt from the chaotic response to systemic changes being implemented in the medical field during Covid-19. A conversation on transhumanism should not be put off any further and needs to permeate across different strata of stakeholders.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Pandemics and transhumanism - The Times of India Blog

Naming your game after a well-established genre is a gutsy move, but CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 is shaping up to be one of the biggest cyberpunk stories in gaming history.

Taking into account everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077, the open-world RPG looks like it's crawling with seedy criminals, shady corporations, cybernetic limbs, and neon streets, as well as tackling all those spectacularly dense themes of transhumanism, AI, and the dismantling of corporate and governmental hierarchiesyou know, the usual.

With CD Projekt Red taking on one of the biggest sci-fi genres, what other 'punk' derivatives are left for the taking? A lot, apparently. Over the past few days, I've fallen down a rabbit hole of cyberpunk derivatives. But before we dive into real-world body hacking, frills from 18th century France, and Buck Rogers, here are some punk genres that games have explored.

Steampunk is one of the big cyberpunk sub-genres and games like BioShock Infinite, Dishonored, and Sunless Sea have taken major inspiration from it's Victorian-era industrial steam-powered world. Wolfenstein and games like Iron Harvest take on the gritty and dirty industrial aesthetics of Dieselpunk. The Fallout series is famous for its retro-futuristic imagining of Atompunk, and then there's 11-bit Studio's own genre, FrostpunkVictorian industrialisation meets frozen ecological crisis.

Whether they are fully-fledged worlds or have more of a focus on aesthetics, here are some more punk genres that deserve a gaming spotlight.

Many derivatives of cyberpunk are retrofuturistic in their worldbuilding, pulling on ideas and aesthetics from the past (looking directly at you, Victorian era). But what makes Solarpunk special is that it is firmly set in the future.

Solarpunk envisions an optimistic future that directly tackles environmental concerns with renewable and sustainable energy sources. Instead of a bleak wasteland, Solarpunk is bright and hopeful. Butjust because climate change and pollution have been solved doesn't mean that everything is a utopia. This is what could make Solarpunk an interesting backdrop for games. Instead of bashing you over the head with how awful everything is, Solarpunk is about worlds that are so close to being perfect but fall just short. I can totally see this making a great backdrop for a sprawling RPG.

For whatever reason, a core feature of many punk genres is what resource is used to power technology, but Clockpunk is less focused on steam, diesel, or electric-run mechanics and more on basic technology. Clockpunk is all about intricate mechanismslike the interlocking gears of a pocket watch, the intricacies of automatons, or the detailed sketches of Da Vinci. There's also just a general focus on beautiful, delicate machinery, and Dimitriy Khristenko's mechanical bugs are an amazing example of something that would fit perfectly into the clockpunk aesthetic.

There's not much in terms of world-building to Clockpunk, but the genre makes a great foundation for worlds that have light fantasy elements, such as magic or alchemy, which can act as the world's main power resources.It's emphasis on visual design also makes it perfect for puzzle games like Magnum Opus.

More of a visual aesthetic than a loosely defined alternate reality, Rococo Punk takes inspiration from the whimsical visual style of the Rococo period. It's used in a similar way to Decopunk (think the glossy interiors of BioShock) in that it's purely just a look rather than a philosophy. Visually, the genre involves theatrical outfits with lots of dramatic frills with building interiors having lots of grand, sweeping curves and gold trimming. There's not a pair of greasy goggles in sight.

It sounds super classy, but I'm not sure what makes it particularly 'punk'. Then again, there were lots of brutal beheadings in 18th century France at the height of Rococo's popularity, and having your head chopped off for wanting to dismantle the French monarchy is pretty punk.

Biopunk is all about the wonderful world of biohacking which involves modifying the human body through biological means. This form of human experimentation involves 'hacking' your own body in hopes of improving your physical or mental state. The genre also includes themes of corporate and governmental control over body modification and genetic engineering.

BioShock totally has the Biopunk corner covered, but then after reading this totally bonkers Vox article about real-world biohackers there's so much more that writers can draw from. There's a wealth of source material for Biopunk in the real world too, like Silicon Valley's $8,000 young blood transfusions where an older person pays for a young person's blood to be pumped into their body as some sort of 'elixir of life' because why not?I don't think I'll ever get over reading that anytime soon.

Taking inspiration from Atompunk, Raypunk is one of the more outlandish punk genres and focuses on far-future science fiction with a distinct retro twist. Its aesthetic is close to mid-20th century pulp science fiction like the original Star Trek series or the Jetsonsanything featuring brightly colored rayguns, flying cars, and clunky talking robots.

It's not all Buck Rogers, though. Raypunk (known also as Raygun Gothic) can be surreal and dark, which sounds far more interesting honestly. Rick Remender's comic book Low is the closest piece of media I know of that captures the genre's "world of tomorrow" aesthetic while still being pretty bleak and serious.

I honestly don't really understand this one, but this Wikipedia page cites The Flintstones as part of the Stonepunk genre so that makes it legit, apparently.

Read more:
CD Projekt Red have nabbed Cyberpunk, but here are 5 other punks that deserve games - PC Gamer

Some of the developers behind The Witcher 3, Dying Light, Dead Island, and Cyberpunk 2077 have come together to start up a new studio. Called Starward Industries, its first outing is a sci-fi game with atompunk aesthetics that is inspired by the works of Stanisaw Lem, a prominent novelist who worked within the same genre.Its called The Invincible, and its set in a world wheretechnology has advanced to the point of seamless space exploration, but equipment remains analogue as the digital revolution has not taken place, nor has The Cold War ended. The games been in the works since 2018, and the devs hope to have it out next year.

We got the chance to chat to project leader and CD Projekt Red vet Marek Markuszewsk ahead of the upcoming PC games reveal. So, first things first, what is it about Lem that the studio likes, and what is it about his work that Markuszewsk thinks translates to a videogame?

The most fascinating and inspiring thing about Lems writing is the extent of the boldness of the provided visionary, he tells us. His stories are multi-layered as if written with the intent to be adapted as interactive entertainment. Not everything is trivial, though. We have specifically chosen a novel with quite a deft theme, indeed a straightforward story related to space exploration, yet reaching to the phase which at present is still not easy to be fully pictured.

While Lem was particularly active between 19462005, Markuszewsk reckons the words he wrote still have plenty of meaning and relevance today. Lem has developed several visions of how humanity and societies may be evolving far into the future when space travel and meeting other species will be the norm, he says. Whilst were just beginning space exploration, many prophecies regarding tech innovations indeed came to life, such as the internet, ebook readers, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, micro-robotics et cetera.

Maybe not always named or working exactly as Lem imagined, but serving precisely the described purposes, rooted in science and psychology. Theres a strong feeling that with the recent trend which includes implants, chips and mental interfaces, were stepping into transhumanism the theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical constraints. Lems works are great to reflect on what challenges such developments may bring.

The themes of the game certainly seem bold and interesting, then, but what will The Invincible feel like from moment-to-moment when youre playing it? Markuszewsk says that the atmosphere draws comparisons to Alien: Isolation, whereas communicating through radio comms will put you in mind of Firewatch.

The gameplay is quite diverse, including exploration, navigation, face to face discussions with NPCs, operating various equipment which is all analogue, solving clues, interacting with robots, piloting drones, crunching data, even driving vehicles, Markuszewsk explains to us. A large part of interaction will include radio comms, sometimes dense, even tense at times, often intimate, closely related to the unfolding events in that way The Invincible can remind of Firewatch.

On the other hand, in terms of gameplay and atmosphere, the closest game I can think of is Alien: Isolation. Among tens of games which weve researched while working on The Invincibles concept, these two titles combined perhaps represent the best of what our game is going to offer.

More? Here are the best space games on PC

Markuszewsk hopes to release The Invincible in the second half of 2021, but thats conditional on several factors. Due to the current state of the world with COVID-19 and beyond, its hard to offer a more narrow timeframe. You can wishlist it on Steam if this one sounds like your kind of thing.

Excerpt from:
Former Witcher 3 devs are launching a sci-fi novel-inspired game - PCGamesN

Transhumanism rides roughshod over the dignity of the human person in its quest for the technologically created superman.

The sordid life of Jeffrey Epstein serves to highlight the decadence of the deplorable epoch in which we find ourselves, as do the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. The web of vice and viciousness that he had spun was widespread, serving to entrap not only underage girls but also the rich and famous who preyed upon them. Using the allure of underage sex to lure his wealthy associates into his web, Epstein secretly filmed them in the act of sexually abusing minors, thereby turning his associates into his blackmail victims.

Epstein seems to have believed that the powerful people whom hed entrapped in his insurance policy would have a vested interest in keeping him safe from the law, a strategy which worked for a while. In 2008, Epstein was convicted in Florida of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, receiving a scandalously light sentence, but due to a plea deal he was not charged with sexually abusing 35 other girls whom federal officials identified as having been abused by him.

After a further 10 years in which Epstein masterminded the trafficking of young girls to satisfy the pornographic and pedophilic appetites of his powerful network of friends, he was finally charged in July of last year with the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. A month later, he was found dead in his jail cell. Although the medical examiner originally recorded the death as being a case of suicide, there are so many anomalies and mysteries surrounding the circumstances of Epsteins death that many people agree with Epsteins lawyers that the death could not have been suicide. One thing that is certain is that Epsteins death removed the possibility of pursuing criminal charges. There would be no trial, and therefore no exposing of Epsteins powerful associates by their victims in a court of law. Seen in this light, or in the shadow of this possible cover-up, it is tempting to see Epsteins insurance policy as his death warrant. He was too dangerous to be allowed to live when the lives of so many others depended on his timely death. It is no wonder that Epstein didnt kill himself has become a hugely popular meme, nor that HBO, Sony TV and Lifetime are planning to produce dramatic portrayals of Epsteins life and death.

One aspect of Epsteins life which is unlikely to be the focus of any TV drama is his obsession with transhumanism. For those who know little about this relatively recent phenomenon, transhumanism is usually defined as the movement in philosophy which advocates the transformation of humanity through the development of technologies which will re-shape humans intellectually and physiologically so that they transcend or supersede what is now considered human. At the prideful heart of this movement is a disdain for all that is authentically human and a sordid desire to replace human frailty with superhuman or transhuman strength.

Transhumanism rides roughshod over the dignity of the human person in its quest for the technologically created superman. Its spirit was encapsulated by David Bowie in the lyrics of one of his songs: Homo sapiens have outgrown their use Gotta make way for the homo superior.

Most of Epsteins so-called philanthropy was directed to the financing and promotion of transhumanism. The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation pledged $30 million to Harvard University to establish the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics and also bankrolled the OpenCog project which develops software designed to give rise to human-equivalent artificial general intelligence. Apart from his support for the cybernetic approach to transhumanism, Epstein was also fascinated with the possibility of creating the superman via the path of eugenics. He hoped to help in a practical way with plans to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating up to 20 women at a time at a proposed baby ranch at his compound in New Mexico. He also supported the pseudo-science of cryonics which freezes human corpses and severed heads in the hope that technological advances will eventually make it possible to resurrect the dead. He had planned to have his own head and penis preserved in this way.

In addition to his bizarre association with the wilder fringes of technological atheism, Epstein also co-organized a conference with his friend, the militant atheist Al Seckel, who is known, amongst other things, for his creation of the so-called Darwin Fish symbol, seen on bumper stickers and elsewhere, which depicts Darwins superior evolutionary fish eating the ichthys symbol or Jesus fish of the Christians. Seckel fled California after his life of deception and fraud began to catch up with him and he was found at the foot of a cliff in France having apparently fallen to his death. Nobody seems to know whether he slipped, jumped or was pushed.

Apart from his unhealthy interest in atheistic scientism, Jeffrey Epstein was also a major figure amongst the globalist elite. According to his lawyer, Gerald B. Lefcourt, he was part of the original group that conceived the Clinton Global Initiative which works to force the poor countries of the world to conform to the values of the culture of death. Even more ominously, Epstein was a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, two of the key institutions responsible for fostering and engineering the globalist grip on the worlds resources.

As we ponder the sordid and squalid world of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, we cant help but see his life as a cautionary tale, the moral of which is all too obvious. It shows that pride precedes a fall and that it preys on the weak and the innocent. It shows that those who think they are better than their neighbors become worse than their neighbors. It shows how Nietzsches Untermensch morphs into Hitlers Master Race and thence to the Transhuman Monster. It shows that those who admire the Superman become subhuman. It also shows that the subhuman is not bestial but demonic. It shows that those who believe that they are beyond good and evil become the most evil monsters of all.

Those of us who have been nurtured on cautionary tales such as Mary Shelleys Frankenstein or C. S. Lewiss That Hideous Strength will know that fiction often prefigures reality. We will see that the real-life figure of Jeffrey Epstein is a latter-day Viktor Frankenstein, reaping destruction with his contempt for his fellow man and his faith in the power of scientism to deliver immortality to those who serve it. We will also see that the transhumanism which Epstein financed is a mirror image of the demonic scientism of the secretive National Institute of Coordinated Experiments in Lewis prophetic novel. We will also be grimly amused by the fact that the leader of the demonic scientistic forces in Lewis tale is a severed head which has apparently been brought back to life.

And there is one final lesson that the pathetic life of Jeffrey Epstein teaches us. It shows us that the adage that the devil looks after his own is not true. It is in fact a lie told by the devil himself. The devil hates his disciples as much as he hates the disciples of Christ; once he has had his way with them, he disposes of them with callous and casual indifference, much as Jeffrey Epstein disposed of those whom he sexually abused.

This essay first appeared in Crisis Magazine and is republished with permission.

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Jeffrey Epstein and the Hideous Strength of Transhumanism - National Catholic Register

london-based photographers david vintner and gem fletcher document individuals who form part of the transhumanism culture throughout europe, russia and the united states in their latest collaborative photo series, I want to believe an exploration of transhumanism. the five-year-long project explores the core idea behind transhumanism the belief that human beings are destined to transcend their mortal flesh through technology.

neil harbisson hears color neil harbisson was born with achromatism, a rare disease that renders him colourblind. rather than overcome achromatism, harbisson created a new sense to go beyond the human visual spectrumin 2004 he had an antenna implanted into his skull. the antenna allows him to perceive visible and invisible colours as audible vibrations, including infrareds and ultraviolets.

the photo series by vintner and fletcher illustrates three gradual stages of transhumanism from testing ground, patient zero to humanity 2.0. at the lowest tier, testing ground looks into individuals who have created wearable technology to expand their human abilities, improving everything from concentration to mental health.patient zero studies those who have taken permanent action to become half human and half robot. in the final chapter, humanity 2.0, the transhumanist subjects focus on life extension and immortality.

the work of the individuals in this book demonstrates how optimizing our brains and bodies could revolutionize and redefine humanity. as human architects, we are only limited by our imagination, explains vintner and fletcher.

kevin warrick widely considered as one of the first cyborgs.kevin warrick is a pioneering professor in cybernetics and considered by many as the worlds first cyborg. kevin instigated a series of experiments involving the neuro-surgical implantation of a device into the nerves of his left arm in order to link his nervous system directly to a computer. this enabled him to have a symbiotic connection with a robotic hand. he could control the hand using his own brain signals from anywhere in the world, as well as sense what the robot hand was feeling.

humans are now gods. we are now able to create and design humans, but do humans have the foresight to do it in the right way? questions the photographers.

cyborg arm

for many transhumanists, life extension and immortality is the goal. transhumanism started as early as 1923 and has developed over recent years through the rise of sci-fi themed books, movies and the democratization of technology. as studies on experimental genetic engineering, tissue regeneration and stem cell treatments are also becoming more apparent in todays world, transhumanists hope to extend the life of the human body anywhere from twenty to 500 years longer than the average lifespan.

vintner and fletcher are working together on releasing the photo series as a book, which can be funded on crowd-funding platform kickstarter, here.

moon ribas sensing earthquakesmoon ribas is connected to online seismographs allowing her to perceive the seismic activity of the planet through vibrations in her body. the vibration she feels depends on the intensity of the earthquake. if she is standing in newcastle, she can sense earthquakes happening everywhere from japan to greece. she describes the sensation as having two heartbeats, her biological heartbeat and the earthbeat, which has its own rhythm inside her body.

dr natasha vita-more a leading expert on human enhancement and emerging technologies

dr. aubrey de grey biomedical gerontologist and the chief science 0fficer of SENS research foundation

liz parrish founder of bioviva

dr max more president and CEO of the alcor life extension foundation

patient zero - james young after an accident that left him a double amputee, james young turned to bionics to redesign his body. obsessed with the metal gear solid, he worked with gaming giant konami and prosthetic sculptor sophie de oliveira barata to develop an advanced bionic arm inspired by the computer game.

carbon fibre bionic limb

patient zero - rob spence known as the eyeborg, rob spence lost an eye as a child while playing with his grandfather's shotgun. inspired by a love of the bionic man and his interest in documentary filmmaking, spence created an eye with a wireless video camera inside. the camera is not connected to his optic nerve but sends footage to a remote receiver. over the years, he has created several different aesthetics for the eye, from a realistic 'hidden camera' version to a terminator inspired glowing red version.

patient zero - neil harbisson neil harbisson was born with achromatism, a rare disease that renders him colourblind. rather than overcome achromatism, harbisson created a new sense to go beyond the human visual spectrumin 2004 he had an antenna implanted into his skull. the antenna allows him to perceive visible and invisible colours as audible vibrations, including infrareds and ultraviolets.

image out of rob spence's eyes

new ways of seeing - EYEsect the experimental device aims to recreate the experience of seeing the world like a chameleon, with two single steerable eyes. in changing the way we perceive the world around us, eyesect alters our version of reality enabling new ways to sense and experience our environment.

new ways of seeing - north sense created by liviu babitz and scott cohen, north sense is a small matchbox-sized artificial sense organ that delivers a short vibration every time the user faces north, similar to the biological abilities of migratory birds, extending the human perception of orientation.

new ways of seeing - aisen caro chacin / echolocation the echolocation headphones are a pair of goggles that aid human echolocation. it is designed to substitute the users vision augmenting our spatial awareness with sound, similar to the abilities of bats and whales. the device has both the potential to aid the visually impaired and provide sighted individuals with a new sense.

project info:

title:I want to believe an exploration of transhumanism

artistic director: gem fletcher

photographer: david vintiner

kick starter page: I want to believe

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cyborgs, robots, and biohackers: the first-ever survey of transhumanism - Designboom

They say there's nothing new under the sun, and this week's big opening somehow both proves and disproves the theory.

Insane Animals takes its inspiration from the Epic of Gilgamesh - an ancient poem from Mesopotamia that is widely regarded as the oldest great work of literature yet discovered.

It was written around 1800BC and deals with some pretty weighty themes, not the least of which is immortality. And given we're still talking about Gilgamesh right now, you could say he's gone some way to reaching that goal.

Insane Animals is brought to us by cult cabaret duo and leading lights of the UKs alternative performance scene Bourgeois and Maurice, otherwise known as George Heyworth and Liv Morris. As you can imagine, their work is about as a la mode as it's possible to be.

George said of the subject matter: "It just felt really current. It's a story about survival and attempting to outlive your human body. Its central character and a lot of the themes that it explores feel like they really chime with what's going on in the world at the moment and the people that are running the world at the moment, so we were kind of drawn to it for that reason."

So what can we expect? George again: "Well, we've written quite a lot in this script about things flying in, so that'll be happening.

"Just generally it's a bigger cast. It's us with a cast of eight. The music is bigger, the storytelling is much bigger, just the spectacle of the thing is much bigger.

"We've got some really exciting creatives on the show. Our director is Phillip McMahon, who has just got an amazing vision and ability to see the story.

"So we're going Gothic and we're going big and we're going camp and we're going showbiz."

Liv adds: "It is our biggest show that we have ever made. It's a musical adventure, through the telling of the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and looking forward to the future and the idea of some of the themes around survival and immortality that this ancient ancient poem talks about, and these ideas of future tech and transhumanism that we are talking about now.

"All with some funny rhymes and songs."

Insane Animals is an outrageous larger-than-life time-travelling musical comedy in which two hyper-glam aliens arrive from a faraway galaxy to rescue present-day earth from impending political, environmental, and social doom. This epic joyride from the dawn of civilisation to the sequinned near future sees Bourgeois and Maurice on hand to help the human race live forever.

HOME / homemcr.org / 0161 200 1500 / Friday, February 2 to Saturday March 14 / 13-27

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A time-travelling musical comedy with lots of flying - Insane Animals arrives at HOME - Manchester Evening News