Singularity.FM

Today my guest on is Jaron Lanier. Jaron lives in Berkeley, California and, like John Horgan, is one of the better known critics of both Ray Kurzweil and the technological singularity. Unlike many other critics, however, Lanier is neither a technophobe nor a Luddite. In fact, he is known as the […]

Today my guest on is Jaron Lanier. Jaron lives in Berkeley, California and, like John Horgan, is one of the better known critics of both Ray Kurzweil and the technological singularity. Unlike many other critics, however, Lanier is neither a technophobe nor a Luddite. In fact, he is known as the father of virtual reality technology. […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is digital culture and cyberpunk icon R.U. Sirius. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) During our conversation we discuss issues such as: R.U.’s early life and Yippie years; his multiple identities and personal motivation; his views on cyberpunk, counter-culture, psychedelic drugs, transhumanism and the technological singularity; the importance of questioning everything, and especially The Authority of Your Brain. Who is R.U. Sirius? R.U. Sirius (born Ken Goffman) is a writer, editor and digital culture iconoclast. He was Editor-in-chief of Mondo 2000, the popular and influential cyberpunk magazine of the early 1990s. More recently, he was Editor-in-chief of the transhumanist magazine H+. In addition, R.U. Sirius is the author or coauthor of numerous books including A User's Guide to the New Edge, True Mutations, Counterculture Through the Ages, and Design for Dying with Dr. Timothy Leary. Sirius has written for Wired, Time magazine, Esquire, Rolling Stone and Boing Boing among many other periodicals. He's been a musician, audio podcast host, lecturer and minor irritant. He is soon launching a new website tentatively titled Accelerator and he's writing most of an open source history of Mondo 2000 magazine. Related articles How Do Transhumanists Party? Question Everything: Max More on Singularity 1 on 1 Question The Authority of Your Brain

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is digital culture and cyberpunk icon R.U. Sirius. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) During our conversation we discuss issues such as: R.U.’s early life and […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is digital culture and cyberpunk icon R.U. Sirius. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) During our conversation we discuss issues such as: R.U.’s early life and Yippie years; his multiple identities […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge -- the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for pre-order on Amazon, though it is not expected to ship until October 2011. Despite his busy schedule Prof. Vinge still managed to give us over an hour of his time and during our conversation I ask him to discuss issues such as: his childhood and early interest in science fiction; his desire to make sense of the universe; his definition of the technological singularity and the story behind the term; his now classic 1993 NASA paper; his favorite science fiction books and authors; major milestones on the way towards the singularity and our chances to survive such an unprecedented event. As always you can listen to or download the audio file above and don't hesitate to let me know what you think! Who is Vernor Vinge? Arguably the second most recognized singularitarian, Vernor Vinge spent most of his life in San Diego, California where he taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University for over thirty years and where he still lives today. After retiring from teaching Vernor became widely sought as a public speaker and presenter for business, science, science fiction and general audiences. He has won Hugo Awards for several of his books such as: A Fire Upon The Deep(1992), A Deepness in the Sky(1999) and for the novella Fast Times at Fairmont High(2001). Known for his rigorous hard-science approach Vinge first became an iconic figure both among cybernetic scientists and sci fi fans with the publication of his 1981 novella True Names, widely considered to be the visionary work behind the internet revolution. Later he gained even more public attention for his coining the term, writing and presenting about the technological singularity. For a collection of videos of Vernor Vinge see his profile page on SingularitySymposium.com Related articles Question Everything: Max More on Singularity 1 on 1 Under-predicting the Future

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is transhumanist strategic philosopher Max More. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) As the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. More has a full schedule. Never-the-less he generously managed to squeeze in two 30 min interview sessions in his busy day. During our conversation we discuss issues such as: Max's early life and childhood heroes; his interest in economics, political science and philosophy; transhumanism and extropy; the proactinary and precautionary principles; cryonics and the Alcor Foundation; his Paleo diet and exercise regimen; why it is important to question everything (and especially yourself). To find more about Max More visit his web site here. My favorite quote from Max More: "No more gods, no more faith, no more timid holding back. Let us blast out of our old forms, our ignorance, our weakness, and our mortality. The future belongs to posthumanity." My favorite short articles: A Letter to Mother Nature; The Proactionary Principle; Transhumanism: Towards A Futurist Philosophy What others have said about Max: Ray Kurzweil: “Max More's ideas are very influential among other "big thinkers," who in turn are influence leaders themselves. Max's writings represent well grounded science futurism, and reflect a sophisticated understanding of technology trends and how these trends are likely to develop during this coming century.” Marvin Minsky: “the father of artificial intelligence”, said of Dr. More: “We have a dreadful shortage of people who know so much, can both think so boldly and clearly, and can express themselves so articulately. Carl Sagan was another such one—and  (partly by paying the price of his life) managed to capture the public eye. But Sagan is gone and has not been replaced. I see Max as my candidate for that post.”   Video Update: A fantastic straight-to-the-point interview with Max More discussing the singularity, transhumanism, technological progress, human enhancement etc... Related articles Natasha Vita-More on Singularity 1 on 1 Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1: Better Funding and Advocacy Can Defeat Aging

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is transhumanist strategic philosopher Max More. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) As the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. More has a full […]

Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is transhumanist strategic philosopher Max More. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.) As the CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. More has a full schedule. Never-the-less he generously managed […]

This is my second interview with Prof. Kevin Warwick. Last time I had him on Singularity 1 on 1 - You Have to Take Risks to be Part of the Future, he shared his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of the universe and so on. This time around Kevin discusses issues such as: the difference between genius and madness; the magnetic implants and sensory-substitution-devices developed by his students (see picture gallery below); the recent problems surrounding his rat-brain-cell-robot project; the historical contribution, under-appreciated genius and tragic life of Alan Turing; the Turing Test; Watson - IBM's amazing Jeopardy champion; and, finally, be/coming cy/borg. As always, you can listen to or download the audio above or watch the full video of the interview below. Most importantly – don’t hesitate to let me know what you think… Picture Gallery: Who is Kevin Warwick? Kevin Warwick is Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, England, where he carries out research in artificial intelligence, control, robotics and cyborgs. As well as publishing over 500 research papers, Kevin’s experiments into implant technology led to him being featured as the cover story on the US magazine Wired. He has been awarded higher doctorates (DSc) both by Imperial College and the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, and has received Honorary Doctorates from Aston University, Bradford University and Coventry University. He was presented with The Future of Health Technology Award in MIT, was made an Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, received The IEE Senior Achievement Medal and the Mountbatten Medal. In 2000 Kevin presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, entitled “The Rise of the Robots”. Kevin’s most recent research involves the invention of an intelligent deep brain stimulator to counteract the effects of Parkinson Disease tremors. Another project involves the use of biological neural networks to drive robots around. Kevin is though best known for his pioneering experiments involving a neuro-surgical implantation into the median nerves of his left arm to link his nervous system directly to a computer. He was successful with the first extra-sensory (ultrasonic) input for a human and with the first purely electronic telegraphic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans -- himself and his wife Irena. For more information you can visit Kevin Warwick's Official Site: http://www.kevinwarwick.com/ Related articles by Zemanta Kevin Warwick on Singularity Podcast: You Have To Take Risks To Be Part Of The Future Kevin Warwick's Profile on Singularity Symposium Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1: Better Funding and Advocacy Can Defeat Aging Funny Or Serious: Are We Giving Robots Too Much Power? Kevin Warwick: The First Cyborg

This is my second interview with Prof. Kevin Warwick. Last time I had him on Singularity 1 on 1 – You Have to Take Risks to be Part of the Future, he shared his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological […]

This is my second interview with Prof. Kevin Warwick. Last time I had him on – You Have to Take Risks to be Part of the Future, he shared his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of the universe and so on. […]

Last time I had Dr. Aubrey de Grey on Singularity 1 on 1 the interview turned out to be a hit. In fact it is still by far the most popular podcast that I have done and the audio file has been listened to or downloaded over 30,000 times. Given Aubrey's popular appeal and the importance of his work, it is no surprise that I am very happy to have him back for a second interview. However, please have in mind that this interview is aiming to supplement and not replace the first one. Thus, this time around we cover some topics that we did not have time to go over the previous time, so if you haven't heard the first podcast you may want to begin here. During this conversation I ask Dr. de Grey to discuss issues such as: the term natural death and its impact; the publicity and importance of two long-awaited documentaries about Ray Kurzweil - Transcendent Man and The Singularity is Near; traditional metabolic and more recent DNA tests such as the ones done by 23andMe and others; the slow developmental process of new drugs and therapies, and the problems of taking them from testing in lab rats to humans;  the Thomas Malthus argument of overpopulation and Aubrey's reply to it. As always, you can listen to or download the audio above or scroll down to watch the video of the interview in full. Most importantly – don’t hesitate to let me know what you think… To find out more about Dr. Aubrey de Grey click here. To see Christopher Syke’s full documentary about the controversial gerontologist watch Do You Want to Live Forever? To find out more about the SENS foundation click the banner below. Related articles Aubrey de Grey’s Singularity Podcast: Longevity Escape Velocity May Be Closer Than We Think Singularity Podcast: Barry Ptolemy on Transcendent Man