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SL-Transhumanists

I will keep updated this page with some information and links on SL-Transhumanists, the new group for transhumanists in Second Life.

Translook - dedicated SL-Transhumanists website

SL-Transhumanists blog

Wikipedia page

SL-Transhumanists mailing list on Google Groups

SL-Transhumanists Facebook group

This background and links page

Second Life meeting place: SL-Transhumanists at Extropia Core

Bakckground:

About 20 transhumanists met in Second Life on December 30, 2007 and agreed on a plan to relaunch and energize the transhumanist community in Second Life (and hopefully also in RL). Some very well known transhumanists were there, for example Natasha Vita-More, Riccardo Campa, Eugen Leitl (no known personal website, but you know who he is), Dave Pearce, and many others who I may have forgotten (sorry!). Extropia DaSilva (read her last essay) and transhumanist community builder in the metaverse Khannea Suntzu were there, and also the digital persons Sophrosyne Stenvaag and Galatea Gynoid, two of the main animators of the Extropia Core community where the meeting took place.

One of the first decisions was to use Extropia Core as transhumanist central meeting point in Second Life. My extropian parcel is of course available (I will assign it to the transhumanist group, see below), and we can reserve other meeting spaces in the forthcoming expansion of Extropia Core (the plan is to expand it to a block of many contiguous sims in 2008). Another decision emerged from the realization that we have far too many transhumanist large and small groups, subgroups, currents and factions in Second Life. Since we feel that we should not reproduce the fragmentation of transhumanism in RL (ask a question to two transhumanists and you get two different answers, including the question “what is transhumanism") also in the metaverse, we created the new group “SL-Transhumanists” in SL (join it in Second Life) as a replacement for all other groups. I have shared the parcel at Extropia Core with the group.

Join also the new mailing list SL-Transhumanists on Google Groups. All meeting chat logs and announcements will be posted to the mailing list, and often also to the Extropia Core website. We plan several talks (Charlie Stross, Aubrey De Gray, Dave Pearce, Natasha Vita-More, yours truly presenting a new not-so-secret project that will be announced soon), and regular office hours to introduce all interested avatars and their “primaries” to transhumanism.

SL-Trans

See the image in other sizes.

I extracted this image from a picture of my DNA Flower sculpture in Second Life, done by the SL artist Cheen Pitney for transhumanists in Second Life. When I commissioned Cheen I asked him for colors going from red/pink (biology) to blue/grey (technology). The symbolism: rising techno-DNA, rising sun in the background, done in SL. So I offered the image as a SL-Transhumanists group logo. The DNA Flower sculpture has been at many transhumanist meeting places in Second Life, and now has been placed at the SL-Transhumanists @ Extropia Core meeting place.

Unlike other land options, Extropia is a place where residents are encouraged to work and play together, and to govern their own affairs to the greatest extent possible.

Critical mass is a problem in Second Life: most sims run by small groups are always empty except when a scheduled event is taking place. I hope joining forces with a larger team of motivated people with compatible interests can help solving the empty sim problem: with a critical mass and many different groups organizing talks and events, on this sim (and the others that will follow) there will be always something to do.

These are two screenshots of the SL-Transhumanists area @ extropia core.

Posted by G.P. on 01/02 at 06:32 PM
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New blog: metaXLR8 - acceleration in the metaverse

From now on I will use the new blog metaXLR8 - acceleration in the metaverse for blogging related to IT and VR. I will use this blog for transhumanist news and thoughts.

metaXLR8

metaXLR8 - acceleration in the metaverse, is a blog dedicated to the new Internet 2.0 and 3.D, virtual reality, VR worlds and platforms, streaming media, the interpenetration of real and virtual worlds, and emerging metaverse technologies. It is associated to our metaXLR8 streaming media and game server.

Posted by G.P. on 12/30 at 05:03 PM
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Evolution of this blog

I am discontinuing my other blogs due to technical problems, so this will be my only blog. I will write on transhumanism, futures studies, emerging technologies, virtual reality, the metaverse, MMOGs, Second Life, and all other things that cross my head. See also my virtual reality site uvvy.com and my company’s website metafuturing.com.

Posted by G.P. on 01/30 at 03:33 PM
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Español

Transumanar solo es en italiano y inglés. Tengo 2 blogs en español en la revista online Tendencias 21.

Tendencias 21 es una publicación electrónica independiente que recoge los principales avances estratégicos en ciencia, tecnología, sociedad y cultura - una fórmula de periodismo inteligente aplicado al conocimiento y la divulgación de la ciencia en su más amplio significado, ya que ofrece una visión interdisciplinar que integra no sólo las más diversas ramas de la investigación científica, sino también los avances más significativos en los esquemas del pensamiento y la organización social. Formo parte del Consejo Editorial de Tendencias 21, de carácter asesor y consultivo, que contribuye con evaluaciones, artículos, entrevistas y propuestas temáticas al desarrollo de sus contenidos de divulgación científica

Mis blogs:

Horizontes - Un blog transhumanista : ¿Qué es el transhumanismo, esta idea peligrosa que tanto asusta a respetados profesores y intelectuales? En palabras muy simples, el transhumanismo se puede definir como el reconocimiento del hecho de que se puede utilizar la tecnología para mejorar radicalmente a los seres humanos (como individuos, como sociedades, y como especie), así como pensar que hacerlo es bueno. A pesar de que hoy en dia los expertos no tienen muchas dudas sobre el primer punto (se puede), el debate sobre el segundo punto (se debe), se acalora siempre más.

Metaverso - blog de la empresa metafuturing en Tendencias 21: El concepto de Metaverso, creado por Neal Stephenson en su novela Snow Crash en el año 1992, surgió como una evolución del término de “realidad virtual” que existía anteriormente. El Metaverso es un entorno inmersivo, tridimensional y virtual en el cual las personas pueden relacionarse entre sí, social y económicamente, independientemente de su localización física. A grandes rasgos, puede considerarse a Internet como una expresión primitiva de este concepto. La realidad de un Metaverso ha sido explorada en profundidad por algunos de los mejores escritores de ciencia ficción, desde Neal Stephenson hasta William Gibson, autor de la novela Neuromante y considerado como el padre del género Cyberpunk. En la actualidad, nos encontramos en un punto en el cual las tecnologías necesarias para crear un auténtico Metaverso alcanzan su madurez tecnológica. Los próximos años auguran un punto de inflexión en el cual los conceptos que hasta ahora han sido una fantasía comenzarán a plasmarse en implementaciones reales y tangibles, con una influencia medible sobre la sociedad, la economía, el ocio y la política.

Posted by G.P. on 01/16 at 08:09 AM
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Transumanar o Trasumanar?

Dante ha introdotto il termine “trasumanar” (o “transumanar") per indicare il processo che porta a “trascendere i limiti della natura umana”.

“Trasumanar significar per verba
non si poria; però l’essemplo basti
a cui esperienza grazia serba.”

(Paradiso, I)

Meglio “Transumanar” o “Trasumanar”?

More...

Posted by giulio on 12/01 at 02:48 PM
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About

Transumanar is a transhumanist blog - online magazine on science, technology, politics and culture, edited by Giulio Prisco. See Introduzione (Italiano) and About (English).

Transumanar is meant as a transhumanist reference in the Italian cultural and media world, an accessible website to explain the transhumanist worldview and our opinions on the important scientific, cultural, social and political trends of our time.

Transumanar is bilingual (English and Italian).

Transumanar does not wish to propose a monolithic view of transhumanist thinking but, on the contrary, covers different points of view.

Some users have editorial privileges and can post articles directly. All other registered users can submit articles (The link POST - EDIT is visible to registered users) that will be posted after approval by an editor.

Associazione Italiana Transumanisti

World Transhumanist Association

Dante introduced the term “trasumanar” (or “transumanar") to indicate the process of “passing beyond humanity”:

“Trasumanar significar per verba
non si poria; però l’essemplo basti
a cui esperienza grazia serba.”

“The passing beyond humanity may not be set forth in words: therefore, let the example suffice any for whom grace reserves that experience.”

(Paradiso, I)

We prefer the variant “transumanar” because:

* It sounds better.
* It is listed in the Italian reference dictionary De Mauro.
* It is more used by modern authors (e.g. Extropy Institute FAQ).
* It sounds more like “transhumanism”, so it has a clearer meaning here.

The image in the right bar is a picture fo a detail of the ceiling of a medieval church in Transylvania, with a background taken from an astronomic picture.

Posted by editor on 12/01 at 10:05 AM
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Introduzioneogia

Transumanar e’ un blog - rivista online transumanista di scienza, tecnologia, politica e cultura, curato da Giulio Prisco. Vedi le pagine Introduzione (Italiano) e About (English).

Transumanar vuole essere un punto di riferimento transumanista nel panorama culturale e mediatico italiano, un sito web facilmente accessibile che spiega la visione transumanista del mondo e le nostre opinioni sulle tendenze scientifiche, culturali, sociali e politiche del nostro tempo.

Transumanar e’ bilingue (Italiano e Inglese).

Transumanar non intende proporre una visione monolitica del pensiero transumanista ma, al contrario, dare spazio a diversi punti di vista.

Alcuni utenti hanno privilegi editoriali e possono pubblicare articoli direttamente. Tutti gli altri utenti registrati possono proporre articoli (Il link POST - EDIT e’ visibile agli utenti registrati) che saranno pubblicati una volta approvati da uno degli editori.

Associazione Italiana Transumanisti

World Transhumanist Association

Dante ha introdotto il termine “trasumanar” (o “transumanar") per indicare il processo che porta a “trascendere i limiti della natura umana”

“Trasumanar significar per verba
non si poria; però l’essemplo basti
a cui esperienza grazia serba.”

(Paradiso, I)

Abbiamo scelto la variante “transumanar” perche’:

* Suona meglio.
* E’ legittimato dal De Mauro.
* E’ piu’ usato dagli autori moderni (e.g. FAQ dell’ Extropy Institute).
* Assomiglia di piu’ a “transumanesimo” quindi e’ piu’ chiaro di cosa si parla.

L’ immagine nella colonna a destra e’ una fotografia di un dettaglio del soffitto di una chiesa medievale in Transilvania, con un background preso da una fotografia astronomica.

Posted by editor on 12/01 at 10:04 AM
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