Practical Approaches to Transhumanism

Guest from Grindhouse Wetware - whose focus is 'augmenting humanity using safe, affordable, open source technology.' This promises to be another fascinating talk about human augmentation, the origins and philosophy behind Grindhouse Wetware, what is possible with available technologies and the future of human enhancement. We will review their key projects and have plenty of time for Q&A.
Learn more at http://www.grindhousewetware.com/

Topics Covered

The birth of the movement and its founders How practical transhumanism differs from ‘mainstream’ transhumanism What sort of enhancement is within reach Quantified self meets transhumanism, and Grindhouse projects ( Thinking Cap, Bottlenose, HELEED, and beyond) What does the community want? What sort of enhancements are you looking for today?

For five decades transhumanist thought has been regulated to the realm of philosophy, socio-political discussions, and science fiction. In the 1990s, Professor Kevin Warwick of Reading University departed from this norm when he implanted devices into his body that extended his nervous system via the Internet. Though he was not a pioneer in neural prosthetics or brain-computer interface it was the intent of his actions that established a movement.

Enabled by body modification artists and inspired by researchers like Professor Warwick, Grinders set out to augment themselves - not with technology our movies and videogames promised, but with established science and engineering. The term ‘Grinding’ originates from the comic “Doktor Sleepless”, a world where young technophiles enhanced themselves with their own technical know-how. In the real world Grinders aggregate in Internet forums, following the hacker ethic of free and open knowledge - sharing code, schematics, and anatomical knowledge.

GrindHouse Wetware was featured on a recent Verge Article http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3177438/cyborg-america-biohackers-grinders-body-hackers [thanks to Sigrid for providing the link]

Hope to see you!

Cheers,

Lydia