In this episode I interview Rick Searle. Rick is an author living in Amish country in Pennsylvania. He is a prolific writer and commentator on all things technological. I get Rick to educate me about the darker aspects of the transhumanist philosophy. In particular, what Rick finds disturbing in the writings of Zoltan Istvan, Steve Fuller and the Neoreactionaries.
You can download the episode here. You can listen below. You can also subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes (click add to ‘iTunes’).
Show Notes
- 0:00 – 1:40 – Introduction
- 1:40 – 4:40 – Rick’s definition of Transhumanism
- 4:40 – 10:10 – Zoltan Istvan and the Transhumanist Wager
- 10:10 – 16:35 – The philosophy of teleological egocentric functionalism – Ayn Rand on steroids?
- 16:35 – 22:30 – Steve Fuller’s Humanity 2.0
- 22:30 – 28:00 – Some disturbing conclusions?
- 28:00 – 32:20 – The ontology and ethics of Humanity 2.0
- 32:20 – 36:55 – Stalinism as Transhumanism
- 43:25 – 47:00 – Transhumanism as religion
- 47:00 – 56:30 – The neo-reactionaries of Silicon Valley
- 56:30 – End – Is democracy fit for the future?
Relevant Links
- Rick Searle’s blog Utopia or Dystopia?
- Rick’s profile page on the IEET
- The Transhumanist Wager – by Zoltan Istvan
- ‘Betting Against the Transhumanist Wager‘ – by Rick Searle
- ‘The Terrifying Banality of Humanity 2.0‘ – by Rick Searle
- Humanity 2.0 – by Steve Fuller
- ‘We May Look Crazy to Them but They Look Like Zombies to Us” – by Steve Fuller (this generated lots of controversy on the IEET page when published. To be clear, Fuller claims he was using irony to make a point about the transhumanist worldview)
- ‘Politics as Zombie Warfare: Against Steve Fuller’s Transhumanism’ – by David Roden
- ‘Stalinism as Transhumanism‘ – by Rick Searle
- ‘Silicon Secessionists’ – by Rick Searle
- ‘Shedding Light on Peter Thiel’s Dark Enlightenment‘ – by Rick Searle
- ‘Mouthbreathing Machiavellis Dream of a Silicon Reich‘ – by Corey Pein, The Baffler
Algocracy and the Transhumanist Project 