Transhumanist Zoltan Istvan Tells All

--Zoltan Istvan, leading transhumanist and author of the science fiction novel The Transhumanist Wager, joins David to discuss the future of homo sapiens

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Broadcast on December 10, 2018

[foxstele]

I remember finding this guy during the presidential campaign. I would still like to put him in for "Most likely a super villain based on name alone."

[ck]

This guy has a problem with the inevitable (as we all do), but he has a wonderfully wacky way of trying to transcend it.

[susim]

I don't have a problem with transhumanism, as such, I have a problem with setting up a 'superior race' available only to the wealthy. What do you think they are going to do with the rest of us? For example, are we going to start 'creating' sporting teams or supersoldiers for the rich, modifying certain people certain ways without their consent?

I also find it problematic that, if everyone lives forever or for a vastly prolonged life, how do we sustain them all? There is a very real chance that we create a very small pool of very wealthy, physically and intellectually superior people, who must keep the rest of us out in order to maintain their lifestyle.

The idea that 'the market will sort it out' horrifies me. You only have to look at the US health care system, 'Big Pharma' and the response to climate change to see how badly this could turn out.

If transhumanism is inevitable, we need to put in place an ethical framework to make sure we are not creating monsters. And if we're not having fun, what is the point of it all?

[Patralgan]

I advocate transhumanism, but let's not have libertarianism please.

[Mike-pdxj]

I don't want to go to work when I'm 250 year old, I don't want to work now!

[DonCDXX]

I hate when transhumanists talk about copying the brain onto a computer. That's not immortality, that's leaving a copy of yourself behind to pester future generations.

If you want to shed the body, you have to rip the brain out of the body, shove it in a jar, jam a circuit board on there and stick it into a robot body or give it wifi control of one. Yes, that is a massive oversimplification, but you are your brain. Not your memories, not your personality and behavioral patterns, not your sense of identity. You are a a kilogram of nerves.

[Goomer]

Hell we don't even have affordable health care...c'mon. This guy creeps me out.

[averycolnite]

Dude been watching too much Futurama! 😀

[WILLcomment]

Is he still looking for the Continuum Transfunctioner?

[aidenCBR]

really fascinating conversation, although i worry about the class disparity between the people who can live longer and control the wealth etc. and then the rest of us living in poverty and the dirt, i think some regulation is needed so that the rich who can easily afford said technologies, dont just decide to glass the earth and reshape it for their gain, knowing they will simply outlive the people who are suffering and have little power.

[CallieYote]

I refuse to accept the one bit about what I'd call the Death of Hedonism.

[stressyporkrind]

It appears to me that everytime you have a guest he's a goofy looking grape.

[seattleareatom]

It will be cool when people live forever. Imagine being a slave to the system and NEVER having a way out. Won't that be fun?

[LucasDimoveo]

Stoked that more transhumanists are being interviewed

[JohnFrumFromAmerica]

The fact he brought up the china twins in a positive light shows what a wacko this guy is.

[Westwoodchronic]

Lol, this guy fell apart right when David started to press him

[ihartevil]

We dont even have 12 years to stop earth from becoming venus

[aaronsande]

"I don't want to go as far as regulation." Regulations are laws. When laws themselves are your boogeyman, I question whether I want you in my society.

[snitox]

Him: Transhumanism will come about because of Capitalism

Posadists: 👀

[snakeplissken]

For some reason his name made me think of slavoj zizek and zoltan from the witcher simultaneously