Transhuman Wrap: Come for the Little-Kicks Dance, Stay for the Toe Shoes
Futurist John Smart is wrapping up the Humanity + Summit by noting that human enhancement believers are too focused on pie-in-the sky visions. Instead of making weird flying-car predictions about the far future, transhumanoids should be pointing to contemporary advances. He may be right, but if anything, this conference was low on mind-blowing visions and outrageous body modifications. And it was entirely devoid of people in borg-style wearables.
The reason for this more plain look for the transhumanists may be strategic. Ken "R.U. Sirius" Goffman pointed out yesterday that metaverse residents are going for more vanilla personal styles generally, and there have been many references to the mainstreaming of out-there human enhancement ideas. There isn't a lot of pressure to rock a science fiction style because we're already in a science fiction age.
The downside of kinder, gentler transhumanism is that it's less conducive to bold new personal looks. To be sure, the Rasputin beard remains ascendent:
Experienced transhumanists will recognize mad monks Aubrey de Gray at left and Todd Huffman at right. By the way, Huffman has at least one magnet implanted in one of his fingertips. Three out of three women I polled found that hot.
Another much needed enhancement that went suspiciously undiscussed at the conference: Leg enhancers that will prevent people from doing the Elaine Baenaes dance:
Strangely, at this collection of bleeding age pioneers, one of the big attractions at the party was a game that looks like something for people who can't handle Ms. Pac-Man:
In fact the most daring statement at the summit was the Vibram toe shoes, which were very popular:
I don't know enough about transhumanism to say whether the movement is at any kind of crossroads, but I was struck by how modest the claims were at this event -- in addition to all the calls for empathy, which I referred to yesterday. Toe shoes seem useful and ergonomic, but don't these things just beg for a new breed of humans with opposable big toes? If there are transhumanists out there calling for human antennae, wings, pineal gland enhancers and the like, they don't seem to have been in Irvine this weekend.
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...they don't seem to have been in Irvine this weekend.
Well hell, they should've run that show up the coast in San Fran - they certainly would have had a more interesting set of trans-whatevers.
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It's Elaine Benes, not Banas.
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+1
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My vision of an ascetically perfect transhuman future, like living in some sort of hyper symmetrical Steve Jobs shroom trip, is being completely dismantled by beards set free beyond sense and the ugliest shoes I've ever seen.
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Basically, this statement. Ye gods...
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Did you mean aesthetically? Oddly, with those hermit beards, it seems to work either way....
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Huffman has at least one magnet implanted in one of his fingertips. Three out of three women I polled found that hot.
And if the clitoris was made of metal, that would mean something.
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Epic win. I salute you.
There you have it. A letter opener.
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...Ben-Wa balls.
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I got a pair of those Vibrams a while ago because I was tired of getting yelled at for lifting weights barefoot (Fuck you, anti-barefoot bias). I'm pretty ashamed of myself every time I wear those stupid-looking chick repellent shoes out in public, but they're so goddamned comfortable that I do it anyway.
I'm just glad I found a woman who's willing to fuck me before I got them.
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Goddamn warty, i never took you for a hippy.
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Warty, a one-chick guy. Amazing revelation.
GenitalWarty. Another story.
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My brother was into barefoot running for awhile. I should get him a pair of those "shoes". Hell, maybe I should try 'em myself.
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My advice: buy a pair that's fairly tight, because they stretch as they get broken in.
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Dude, she should retroacitvely rescind that fuck for you wearing those shoes.
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If she hasn't rescinded the fucks for the giant shitty beard I have right now, stupid shoes aren't going to matter much.
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Benes, my last name's Benes you jack-ass.
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you mean jackass, no hyphen
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So you're saying my Nike Pump penis implanted on my forehead is a little much?
Functionality makes toe shoes just silly.
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Great ideas, terrible at conveying them to the general public.
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Mares eat clits
And clits eat clits
And little lambs eat clitsA clit'll eat clit, too
Wouldn't you?Stop taking everything so clittorily.
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I don't know enough about transhumanism to say whether the movement is at any kind of crossroads, but I was struck by how modest the claims were at this event
before netscape the big thing in computers was CD-ROM.
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Whaddya gotta do to get invited to one a' these shindigs?
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Something that dserves 5 years to life in at least 20 states.
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Just read the h+ website and sign up for the next one.
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In fact the most daring statement at the summit was the Vibram toe shoes, which were very popular:
The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.
That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.
I don't know, they're better than those hippie sandals. I can't stand those fucking things. And, I won't buy a pair of boots that don't have Vibram soles. I guess I can look forward to seeing them at any Jam Band concerts I go to.
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proprioception - I had to look that up. It's not in my spell check. I'm debating whether I should "add" it to my spell check dictionary.
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So if Reason is so interested in transhumanism, how come I can't read and post comment on the m.reason.com mobile site? Or are cell phones not as cool as implants?
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It looks like an Anime convention for stuff that nobody watches.
Who is the hot chick next to Todd Huffman?
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Anyone wearing those shoes in public should be beaten and left for dead.
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Aubrey deGray looks as though his fondest desire is to be adopted by Alan Moore. He dreams of he and Alan grooming each others' beards.
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Had you told me last year that there was such a thing as Golliwogg foot fetishists, I would have told you're crazy.
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For the transhumanist freaks at Reason: http://www.ted.com/talks/patti.....sense.html