Digital Serfs & Cyborg Buddhas

Mon, Jan 12, 2009

Meditation, Technology


Digital Serfs and Cyborg Buddhas from Jeriaska on Vimeo.

Check out this great talk with Professor James Hughes and Professor Mike LaTorra. Both James and Mike have been guests on Buddhist Geeks, and they are also both Transhumanists. Their talk is an interesting mixture of Buddhist and Transhumanist idea, particularly aimed at exploring the future of our economic system and the potential results of having “structured unemployment,” particularly as it relates to self-actualization and spiritual growth. This talk was given at the recent Convergence08 conference.

This post was written by:

Vince Horn - who has written 832 posts on Numinous Nonsense.

Vince Horn lives as a modern monk. He spends part of his year in silence, meditating, introspecting, and developing spiritually. The rest of the time he spends engaged in the world, where he produces and hosts the popular show, Buddhist Geeks, works in the production department of the spiritual publishing company Sounds True, and writes for various publications—including on his personal blog Numinous Nonsense—and enjoys living in Boulder, Colorado with his wife Emily. Read his full bio here.

Contact the author

7 Responses to “Digital Serfs & Cyborg Buddhas”

  1. Ryan Oelke Says:

    is he wearing a BGeek’s t-shirt?:)

  2. grant paque Says:

    haha i noticed that too

  3. grant paque Says:

    in-fact, how would one go about getting one of those t-shirts

  4. Katy Says:

    I hope this redistribution of labor happens sooner than later. I would love to have more time to investigate myself…and have a community garden, work out, and live like our natural state. Sounds wonderful.

    Makes a lot of sense to me….I am going to keep thinking about this type of policy making.

  5. Vince Horn Says:

    Katy-Dawg!

    Yeah, I was psyched about this model as well. I have to admit there’s a tinge of idealistic thinking in it, but since it’s based on the notion that future technologies will create a super-abundance of resources, I think it does have some grounding in real, possible trends.

    Anyway, when we get our basic income guarantee maybe we’ll be able to hang out more often. :)

    -V

  6. eric Says:

    I liked Mike’s talk a lot, and wish he chimed in on the question of brain physiology. The response to that should first clarify/remind that the mind is not identity regardless of how it’s put together.


Leave a Reply