I’m in Melbourne Beach, Florida, for the 4th Colloquium on the Law of Futuristic Persons. As one might assume from the title, this is a legally focused gathering, and addresses legal issues related to cryonics patients, cyborgs, artificial biological intelligent beings, enhanced human beings, and artificial intelligences. I’m attending to record the whole thing and summarize it for those that aren’t here. Our gracious hostesses are Martine Rothblatt and Bina Aspen Rothblatt, who covered all our expenses and put us up in a nice hotel on the beach, with fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean and the palm tree-covered residential areas of Melbourne Beach. Martine Rothblatt, our hostess, opens us up with an intro to the conference. She’s wearing video eyeglasses invented by the famous Steve Mann. They’re continuously taking video and beaming it to the Internet, an example of sousveillance. She’s also showing us how it can be beamed directly to the big LCD screen at the front of the room. Pretty cool… I think I’d want these if I were a political protester in danger of being attacked by overly enthusiastic riot cops. Join discussion...

A small artificially created universe linked to the old universe by a wormhole. This could then be used for living space, computing or as an escape from a decaying universe. "Baby Universes" has been postulated by some theories about black holes and inflation cosmology. Join discussion...

* Nanotechnology + Effective material omnipotence from a hunter-gatherer perspective + Quantum computing * Megascale engineering + Dyson spheres, ringworlds, et al. * Femtotechnology + Like nano, but with baryons instead of atoms + Transmutation of elements, new materials ("artificial atoms") + Probes that can land on a neutron star + Refinements: Higgsium, monopolium * Chromotechnology + Like nano, but with individual quarks + artificial baryons + fastest achievable purely material computers (probably) * Spacetime engineering + manufacture of negative matter + time travel + violation of thermodynamics (permitted by either of above) + nonmaterial computing, possibly at infinite/transfinite speeds + wormhole FTL + tardis warp FTL + prevent/outlive Big Crunch + DIY Big Bang + Linde Scenario / Alpha Line computing * Reality engineering / descriptor theory + root permissions on the Universe + violation of conservation laws + effective material omnipotence from a modern-day perspective * Ontotechnology + "change the type of things that can be real" + First Cause engineering + treat the laws of physics as material, manipulable objects + qualia engineering, objective morality + violation of information-theoretical laws (?) Join discussion...

A social movement devoted to diversity, unity and joyful immortality achieved through exponential growth of geo-ethical nanotechnology. Immortality is accomplished by creating consciousness in self-replicating machines that can be distributed throughout the cosmos. The machines use their exponentially growing knowledge and ethical nanotechnology to convert universal random mass and energy into ubiquitous intelligent mass and energy that, networked together, will be a force capable of controlling cosmic physics. Diversity, unity and joy are ensured through machine consciousness and universal adherence to the principles of Terasem. As the collective consciousness becomes increasingly omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent it will realize the age-old vision of a benevolent God. Until the time of cosmic dispersion, Terasem functions as a trans-religion by educating the public on the practicality and necessity of diversity, unity and joyful immortality. This mission is achieved via six activities: broadcasting the Truths of Terasem, teaching geoethical nanotechnology, hosting problem-solving symposia, convening commemorative rituals, demonstrating human cryonics and building cyber-consciousness Join discussion...

Engineering Transcendence This chapter, adapted from an older article, can be read as a stand-alone summary of the rest of the book and provides a rationale, in a memetic engineering sense, for the program proposed. It has been edited with references to other chapters that provide more detailed information and thoughts. Gazing at the stars in the clear night sky, and feeling that there is something greater than us, which gives a meaning to our little life down here. Being afraid to die, and hoping that our selves may somehow survive death. Grieving for our loved ones who are not with us anymore, and hoping to meet them again, somewhere else. Such feelings and hopes have been part of us since the dawn of time. Perhaps, as it has been suggested, our minds are hard-wired for religion: “Just as the mind has the capacity for analytical thought, abstract mathematical reasoning, and invention of highly sophisticated technology, it also has the capacity - and the built-in design - to experience God”. Or, the capacity to experience “the transcendent” or “Reality” - which can stand in place of God for some spiritual people such as Buddhists. Join discussion...

We have shared our vision of diversity for the future of human evolution for many millennia to come, for the period during which the universe remains the hospitable, vital environment that it is today, and within the context of the four known, presently observable dimensions. But as we look at each of these assumptions in turn, more speculation is called for to even begin scratching the surface of possibility. Join discussion...

The human race has come a long way in the 1.5 million years since Homo erectus rose up and walked on two feet. What will humans look like in another million years (if we're still around)? Where will we live and what will we be doing? In this collection, Broderick, an Australian writer and science fiction editor, and a dozen-plus contributors let their imaginations run wild. At times they sound like a bunch of dudes tossing around what if's, but they've come up with truly funky ideas. The concept of a Matrioshka brain crops up more than once—a gigantic system of solar-orbiting structures to trap the sun's energy. Other authors stay more down to earth. Dougal Dixon speculates on continental drift and changes in the Earth's magnetic field. Steven Harris discusses why deuterium may take the place of oil and gas as our primary energy source in a few millennia. Several chapters read more like science fiction than sound scientific speculation, and a few wander off topic, but it's all great fun. Join discussion...

When a smarter-than-human intelligence is created in a world composed of solely human-level intelligences, prediction of the specific nature of later events and advances (for unaugmented humans) becomes difficult because they will quickly start to be driven by /superintelligent as well as human forces. The only potential prediction one can make is that the actions of the first greater-than-human intelligence might somehow bear a relation to its initial goals. For example, we can guess that if Gandhi became the first /superintelligence, he might choose to be /altruistic, whereas if Hitler became the first superintelligence, he might choose to be authoritarian. Although there may be many things that do not change with the rise of superhuman intelligence, it's impossible for us to say beforehand what they will be. It will depend on the values of the superintelligences directing progress in this world, which would hopefully include the freedom and survival of all sentient beings Join discussion...

The true Utopia, the best-of-all-possible-worlds - not just freedom from pain and stress or a sterile round of endless physical pleasures, but the prospect of endless growth for every human being - growth in mind, in intelligence, in strength of personality; life without bound, without end; experiencing everything we've dreamed of experiencing, becoming everything we've ever dreamed of being; not for a billion years, or ten-to-the-billionth years, but forever... or perhaps embarking together on some still greater adventure of which we cannot even conceive. That's the Apotheosis. [Eliezer Yudkowsky] Join discussion...

Technology that permits manipulation of the fundamental rules of reality, such as physical or information-theoretic law [Yudkowsky01]. Very speculative. See also physics workarounds. Join discussion...