Stephen Euin Cobb's Blog, page 13

The Future And You--June 18, 2014

--[Part 4]--(writer, editor, speaker, producer, futurist and transhumanist).

Topics: Human Intelligence--is it a product of our culture or our genes? Are some of this world's cultures more effective, more useful...maybe even more valuable? Should having babies be licensed and regulated, and not a right given to everyone? Features of Confucianism. Artificial Intelligence and the Technological Singularity. Ideas in the movie Idiocracy--a lighthearted science fiction movie in which the entire population of the world, in the far future, becomes very stupid. And I ask Hank if I am accurate in sizing him up as "an activist who feels comfortable using people's negative emotions to get the word out on topics he feels are important." I tell him that I think he views argument and controversy as useful and important tools. And I ask him if I am wrong.

Hank Pellissier is a writer, editor, speaker and producer, especially on futurist and transhumanist topics. He has written 22 articles for HplusMagazine, and 30 articles for IEET.org - the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Seven of his articles placed in the Top 12 in 2011 hits. In 2012 he was appointed the Managing Director of IEET. He continued to write for the site, finishing the year with 4 articles in the Top 12. He left IEET in October 2012 to start Transhumanity.net. He gave that site to Zero State in February 2013, and started ImmortalLife.info. He sold that site to Giovanni Santostasi in June 2013, and started the website BrighterBrains.org. At this site he started producing the TRANSHUMAN VISIONS conferences in the San Fransico Bay Area. He is the author of three e-books, Brighter Brains-225 Ways to Elevate or Injure IQ, Why is the IQ of Ashkenazi Jews so High?, and Invent Utopia Now. As a journalist, he was the "Local Intelligence" columnist for the New York Times (San Francisco edition) and he's a frequent contributor to GreatSchools.org. Past work includes a daily column for Salon.com titled "Naked World," two columns for SfGate.com titled "Urban Animal" and "Odd Barkings," and dozens of articles for other publications like San Fransisco Bay Guardian, World Future Society, and Acceler8or. He has also performed as a solo performance artist and Slam Poet, under his nom de plume, "Hank Hyena."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 11, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This is the third portion of my interview with Hank Pellissier which was recorded using Skype on April 24, 2014. The final portion will be in next week's episode.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--June 11, 2014

--[Part 3]--(writer, editor, speaker, producer, futurist and transhumanist).

Topics: Trends going on in education, especially online sources of education such as the Khan Academy, which I enjoy a great deal, and which is completely free to all users. (I've especially enjoyed their mathematics, history and biology.) We also talk about: the gamification of education; Hank's recent magazine article about learning through music videos; and the power of the Internet to reconnect people who, for decades, thought they would never see one another again. Somewhere in the middle of this episode, I describe, in some detail, the innovative and interactive method used by the Khan Academy to teach mathematics. Their method makes it easy, painless, and astoundingly more efficient than any traditional classroom.

Hank Pellissier is a writer, editor, speaker and producer, especially on futurist and transhumanist topics. He has written 22 articles for HplusMagazine, and 30 articles for IEET.org - the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Seven of his articles placed in the Top 12 in 2011 hits. In 2012 he was appointed the Managing Director of IEET. He continued to write for the site, finishing the year with 4 articles in the Top 12. He left IEET in October 2012 to start Transhumanity.net. He gave that site to Zero State in February 2013, and started ImmortalLife.info. He sold that site to Giovanni Santostasi in June 2013, and started the website BrighterBrains.org. At this site he started producing the TRANSHUMAN VISIONS conferences in the San Fransico Bay Area. He is the author of three e-books, Brighter Brains-225 Ways to Elevate or Injure IQ, Why is the IQ of Ashkenazi Jews so High?, and Invent Utopia Now. As a journalist, he was the "Local Intelligence" columnist for the New York Times (San Francisco edition) and he's a frequent contributor to GreatSchools.org. Past work includes a daily column for Salon.com titled "Naked World," two columns for SfGate.com titled "Urban Animal" and "Odd Barkings," and dozens of articles for other publications like San Fransisco Bay Guardian, World Future Society, and Acceler8or. He has also performed as a solo performance artist and Slam Poet, under his nom de plume, "Hank Hyena."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 11, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 31 minutes] This is the third portion of my interview with Hank Pellissier which was recorded using Skype on April 24, 2014. The final portion will be in next week's episode.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--June 4, 2014

Eight Interviews from ConCarolinas. (The SF&F convention that got me started podcasting.)

Guests include: Edmund R. Schubert (editor-in-chief of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show a poplar online magazine of science fiction and fantasy),  (a real ghostbuster & author of Haunted Theaters of the Carolinas), Janine K. Spendlove (author), Gail Z. Martin (author & podcaster), Ron Garner (promoter for Silence in the Library Publishing), Stuart Jaffe (author & podcaster), Jonah Knight (musical performer and composer), and Jada Diaz (the Con-Chair of ConCarolinas).

Various Topics discussed: ghostbusting in the real world, why travel by train is so much more fun than travel by air, ebooks, audiobooks, nuclear power, scified eggs, and one of my guests gets arrested by the Mandelorian Mercs when someone put a bounty on his head. (For those unfamiliar with the Mandelorian Mercs: Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who captured Han Solo in the second Star Wars movie, was also a Mandelorian Merc, and wore their familiar style of uniform, helmet and rocket-powered jet-pack.)

BTW: You can watch a video of me moderating a panel at this con on the topic of Transhumanism. Wesley Davis (one of my listeners) posted it on youtube.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 4, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 93 minutes] These interviews were recorded in Charlotte NC on May 30 and 31, 2014.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--May 28, 2014

Simone Pond (advertising executive, author andblogger) is our featured guest.

Topic: Trends in The Advertising Industry.

Specific items discussed: The TV show Mad Men; the power of viral videos; the public backlash against giant digital billboards; the rise of human billboards; the continuing decline of newspapers; the recent loss of schmoozing; the shrinking number of advertisers willing to commit to three or five year advertising contracts; the overwhelming migration of advertisements from all traditional forms of media to the Internet; (because of) the astounding targetability of Internet ads. Simone also describes some of the ways advertising has earned its reputation for evil manipulation. I tried to defend advertising, but she insists that everytime she comes home from her advertising job she feels unclean. She quotes Sean Connery from the movie The Anderson Tapes. "What is advertising but a legalized con game?"

Simone Pond is an advertising executive with a Los Angeles advertising agency. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in English. She is also the author of two novels which are set three hundred years in the future: The City Center, and its sequel: The New Agenda.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 28, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 34 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 1, 2014.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--May 21, 2014

Simone Pond (advertising executive, author and blogger) is our featured guest.

Topics: Trends in book promotion, but also tips and pointers on how to do it better.

Specific items discussed: online book promotions, facebook and social marketing, websites which will promote book give-a-ways for free, countdown promotions, goodreads.com, Amazon's Kindle policies and the promotional options they offer to authors, the importance of creating a brand, GooglePlus, weaknesses of traditional advertising as compared to online, how she made the book trailer video which she put on youtube and the results has yielded, and which promotional method has given her the best results--for the effort and money she expended--out of everything she has tried. Also mentioned: Falling Stars: The Air Crashes that Filled Rock & Roll Heaven by Rich Everitt, and How to publish and sell your article on the kindle by Kate Harper.

Simone Pond is an advertising executive with a Los Angeles advertising agency. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in English. She is also the author of two novels which are set three hundred years in the future: The City Center, and its sequel: The New Agenda.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 21, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 1, 2014.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--May 14, 2014

Eric Lerner (President and Chief Scientist of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics) is our featured guest.

Topic: Plasma Focus Fusion: a form of clean fusion which might well become a game-changer for civilization. If the ongoing development is successful, it could completely re-write our future as compared to current expectations. It could do this for three reasons: it can provide us with more electricity than we currently use on this planet, it can provide it at only a fraction of a penny per kilowatt hour, and the third and bonus reason, it is clean energy. Clean in the sense that it does not produce any radioactive waste material at all. Being a small portable device, Focused Fusion would be ideal for space exploration within our solar system--possibly reducing travel time to Mars to under one month. As a secondary topic, Eric Lerner also talks about the growing body of evidence that the Big Bang Theory of the origin and large scale structure of the universe may be completely wrong. An uncomfortable thought to be sure.

Eric Lerner, President and Chief Scientist of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, has been active in dense plasma focus (DPF) research for 30 years. Beginning in 1984, he developed a detailed quantitative theory of the functioning of DPF. Based on this theory, he proposed that the DPF could achieve high ion and electron energies at high densities, suitable for advanced fuel fusion and space propulsion. Under a series of contracts with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he planned and participated in carrying out experiments that tested and confirmed this theory. In addition, he developed an original model of the role of the quantum magnetic field effect on DPF functioning, showing that this effect could have a large effect on increasing ion temperature and decreasing electron temperature, which would reduce unwanted X-ray cooling of the plasma.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the May 14, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 50 minutes] This interview was recorded using Skype on May 8, 2014.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--May 7, 2014

--[Part 2]--(writer, editor, speaker, producer, futurist and transhumanist).

Topics: A good bit of detail on the life-extension experiments using Carbon 60, Buckyballs dissolved in olive oil (and where you can buy it for yourself). And a bit of info on other anti-aging medicines and supplements such as: TA-65, Product-B, Stem Code, and from The Bullet-Proof Executive Upgrade Aging Formula. Also: biohacking, quantified-self, and some ideas on what to do with all that free-time if you live for centuries.

Hank Pellissier is a writer, editor, speaker and producer, especially on futurist and transhumanist topics. He has written 22 articles for HplusMagazine, and 30 articles for IEET.org - the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Seven of his articles placed in the Top 12 in 2011 hits. In 2012 he was appointed the Managing Director of IEET. He continued to write for the site, finishing the year with 4 articles in the Top 12. He left IEET in October 2012 to start Transhumanity.net. He gave that site to Zero State in February 2013, and started ImmortalLife.info. He sold that site to Giovanni Santostasi in June 2013, and started the website BrighterBrains.org. At this site he started producing the TRANSHUMAN VISIONS conferences in the San Fransico Bay Area. He is the author of three e-books, Brighter Brains-225 Ways to Elevate or Injure IQ, Why is the IQ of Ashkenazi Jews so High?, and Invent Utopia Now. As a journalist, he was the "Local Intelligence" columnist for the New York Times (San Francisco edition) and he's a frequent contributor to GreatSchools.org. Past work includes a daily column for Salon.com titled "Naked World," two columns for SfGate.com titled "Urban Animal" and "Odd Barkings," and dozens of articles for other publications like San Fransisco Bay Guardian, World Future Society, and Acceler8or. He has also performed as a solo performance artist and Slam Poet, under his nom de plume, "Hank Hyena."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 30, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 55 minutes] This is the first portion of my interview with Hank Pellissier which was recorded using Skype on April 24, 2014. The next portion will be in next week's episode.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--April 30, 2014

 (writer, editor, speaker, producer, futurist and transhumanist) is today's featured guest.

Topics: his book 225 ways to increase or harm IQ. Life-extension methods people are trying today; Peter Nygard's life-extension experiment in the Bahamas; life-extension experiments using C60 (Carbon 60, Buckyballs); and research into the molecule NAD which is fundamental to the mitochondrial theory of aging. Also mentioned are the experiments of a biohacker named Gwern Branwen into the mind-improving drugs called Nootropics.

Hank Pellissier is a writer, editor, speaker and producer, especially on futurist and transhumanist topics. He has written 22 articles for HplusMagazine, and 30 articles for IEET.org - the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Seven of his articles placed in the Top 12 in 2011 hits. In 2012 he was appointed the Managing Director of IEET. He continued to write for the site, finishing the year with 4 articles in the Top 12. He left IEET in October 2012 to start Transhumanity.net. He gave that site to Zero State in February 2013, and started ImmortalLife.info. He sold that site to Giovanni Santostasi in June 2013, and started the website BrighterBrains.org. At this site he started producing the TRANSHUMAN VISIONS conferences in the San Fransico Bay Area. He is the author of three e-books, Brighter Brains-225 Ways to Elevate or Injure IQ, Why is the IQ of Ashkenazi Jews so High?, and Invent Utopia Now. As a journalist, he was the "Local Intelligence" columnist for the New York Times (San Francisco edition) and he's a frequent contributor to GreatSchools.org. Past work includes a daily column for Salon.com titled "Naked World," two columns for SfGate.com titled "Urban Animal" and "Odd Barkings," and dozens of articles for other publications like San Fransisco Bay Guardian, World Future Society, and Acceler8or. He has also performed as a solo performance artist and Slam Poet, under his nom de plume, "Hank Hyena."

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 30, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 55 minutes] This is the first portion of my interview with Hank Pellissier which was recorded using Skype on April 24, 2014. The next portion will be in next week's episode.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--April 23, 2014

Zoltan Istvan (journalist, entrepreneur, futurist) is today's featured guest.

Topics: life-extension and the elimination of death; his proposals for a transhumanist Olympics; and how transhumanist ideas mesh or conflict with the various religions of the world. Also, ways in which life-extension may change our cultural attitudes and behaviours--for example: marriage may not survive and having children may become less popular or just delayed until later in people's lives. Also just how strong should we let artificial intelligence become, and what actions might our government take to control a singularity. Also his work stopping the illegal poaching of endangered species in Southeast Asia, and how he pioneered the extreme sport of volcano boarding.

Zoltan Istvan is an American-Hungarian philosopher, journalist, entrepreneur, and futurist. He is best known as a leading transhumanist and the author of the controversial novel, The Transhumanist Wager, a #1 bestseller in both Philosophy and Science Fiction Visionary and Metaphysical on Amazon. At the age of 21 he began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He's explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts. His work has also been featured by The New York Times Syndicate, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC Radio, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 23, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 33 minutes] This is the second half of my interview with Zoltan Istvan which was recorded using Skype on April 3, 2014. The first half is in last week's episode.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.

The Future And You--April 16, 2014

Zoltan Istvan (journalist, entrepreneur, futurist) is today's featured guest.

Topics: life-extension, transhumanism, augmenting the body and the mind, Ayn Rand's objectivism, several forms of atheism, and many of the other topics he has explored in his new novel, The Transhumanist Wager. We also discuss some of the articles he's written for the Huffington Post such as, Are We Heading for a Jesus Singularity?, A New Generation of Transhumanists is Emerging, and I'm and atheist therefore I'm a Transhumanist.

Zoltan Istvan is an American-Hungarian philosopher, journalist, entrepreneur, and futurist. He is best known as a leading transhumanist and the author of the controversial novel, The Transhumanist Wager, a #1 bestseller in both Philosophy and Science Fiction Visionary and Metaphysical on Amazon. At the age of 21 he began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world. His main cargo was 500 handpicked books, mostly classics. He's explored over 100 countries—many as a journalist for the National Geographic Channel—writing, filming, and appearing in dozens of television stories, articles, and webcasts. His work has also been featured by The New York Times Syndicate, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC Radio, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. In addition to his award-winning coverage of the war in Kashmir, he gained worldwide attention for pioneering and popularizing the extreme sport of volcano boarding. Zoltan later became a director for the international conservation group WildAid, leading armed patrol units to stop the billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the April 16, 2014 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes] This is the first half of my interview with Zoltan Istvan which was recorded using Skype on April 3, 2014.

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, futurist, magazine writer and host of the award-winning podcast The Future And You. A contributing editor for Space and Time Magazine; he has also been a regular contributor for Robot, H+, Grim Couture and Port Iris magazines; and he spent three years as a columnist and contributing editor for Jim Baen's Universe Magazine. He is an artist, essayist, game designer, transhumanist, and is on the Advisory Board of The Lifeboat Foundation. Stephen is the author of Indistinguishable from Magic: Predictions of Revolutionary Future Science as well as A Brief History of Predicting the Future.