Daniel Rourke /stream

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Scientists recently suggested that the Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun.

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Earlier this month, scientists working in South Africa made an exciting announcement: They had discovered a new species of human ancestor.

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“Ban sex robots!” scream the tech headlines, as if they’re heralding the arrival of the latest artificial intelligence threat to humankind since autonomous killer robots.

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When it comes to artificial intelligence, we may all be suffering from the fallacy of availability: thinking that creating intelligence is much easier than it is, because we see examples all…

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Face it: Siri sucks. So often, she has no clue what you’re saying. And when she does, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll respond with nothing more than a page filled…

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…suicide is the decisive political act of our times.― Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Precarious Rhapsody It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.

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The text below is a paper I wrote to correspond to my presentation at the first 100YSS Symposium in 2011. 0. Preamble1. The case against civilization2. The evils of civilization3. The…

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Let’s say someone successfully cloned human ancestors. Then what? Are they like chimps, to be put in a zoo or a nature reserve? Do they need carers? Should we enroll them…

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From rainforest revival and green technology to social changes, the age of humans is not necessarily a one-way ticket to eco-disaster, argue three new books Will more of the world's cities…

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In the movie Sliding Doors (1998), a woman named Helen, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, rushes to catch a train on the London Underground, but just misses it, watching helplessly from the…

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If Baudrillard observed the disappearance of tools adapted to the human form in favour of the button[1], we will observe the disappearance of the button in favour of fully-automatic predictive operation…

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Creativity is one of humanity’s uniquely defining qualities. Numerous thinkers have explored the qualities that creativity must have, and most pick out two important factors: whatever the process of creativity produces,…

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All technologies rely on specific materials that support communication, materials that leave their mark on the environment in a way that exceeds human imagination.

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Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) presents a dystopian vision of a near-future world in which most organic vegetation has died and human life is becoming increasingly rare.

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Humanity inscribes itself into the rock record of Earth’s history. People now move more sediment than all the world’s rivers combined. Fossil fuel burning has changed the composition of the atmosphere.

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In a nondescript alleyway on Pittsburgh’s North Side, Nathan Kukulski arrives at a house party carrying two half-empty cases of beer. The place is called Cyberpunk Apocalypse, an experiment in communal…

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When people think about SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, they imagine messages sent via radio—Jodie Foster tuning antennas, hoping to pick up signals from the “billions and billions” of star…

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Scientists recently suggested that the Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun.

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Earlier this month, scientists working in South Africa made an exciting announcement: They had discovered a new species of human ancestor.

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If we hope to preserve the knowledge and art produced by human civilization long after we are gone, or send a message to beings far from us in space of billions…

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Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu has a knack for provocation. Take human cloning. He says most of us would readily accept it if it benefited us.

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Face it: Siri sucks. So often, she has no clue what you’re saying. And when she does, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll respond with nothing more than a page filled…

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…suicide is the decisive political act of our times.― Franco “Bifo” Berardi, Precarious Rhapsody It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late.

Bookmark

The text below is a paper I wrote to correspond to my presentation at the first 100YSS Symposium in 2011. 0. Preamble1. The case against civilization2. The evils of civilization3. The…

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From Reza Negarastani's blog: It is through this operative fog that some of the more insidious mechanisms of neoliberal capitalism are directly plugged into the cognitive infrastructure under the guise of…

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From rainforest revival and green technology to social changes, the age of humans is not necessarily a one-way ticket to eco-disaster, argue three new books Will more of the world's cities…

Bookmark

If Baudrillard observed the disappearance of tools adapted to the human form in favour of the button[1], we will observe the disappearance of the button in favour of fully-automatic predictive operation…

Bookmark

All technologies rely on specific materials that support communication, materials that leave their mark on the environment in a way that exceeds human imagination.

Bookmark

Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) presents a dystopian vision of a near-future world in which most organic vegetation has died and human life is becoming increasingly rare.

Bookmark

Humanity inscribes itself into the rock record of Earth’s history. People now move more sediment than all the world’s rivers combined. Fossil fuel burning has changed the composition of the atmosphere.

Bookmark

When people think about SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, they imagine messages sent via radio—Jodie Foster tuning antennas, hoping to pick up signals from the “billions and billions” of star…

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There’s a word for this new era we live in: the Anthropocene. This term, taken up by geologists, pondered by intellectuals and discussed in the pages of publications such as The…