Humanist Accelerationism

Philosophy & Society Initiative - Aspen Institute

Join Aspen Philosophy and Wisdom of Crowds for a conversation about humanity, technology, and the era ahead.

Bistro Cacao

It might be that rapid progress of AI is making human beings obsolete. Gen AI might replace artists. VR headsets could replace physical outings. AI friends might take the place of real friends.Is tech replacing humanity? Or is it sharpening the question of what it means to be human? What does it mean to live a good life — as opposed to passable life? What features of humanity become more important by contrast and necessity in the technological age? Is it possible to find a higher version of humanity in order to thrive?Joining us to tackle these issues are Christine Rosen, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow, Commentary magazine columnist, and author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World; and Santi Ruiz, Senior Editor at the Institute for Progress and author of the "Statecraft" newsletter, whose commentary on industrial policy, technological progress and human flourishing has reached most recently the Ezra Klein Show in the New York Times. Hosting the conversation will be WoC editor-at-large <a href="https://open.substack.com/users/2342842-samuel-kimbriel?utm_source=mentions" title="https://open.substack.com/users/2342842-samuel-kimbriel?utm_source=mentions" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Samuel Kimbriel</a>, philosopher, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Sacred-Knowing-Overcoming-Isolation/dp/0199363986/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SWXKYPNVDJ65&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JYs7H05_fnNplv2yYBWDZyFYTSYX7KHb-85SLmQLazS-n6UhMmWU65JmlI1Sj9yu.WhbiMppAFJzWlXPV_TPuUGa5jcKAJ-QXicNbH39QKok&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=samuel+kimbriel&amp;qid=1746892682&amp;sprefix=samuel+kimbriel%2Caps%2C82&amp;sr=8-1" title="https://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Sacred-Knowing-Overcoming-Isolation/dp/0199363986/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2SWXKYPNVDJ65&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JYs7H05_fnNplv2yYBWDZyFYTSYX7KHb-85SLmQLazS-n6UhMmWU65JmlI1Sj9yu.WhbiMppAFJzWlXPV_TPuUGa5jcKAJ-QXicNbH39QKok&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=samuel+kimbriel&amp;qid=1746892682&amp;sprefix=samuel+kimbriel%2Caps%2C82&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation</a> and head of the Philosophy &amp; Society Initiative at the Aspen Institute.We welcome you to join the conversation on May 19 at Bistro Cacao (316 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002). Doors will open at 6:30 pm and we will start the conversation at 7:00 pm. This episode will be a live taping of Wisdom of Crowds, and will last 45 minutes to an hour, plus audience questions at the end. We'll wrap up around 8:15 pm to enjoy drinks and canapes on the house. -- "If we are to reclaim human virtues and save our most deeply rooted human experiences from extinction, we must be willing to place limits on the more extreme transformative projects proposed by our techno-enthusiasts, not as a means of stifling innovation but as a commitment to our shared humanity. Only then can we live freely as the embodied, quirky, contradictory, resilient, creative human beings we are."Christine Rosen, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Extinction-Experience-Being-Human-Disembodied/dp/0393241718" title="https://www.amazon.com/Extinction-Experience-Being-Human-Disembodied/dp/0393241718" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Extinction of Experience</a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Extinction-Experience-Being-Human-Disembodied/dp/0393241718" title="https://www.amazon.com/Extinction-Experience-Being-Human-Disembodied/dp/0393241718" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">,</a> 2024"I like technological progress, and I work for an institution dedicated to it. Silicon Valley techno-optimism is an improvement over many ideological projects. But I’m a techno-optimist because I think the only way out is through, and that technology must be made to serve human ends. Without a better philosophy of what a human is for, and a higher view of humans than of the technocapital machine, it’s just a vehicle for [Nick] Land’s creatures from beyond the void."Santi Ruiz, <a href="https://regressstudies.substack.com/p/technocapital-is-eating-my-brains" title="https://regressstudies.substack.com/p/technocapital-is-eating-my-brains" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">"Technocapital is Eating My Brains,"</a> 2023

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Humanist Accelerationism

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