The Transhumanist Wager

Best-selling author Zoltan Istvan joins Phil and Stephen for a discussion of his widely acclaimed and controversial novel The Transhumanist Wager. This near-future thriller tells the story of a man determined to transform the world in his lifetime — and he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

Topics will include

  • What are the real drivers of progress and how can they be accelerated?
  • Or…do they need to be accelerated? Is progress occurring fast enough? Too fast?
  • Is transhumanism best defined as quest for immortality and omnipotence?
  • Is a war between transhumans (or posthumans) and a resistant world inevitable?

Tune in and explore.

About our guest

Bestselling author Zoltan Istvan, an American-Hungarian, began a solo, multi-year sailing journey around the world at the age of 21. 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. He is a philosophy and religious studies graduate of Columbia University and resides in San Francisco with his daughter and physician wife. Zoltan also blogs for Psychology Today and The Huffington Post.

Wednesday 6 November 2013
7:00 PM PST / 10 PM EST

 

About Phil 523 Articles
Phil Bowermaster is a nationally recognized author and speaker. He has more than 25 years experience writing about emerging technologies and the future. As co-host of the popular Internet radio series, The World Transformed, Phil has talked with leading scientists and technologists, best-selling authors, philosophers, filmmakers, artists, entrepreneurs and others who are shaping our understanding of the amazing era of transformation in which we live. Phil helps leaders and their organizations develop strategies for managing accelerating change. He shows how imagination, optimism, empathy, and humor can make all the difference in both understanding and making the most of the powerful currents of change we face.