Ep 41: David Pearce & Engineering Paradise

David Pearce lays out a plan for building heaven on earth, shows us why vegans need more science fiction, and explains why computers may never become conscious.

Bio:

David Pearce is a philosopher, a founder of the World Transhumanist Association (now called Humanity+), and the author of The Hedonistic Imperative.

Topics:

• The Naturalization of Heaven
  • The Lion and the Lamb as an engineering project
  • The Ever-Happy Mice
  • The Hedonistic Imperative & The Abolitionist Project
• How do we make heaven on earth? A 3-step plan:
  1. Stop systematically harming living beings. Shut down factory farms & slaughter houses. Introduce in vitro meats.
  2. Designer babies & free genetic screening.
  3. Raise our "hedonic set-point" — How much pleasure and pain we experience on average.
• Wireheading vs Paradise Engineering?
  • Genetic Engineering, Smart Drugs, and why natural selection won't let us become wire-headers
  • Wireheading, Faith Healing & the Placebo Effect — Micah's comprehensive theory of placebo, faith healing, and the genetics of spiritual authority
  • Will genetic engineering increase biodiversity?
  • Do we need pain in order to experience pleasure?
• Should vegans be more ambitious?
  • What is the role of humanity in governing life?
  • The significance of Science Fiction & Religious Visions
• Will computers become conscious?
  • The Binding Problem of Consciousness
  • Is there one consciousness or many?
  • What does consciousness do?
  • Consciousness as Quantum Coherence

Links:

• BBC on David Pearce & the Pursuit of Happiness
• The Hedonistic Imperative
• The Abolitionist Project

Pull-Quotes:

"Computers may never become conscious." <-- Click to tweet

"The pain-pleasure axis exposes the world's metric of value." — @webmasterdave

"Every child born today is a unique genetic experiment." — @webmasterdave

"Ending suffering for good entails tackling its genetic-biological roots, i.e. a programming solution." — @webmasterdave

"All that matters is the pleasure-pain axis." — @webmasterdave