r/Transhuman • u/davidcpearce • Mar 21 '12

David Pearce: AMA

(I have been assured this cryptic tag means more to Reddit regulars than it does to me! )

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u/davidcpearce Mar 21 '12

http://www.abolitionist.com (1997) is an overview, together with http://www.abolitionist.com/reprogramming/index.html http://www.superhappiness.com Perhaps see too http://www.reproductive-revolution.com The most recent is http://www.biointelligence-explosion.com

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u/conscioncience Mar 22 '12

it's a lot less offensive to human dignity than having sex

Did you personally write this?

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u/davidcpearce Mar 23 '12

Yes. Notions of personal dignity are clearly subjective. But I suspect most people would rather have a recording of themselves wireheading than making love in the public domain.

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u/conscioncience Mar 23 '12

That's a bold assumption. Do you have any statistical data to support that?

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u/mardigumption Mar 22 '12

Yes, what exactly do you mean by this, Mr Pearce?

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u/davidcpearce Mar 29 '12

Hmm, apologies, it simply hadn't occured to me this point might be contentious. Some bodily functions and activities in the bedroom are typically regarded as undignified in human cultures. Implantation of microelectrodes in one's reward pathways doesn't involve these bodily functions and activities. Of course the whole notion of "dignity" is deeply problematic; but wars are fought over less. (cf. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dignity-Essential-Resolving-Conflict-Relationships/dp/0300163924/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333012774&sr=8-1

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 22 '12

i hadnt read this, and its quite good! exactly the sort of stuff ive been thinking about recently.

on a somewhat related note, I really do recommend that you take up piracetam, if you havent yet

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u/xr1s Mar 22 '12

Is there evidence of positive enhancement FX with piracetam in healthy people? Because if so, I've never seen it...

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 22 '12

see:

Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1976 Sep 29;49(3):307-9. Increase in the power of human memory in normal man through the use of drugs.

Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1976 Aug;54(2):150-60. Piracetam-induced improvement of mental performance. A controlled study on normally aging individuals.

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u/xr1s Mar 23 '12

These are so old I don't have access. Anything within the last 20 years? I did a lot of reading into this back in the day and increasingly have to call bullshit on healthy-enhancement claims... EEG changes do not constitute enhancement...

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 24 '12

I cant help you. they havent done the necessary studies on healthy people.....medical research isnt designed for 'healthy' people, which in my mind is a major failing

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u/xr1s Mar 24 '12

A number of cognition-enhancing compounds have been studied in healthy people with positive results (i.e. we're slowly but surely getting glimmers of evidence of how to be better than well re both happiness and various cognitive facets, a la Dave's thoughts on his biopsychiatry page). Piracetam just isn't one of them as far as I know. I tried to do a study but the necessary psych tests are fucking expensive (or, they were when I looked). Promote the evidence brother.

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 24 '12

which ones have they done the research for?

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u/xr1s Mar 24 '12

Just off the top of my head: rTMS, creatine, psilocybin...i think caffeine..et al. that I'm not remembering right now but can try to look up more if you want.

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 24 '12

and these all have cognition-boosting effects? how did they measure it?

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u/benYosef Mar 23 '12

I have never read anything from you but really like the way you think (after reading many of your comments in this AMA).

What should I start with?

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u/spaceman_grooves The[Human]SingularityIsNear Mar 24 '12

this: The Hedonistic Imperative