The second seminar in a series of four. The series is an exploration of the way we conceive of the natural environment, and what implications this has for practical decisions faced by the environmental movement.
"Life preys upon life. This is biology's most fundamental fact" - Martin H. Fischer
Nature is cruel. But a revolution in AI, genome editing and synthetic gene drives turns the level of suffering in the living world into an adjustable parameter. This discussion will focus on some of the ethical, technical and political challenges to veganising the animal kingdom. Creating a world without suffering is a monumental computational challenge. But post-Darwinian life will be civilised and perhaps sublime.
David Pearce is author of The Hedonistic Imperative (1995), which advocates using biotechnology to abolish suffering throughout the living world in favour of gradients of intelligent bliss. In 1998, Pearce co-founded with Nick Bostrom The World Transhumanist Association, now rebranded as Humanity Plus. Transhumanists urge the use of technology to create a “triple S” civilisation of superhappiness, superlongevity and superintelligence.