CFPs 4th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and TechnologyLiverpool (2010, sep28-oct1) @UWScreative partner
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Speaking
From September 16-17, I was one of the invited speakers at 'Brain Gear' a conference on neurodevices and neurosocieties organized by the University of Groningen, Netherlands in conjunction with the European Neuroscience and Society Network.
Here's a link to more info and heres' the brief:
Brain Gear
Discussing the design and use of neurodevices in neurosocieties
[Click here for a PDF of the text below]
What are the implications of brain-changing instruments that change our individual and collective self-image? Does their rise imply a fundamental change in the meaning of human life and should societies rethink fundamental concepts of justice and responsibility?
Various kinds of braindevices are in the making or already available. Firstly, there are implantable ones such as instruments for deep brain stimulation (DBS), epidural cortical stimulation (EpCS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and on a molecular leven neuronanotubes.
Secondly, there are external devices including apparatus for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) or repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).
And, thirdly, there are digital tools like ambient intelligence (wireless microprocessors integrated in the body or the environment like clothes and walls), ‘digital drugs’ (audio files giving people a high) or software programs for neurobio-feedback built into computers as well as ‘neury bears’ (teddy bears training children’s brainwaves through sounds).
While many welcome this kind of apparatus as ways to eradicate the woes and inconveniences of human life, others fear they will cause a loss of human dignity and freedom. Do such devices blur old distinctions between ‘human beings’ versus ‘things’ or ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’? Or were these untenable distinctions anyway? Do they imply fundamental changes because they operate directly on the brain or are they not that different from more traditional means of enhancement like cars, contact lenses, or microphones?
Chemical technologies inducing neurobiological changes are already widely in use. Maybe arguments about psychopharmacological changes of our selves can be directly applied to non-chemical molecular technologies. The analogy brings debates to mind about safety and efficacy, and the regulation of admission to the market. In addition, fundamental issues about individual freedom and responsibility also rise. Will the same social pressures that encourage people to use psychopharmacological drugs from childhood on make them use brain changing apparatus from childhood on? What to think of electric devices to boost children’s learning abilities?
Such debates unavoidably revolve around questions about the nature of responsibility. A number of neuroscientists argue these days that such concepts are superseded notions from the past, since the mind is nothing more than what the brain causes us to do. If so, it would not make a difference if the already material mind is extended with material hardware or software.
If ‘my brain made me do it’ my technologically enhanced brain made me do it no less. Legal philosophers however, argue that neurobiology can never have an impact on our notions of free will and responsibility since such notions do not need a non-material basis. Would that imply that we remain as responsible for our enhanced brain as we are for our non-enhanced brains?
These and related questions will be discussed during the workshop from various perspectives. Each in their own way scientists, sociologists, ethicists and artists will express their views and expectations.
The conference takes place on September 15 and 16 (departure September 17) 2011 in the artists’ center at The Palace in Groningen (www.hetpaleisgroningen.nl).
The University of Groningen offers a satellite program on Monday September 12 and a debate on Wednesday September 14 (http://studium.hosting.rug.nl).
Here is my talk:
This week I gave a a keynote lecture at The Sports Leisure & Marketing Conference & Workshop 'Examining the global impact of the Olympics', taking place in Northampton on July 13th. The focus of my talk was new media, which reminded me of this Olympic pin from Sydney 2000 - still the coolest pin out there!
Here is my presentation"
Here are more details about the event.
Description: The University of Northampton, together with The Academy of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, presents the The Sports Leisure & Marketing Conference & Workshop 'Examining the global impact of the Olympics'. This event is a uniquely designed forum for debate & discussion surrounding the impact of the London Olympics in 2012 and the burgeoning field of Sports Leisure and Marketing. Category: Event Host(s): Alan Seymour Contact Phone: 01604 892036 Contact E-mail: business@northampton.ac.uk Starts On: 13 Jul 2011 09:00 AM GMT Ends On: 13 Jul 2011 04:00 PM GMT Begin Registration: 04 May 2011 09:00 AM GMT End Registration: 06 Jul 2011 09:00 AM GMT Location: Park Campus Address: The University of Northampton Park Campus Boughton Green Road Northampton NN2 7AL Details/Directions: For full directions to Park Campus, please visit www.northampton.ac.uk/findus
This retro conference took place at Warwick University on June 18-19 and was a real blast, with many of the the old guard of the cyberculture years returning to Warwick to revisit the Internet era. I gave one of the plenary talks and enjoyed meeting new people whom i've read for many years and catching up with some familiar folk. There was a lot of discussion about the intersections of biology and digital technology and my talk was titled 'There's nothing virtual about the future' and addressed the way in which life online has been theorized as non-space. Here's a link to the website and here's the prezi talk. My laptop died on the way to the conference, so an analogue/digital love story was inevitable...
Photos from the event
Today's event at @CheltSciFest was a blast #cheltscifest. I focused my talk around my 5 categories of human enhancement. Here's the prezi. Great discussion.
Claims that Craig Venter ‘created life’ may have been overblown, but humans can now go beyond tinkering with genetics and build a new organism from components. How is this possible – and how should we approach our new-found powers? Adam Rutherford, ethicist Andy Miah and social scientist Jane Calvert tackle the tricky ethical questions thrown up by what some would call an extension of biology and others suspect is ‘playing God’. To coincide with a Nuffield Council on Bioethics consultation on emerging biotechnologies, this debate at the Cheltenham Science Festival will consider the ethical issues raised by synthetic biology. Adam Rutherford, ethicist Andy Miah and social scientist Jane Calvert (member of the Nuffield Council Working Party on emerging biotechnologies) tackle the tricky ethical questions thrown up by what some would call an extension of biology and others suspect is ‘playing God’.
Here's a copy of my presentation:
Biographies
Following a degree in evolutionary biology Adam Rutherford completed a PhD in the genetics of the eye. Now Adam is an editor of science journal Nature. Adam recently presented BBC4 series “Cell” covering 4 billion years of evolution from the very first cell to the future of life itself.
Andy Miah is Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre within the Faculty of Business and Creative Industries at the University of the West of Scotland. His research focuses on questions concerning the future of humanity and which require transdisciplinary research solutions.
Jane Calvert is a social scientist and Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, based in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Innogen Centre. Jane's broad area of research is the sociology of the life sciences.
photographs from Leicester's Community Media week, where I gave a brief overview of the East Midland's role in #media2012. great day.
In June, I'll be speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival in 4 events. Also, I have written an editorial for the programme, which discusses Factor X and the future of humanity. Here's a link and here's more info about the events wher I'll be speaking: Ethics of Synthetic Biology (8th June, 1830) Biology is being thought of in a whole new way – as a bunch of parts that can be engineered to create ‘synthetic’ biological things. But what does that mean? And should we be playing God with nature or can we think of biological bits as any other building material? Adam Rutherford, ethicist Andy Miah and social scientist Jane Calvert introduce us to synthetic biology and what it can do for us, and discuss some of the controversial questions it raises.
X MEN Vs BIONIC WOMEN (9th June, 1430) When we talk about doctors making us better we usually mean they give us back our health. But what if engineers and scientists could really make us better, better than we’ve ever been before? Faster, smarter, stronger than nature could manage, for example. Hear from biomedical engineer John Fisher and neuroscientist Barbara Sahakian about how much that could soon be possible, and from ethicist Andy Miah about the new dilemmas such technologies could bring.
Science Question Time (9th June, 5-6pm) Science cafe style event, considering questions of the week.
WHAT MAKES A CHAMPION? Thursday 9th June 8.30-9.30pm Our genetic heritage determines whether we have the right body to become a sporting champion, but raw talent alone is unlikely to win an Olympic gold medal. What are the mental challenges facing elite athletes? How has technology allowed us to swim, cycle and run faster? Former table tennis champion and journalist Matthew Syed, sports engineer Steve Haake and Scott Drawer from Sports UK uncover what makes successful sports stars rise above their competitors.
The next meeting of the #media2012 community takes place on June 6th in Leicester, hosted by @Citizenseye. A number of people from around the UK will visit during the Community Media Week led by John Coster and we'll have an afternoon to discuss planning in advance of London 2012. All are welcome, more info here.
At Die Untoten, my second intervention was with Aubrey de Grey. We've not done an event together since a Nature debate in 2008 and it was fun to work through some ideas that I've not had a chance to talk about for a while. The focus of our conversation was longevity and whether living for longer is a priority in society. While it seems that a lot of energy within politics goes towards helping people have longer, fitter lives, the realization that implies a commitment to living indefinitely is something that people find quite troublesome.
In fact, most of the people in our audience would prefer to not live beyond 100 years, even if we could guarantee good health.
The first day of Die Untoten took place yesterday. Produced by Hannah Hurtzig and the Mobile Academy, this special event brought together scientists, artists, philosophers, cultural and political theorists, film makers and health care professionals, to explore the subject of life and death. Ethan helped me out with my presentation.
This week, I'll be in Hamburg speaking at what promises to be an extraordinary event. I'll give a solo talk on Transhumanism and have a discussion with Aubrey de Grey on Immortality and Life Extension. The event is set in a film set, here's the link and brief:
CONGRESS + MISE EN SCENE Artistic Director: Hannah Hurtzig, Mobile Akademie Berlin
“When does a life begin? When does a life end? And who decides?”
How do we answer these questions today?
“The congress is the location of an encounter between various persons and languages which currently define what is still/already alive and what is still/already dead. The zone in-between, a unclear zone of the undead, is the subject of controversial discussion in the life sciences and is being continually extended at a furious pace. The research undertakings of biotechnology, the considerations of medical ethics, the achievements of transplantation medicine and the hesitating help of philosophy will be confronted and charged with the visual worlds of pop culture over the three days. At these interfaces the congress shall gather narratives, signs, images and ciphers for an archive of the undead.”
The concept:
Through lectures and talks, presentations and dialogues, natural scientists and humanities scholars, artists and nurses with their varying approaches and methods – in theory and practice – encounter one another in the spaces of a film set. Visitors can move freely through these film sets, which evoke places typically associated with the production of an “undead”. Equipped with a portable radio receiver, the audience decides which programme it wishes to follow live and which one only through the headphone
My keynote lecture for the Future of Fairness conference at Otago University.
This week, I jet off to New Zealand as part of a Visiting Fellowship at University of Otago Law Department and Genetics Department. The visit will focus on the Future of Fairness inaugural event for Dr Colin Gavaghan's newly formed Centre for Law and Policy in Emerging Technologies. Over the duration of the trip, I will give a number of public lectures, details of which are below.
Weds 16 March
Otago Uni, Philosophy Dept
Is Transhumanism All Too Transhuman?
Transhumanist thought has risen in popularity over the last decade, claiming its territory as a distinct philosophical perspective. Contributors to this literature have informed studies of bioethics, philosophy of technology and environmental ethics. This talk will outline the core philosophical commitments of transhumanist thought and discuss their uniqueness, coherence and value, as a set of moral philosophical propositions about the worth of humanity.
Friday 18 Mar
Otago Uni, Media School (Erika Pearson)
Social Media & Pornography: Are You Interested in Stranger Chat & Facebook Porn?
In the late 1990s, cybercultural studies research centered on freedom of expression, notably drawing attention to how sexuality and gender identity were the loci of online emancipation. Web Studies, in the early 2000s, refined our understanding of these processes, revealing that, rather than being absent online, our physical markers were increasingly visible in cyberspace and an important part of how people negotiated identity online. Central to this was the rise of pornography and a range of sexual and erotic encounters online, which became a core part of the digital landscape. This lecture considers these processes in the context of the 2010s, the social media era, arguing the locations of X-rated content online are becoming more ubiquitous and more mainstream than has previously been the case.
Monday 21 March
Otago Uni, Bioethics Centre (Lynley Anderson)
Bioart as Bioethics
Over the last decade, such artists as Stelarc, Orlan and Eduardo Kac have led the growth of bioart, a contested concept defined by the use of biologically living matter within art installations and artifacts. Increasingly, this work finds itself intimately connected to bioethical debates, but how should we regard the creation of bioart? Should it be subjected to the same regulations as experimental science, or should artists be given special freedoms to create synthetic biology, as they see fit? Alternatively, how ought we to read bioart, as either a defiant renegotiation of knowledge territories, or as a series of aesthetic or ethical propositions?
Tuesday 22, opening keynote
Otago Uni, The Future of Fairness (Colin)
Life isn’t fair, but should it be?
What kind of fairness do we seek for our societies? Is equality of opportunity enough to satisfy our pursuit of justice, or would we prefer it if goods were evenly distributed across the population? How will this balance be affected in the future, where we might use technology to genetically engineer a person to be a great athlete, or an extraordinary musician? Would this make our society more or less fair? Would the absence of the genetic lottery mean that people are more likely to get what they deserve, rather than just what was afforded to them because of good or bad luck? This talk will consider what is at stake when we move from chance to choice in our pursuit of justice.
Tuesday 22, evening public lecture
Genetically Modified Athletes: Is this the end of sport?
In 2001, athletes were beginning to contact genetic scientists to enroll into their gene transfer clinical trials. While the science of gene therapy was still very undeveloped, this signaled a shift in how athletes would enhance their performance in the future and the world of sport reacted by banning gene doping in 2003. One decade on from those initial inquiries, what has become of the genetically modified athlete? How might these new kinds of individual fit within elite sport, or will their birth bring about the end of sport as we know it?
Friday 25 Mar
Wanaka, Science Series
Humanity 2.0
The pursuit of science, technology and medicine lead humanity towards a posthuman state, where aging is regarded as a disease to be cured and where the value of natural biological state is replaced by the commitment to enhance our resilience to the environmental stress of life and even go beyond the upper limit of human capabilities. While, countless science fiction stories warn us of the dangers with ‘playing God’ and tampering with nature, can we expect these transformations to improve humanity in the long term? After all, if we regard them to be a natural part of our evolution, then we may argue that they are not only inevitable, they also morally required.
Tuesday 11 April TBC
Canterbury University, Media School
The Role of Social Media in Disaster Zones: When it matters most to us, which media prevails?
The recent human tragedy of the Christchurch earthquake focuses our attention on the media’s role in an emergency – as information provider, mediator of perspectives, and vehicle of collective grief. This role has now become part of a larger cycle of content that emerges from citizen journalists, who report content on such platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. This lecture will consider what social media contributes in an emergency situation? Does it provide a role that is essential or different from traditional media forms? Do we still require broadcasters in an era when spontaneous citizen journalism communities spring up to deliver on the ground reports with precision and insight? This lecture will consider the complex convergence of new media around human disasters arguing that the personalization of news within social media affords it a degree of authenticity and respect that is not possible to achieve with a broadcast model.
Biography
Professor Andy Miah is Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies and Director of the Creative Futures Research Centre at the University of the West of Scotland. A prolific cultural commentator and philosopher, he commences a lecture tour as a visiting Scholar at University of Otago, during which time he will give a number of public talks on such subjects as the use of social media in disaster zones, the emergence of bioart, the future of fairness, and the rise of the genetically modified athlete. He is also a social media advocate and, as a photo anthropologist, has been published in a range of books and magazines.
Photographs from the event 'London 2012: the First Transhuman Games?'
On 24th January, 2011, at 630pm @UWScreative will be hosting an 'inspired by London 2012' event at the CCA in Glasgow, host city for ICSEMIS 2012.
TOO BOOK YOUR PLACE, CLICK HERE
The event is FREE to attend and open to all. It will bring together a scientist, an artist and a philosopher (me) in conversation about the way in which athletes bodies and minds are being transformed by technology.
Today, elite sports find themselves in increasingly unchartered waters. More than ever before, athletes are using technology to optimize their biology for performance and many of their methods are not even tested for by the authorities. From genetic tests for sport performance to the use of superhuman prosthetic enhancements, this subject reaches parts that present-day anti-doping rules cannot reach. These technologies have changed elite sports, as we know them, but the next decade promises even more of an overhaul to what we think being good at sport means. As we approach the London 2012 Games, this debate will consider the ethical implications of new technology in sport, asking what distinguishes the cheat from the innovator. We will ask whether the debate about the ethics of athletic performance is all but over, as the winners' podium makes space for the transhuman athlete.
Going beyond the familiar debate about doping and anti-doping, this debate will consider how far biology has been pushed by technical systems and what Jacques Ellul called the technological society. It will include Dr Yannis Pitsiladis, who works with the World Anti-Doping Agency on genetic technologies and live artist Francesca Steele (pictured here in an image by Simon Keitch www.simonkeitch.com), who became a body builder as part of her most recent performance work. Along with me, we will consider how we ought to regard the future of sport and how it will function in an era of transhuman enhancements.
The event is presented by the University of the West of Scotland as part of 'Knowing Sport: The science behind the medals', a public engagement initiative of ICSEMIS 2012 (Glasgow) supported by PODIUM and Research Councils UK, Inspired by London 2012'.
Speaker Biographies
Dr Yannis Pitsiladis is a Reader in Exercise Physiology at the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences in the College of Medicine, Veterinary & Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow and founding member of the “International Centre for East African Running Science” (ICEARS) set up to investigate the determinants of the phenomenal success of east African distance runners in international athletics. Recent projects also include the study of elite sprinters from Jamaica and the USA and the study of world class swimmers (e.g., why are there very few black swimmers?). He is a Visiting Professor in Medical Physiology at Moi University (Eldoret, Kenya) and Addis Ababa University (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). He is a member of the Scientific Commission of the International Sports Medicine Federation (FIMS, and a member of the List Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). He is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
Francesca Steele has performed and exhibited work nationally and internationally since graduating with a BA in Fine Art from Northumbria University. She was awarded the Belsay Hall Fellowship in 2006, and has spent time as an artist in residence in various sensitive research, medical and rehabilitation settings including The Centre for Life and PEALS, in Newcastle and Horticultural Healing (a rehabilitation project for clients with acquired brain injury) in Plymouth. Francesca has performed at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead and Arnolfini, Bristol amongst other UK and international venues. Her work has been featured in a range of publications, most recently Marina Abramovic and the Future of Performance Art (Prestel 2010). Currently Francesca bodybuilds specifically as part of her arts practice. The preparation for her current work began in October of 2008, since that time Francesca has trained as a bodybuilder. She won the title of Miss Plymouth in September 2009 and Miss West Britain (Trained Figure) at the National Amateur Body Building Association (NABBA) competition in April 2010, in May of that year she placed in the top six at the British Finals. From these experiences she has continued to develop her arts practice, through video and live performance work. Notably Routine, which was performed at The Pigs of Today are the Hams of Tomorrow (January 2010) and then the National Review of Live Art in Glasgow (March 2010).
and here's my sport biography :)
Professor Andy Miah, PhD, is Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies in the Faculty of Business & Creative Industries at the University of the West of Scotland, Global Director for the Centre for Policy and Emerging Technologies, Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, USA and Fellow at FACT, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, UK. He is co-editor of Sport Technology: History, Philosophy and Policy (2002), currently on sale in the IOC Museum. He is author of over 50 papers on technology and sport and is author of ‘Genetically Modified Athletes’ (2004 Routledge), the first book to address this new science of human enhancement. He often gives pro-enhancement arguments, the most enjoyable of which was giving one such address to the IOC President Jacques Rogge and the Queen of Sweden at the Nobel institute in Sweden.
Taking place from 10-11 February, 2011 at University of Plymouth. I will be speaking on 'Neuroethics and the Posthuman Mind'