Battle of Ideas

From 28-30 October, I'll be speaking at the Battle of Ideas in London. I'll take part in two sessions, both broadly focused on the ethics of biological modification. The first is on Saturday and are titled 'Designer people: is technology making us less human?' (Sun, 1230pm, Lecture Theatre 1) and 'Smart Drugs: Magic Bullet or Cheating Ourselves?' (Sun, 345pm, Lecture Theatre 1)

Here's a brief outline of the programme with other speakers:

http://www.instituteofideas.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday 12 August 2011
Media Contact: Patrick Hayes 07782 133399 / 020 7269 9222
7th Battle of Ideas Festival Programme Announced
The Institute of Ideas today unveils the 7
th
BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL programme,
featuring a line-up of 350 speakers participating in 75 debates on society’s big issues and
unresolved questions (see: http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2011/overview/).
The main weekend festival, held at the Royal College of Art, London on October 29-30, showcases
keynote debates entitled:
Battle against the fates; Profiting Responsibly? Business in the Big Society; Creativity and Curiosity:
do we make stuff up or find it out? Has tolerance gone too far? Loyalty in an age of whistleblowing and Wikileaks; Is individualism bad for society?
Seven strands run through the format of the festival weekend, allowing in-depth examination of a
subject. They are entitled:
Battle for the World, Battle for Morality, Food Fight, Society Wars, Battle for our Brains,
Reassessing... Politics and Sporting Contests.
In addition there are a large number of standalone discussions on subjects including:
The Tea Party – defenders of the American Dream?    Life off Earth: are the aliens out there?
Burlesque: female empowerment or posh stripping? Islamophobia: the new racism or liberal angst?
Ain’t misbehaving - do British children need the army to sort them out?   Smart drugs: magic bullet
or cheating ourselves?    Olympic expectations: can't see the games for the legacy?   Through a glass
darkly: why do atheists love the King James Bible?
Commenting on the launch of the festival programme, Claire Fox, Institute of Ideas director, said:
‘In a period in which we are seeing hugely important cultural shifts, from nihilistic rioters looting and
burning up their own communities to many longstanding institutions – including the police, media
and political parties – hollowing out and being called into question, never has the need for rational
debate been more important.’
‘The Battle of ideas festival 2011 will provide two days of the kind of high-level, thought provoking
public debate that is currently urgently needed. We aim to avoid lazy platitudes and to interrogate
what is really happening in society both in the UK and internationally. Free speech is allowed!’
Confirmed speakers at the Battle of Ideas festival 2011 include: David Aaronovitch, columnist, The Times; author, Voodoo Histories; Anne Atkins novelist, columnist
and broadcaster; regular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day; Simon Baron-Cohen, director,
Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge; author, Zero Degrees of Empathy; Daniel BenAmi, finance and economics journalist; author Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress and
Cowardly Capitalism; Melvin Burgess, award winning children's author, novels include Nicholas
Dane, Junk and Kill All Enemies; John Cooper, leading criminal and human rights barrister; regular
columnist, The Times and Observer; editor, Criminal Bar Quarterly; Claire Fox, director, Institute of
Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze; Frank Furedi, professor of sociology, University of Kent,
Canterbury; author, Wasted, Politics of Fear and On Tolerance: in defence of moral independence;
Clare Gerada, GP; chair, Royal College of General Practitioners; Tom Holland, award-winning
historian; author, Rubicon: the triumph and tragedy of the Roman Republic; winner, 2007 Classical
Association Prize; Simon Jenkins, columnist, Guardian; chairman, National Trust; author, A short
history of England; Irma Kurtz, writer; broadcaster; agony aunt, Cosmopolitan Magazine;
author, About Time: growing old disgracefully; Philippe Legrain, advisor to José Manuel Barroso,
President of the European Commission; author, Aftershock: reshaping the world economy after the
crisis; Kenan Malik, writer and broadcaster; presenter of Analysis, BBC Radio 4; author, The Quest
for the Moral Compass (forthcoming);  Paul Mason, broadcaster; author, Financial Meltdown and
the End of the Age of Greed; Andy Miah, director, Creative Futures Research Centre, University of
West Scotland; Tim Montgomerie, co-editor, Conservative Home; co-founder,
ConservativeIntelligence.com; member, advisory board, Centre for Social Justice; Ruth Padel, poet
and writer; author Darwin - A Life in Poems; Tariq Ramadan, professor of contemporary Islamic
studies, University of Oxford; author,The Quest for Meaning: developing a philosophy of pluralism;
Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law, George Washington University; legal affairs editor, The New
Republic; author, The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America; Brendan
O’Neill, editor, spiked; William Saletan, journalist, Slate; author, Bearing Right: how conservatives
won the abortion war; John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of English Literature,
University College London; author, The Lives of the Novelists; George Szirtes, reader in creative
writing, UEA; poet; editor; translator; author, The Burning of the Books and Other Poems; Raymond
Tallis,  author, thirty medical and non-medical books including Aping Mankind: Neuromania,
Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity; Gáspár Miklos Tamás, visiting professor, Central
European University; president, Green Left; author, Les Idoles de la Tribu; Tom Watt, actor, writer
and broadcaster: best known as Lofty from EastEnders, David Beckham’s ghostwriter and Fighting Talk’s
Champion of Champions 2011; Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics
commentator, Financial Times; author, Fixing Global Finance; Zoe Williams, columnist, The
Guardian; Cathy Young, contributing editor Reason; and many more.
Press passes for the weekend are available and a wide range of Battle of Ideas speakers are
available for comment. Contact: Patrick Hayes 07782 133399 patrickhayes@instituteofideas.com
Notes to editors:
1) The 7
th
Battle of Ideas festival weekend is taking place on the weekend of 29-30 October at the Royal
College of Art, London. For the full programme and list of confirmed speakers, visit: www.battleofideas.org.uk2) Battle Satellite events are organised with a range of national and international partners taking place
throughout October and November. Full details of the programme can be viewed online here:
http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2011/satellites/
3) Press passes for all events are available and a wide range of festival speakers are available for media
comment on issues being discussed at the Battle of Ideas before and during the event. Contact:
patrickhayes@instituteofideas.com 07782 133399 / 020 7269 9222

Deporte, ética y derecho

In Octubre, estare hablar sobre deporte, ética y derecho en Barcelona por el Universidad Pomeu Fabra. Es un conferencia en la escula de derecho y abajo tiene la programa. Within my talk, I will weave in themes about democracy, freedom and the good life...

Presentación: ¿Por qué es importante el deporte para la filosofía del derecho?

Prof. José Luis Pérez Triviño Prof. Titular de Filosofía del Derecho. UPF. 10-10,30 h.

Why Anti-Doping Will Not Last: Bioethics & Sport in an Era of Human Enhancement

Prof. Andy Miah Director Creative Futures Research Centre Chair of Ethics and Emerging Technologies University of the West of Scotland. 10,30-11,30 h.

Las lesiones deportivas y el Derecho Penal

Prof. José Manuel Ríos Corbacho Prof. de Derecho Penal. Universidad de Cádiz. 11,45-12,45 h.

Dopaje y paternalismo

Prof. Claudio Tamburrini Investigador del Centre for Healthcare Ethics. Facultad de Filosofía. Universidad de Estocolmo. 12,45-13,45 h.

thumbnail image by Andy Miah, Iraq 2003 protest in Barcelona

Olympics + Doping

The Olympics, Doping and the Meaning of Sport: Performance enhancement technologies and the changing boundaries of human natureDate: Wednesday 5 October 2011, 6:30pm to 8:30pm Venue: The Millenium Room, The Carriageworks, Millennium Square, Leeds

Speakers: Dr David James, Professor Andy Miahand Professor Jim Parry

£5 waged/£3 unwaged on the door

With only a few months remaining before the London 2012 Olympic Games, British athletes are preparing hard in pursuit of a record haul of medals. To help them better the 47 won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an army of coaches, doctors and psychologists is at hand, along with a thriving sports technology industry, all backed by an unprecedented level of public and private investment.

National ambitions aside, we all want to see exceptional performances from the world's best athletes, such as Usain Bolt’s record-smashing sprints. Yet sometimes we are uneasy when athletes shatter old records, fearing it is artificial aids, and not the athlete’s individual effort, that accounts for the achievement. We seem to be hanging in a precarious balance between expecting a superhuman performance and fearing the crossing of nature’s boundaries.

When particular technologies have been 'too successful', such as Graeme Obree’s bicycle and riding position, or polyurethane-coated swimsuits, they have been banned for giving an unfair advantage. Some, like Rebecca Adlington refused to use the new swimsuits for ethical reasons even before they were banned, claiming they are a form of ‘technological doping’. And with such high stakes to play for and constant advances in medicine, the temptation of actual chemical doping looms as large as ever, and it is hard to demarcate precisely the line between legitimate medical treatment and unfair artificial advantage.

Many take such a hard line against doping, calling for life bans from the Olympics for athletes like Dwain Chambers, who has long served his sentence. Others point out that sport is a very unnatural pursuit, and the intensity of training and competition has become such that no doping techniques are as dangerous for the athlete’s body as the sport itself, many ‘doping’ techniques being necessary to restore the athletes’ body to a healthy state. Some argue that, as enhancement technologies become part of everyday life and the line between medicine and body enhancement is blurred, it will become increasingly difficult to keep them out of sport. They believe we should allow all sorts of enhancement technologies provided they are safe.

So where should we draw the line between the artificial and the natural in sport, between effective sports equipment and ‘technological doping’, between legitimate medical therapies and illegitimate, performance enhancement treatments, between the struggle to excel and the need to have fair and balanced competition, between the urge to go beyond the boundaries of human nature and the fear of losing our humanity?

Humanity 2.0 RSA

On 6th October I will chair the launch of Professor Steve Fuller's new book 'Humanity 2.0'. Find below the brief for this sold out event:

How will we ascribe status to human life in a ‘post-human’ world? Should we take post-humanism seriously? If so, how do we define and value our humanity in the face of a future that will only otherwise confer advantage on the few? As we re-engineer the human body, and even human genome, are we attempting to realize dreams that hitherto have been largely pursued as social-engineering projects or are we doing something new?

From traders and dreamers to technogeeks and philosophers, whose ideologies run the gamut from collectivism to libertarianism, a large constituency is already engaged with our enhanced future. This constituency may radically reconfigure the global political space.

The RSA gathers a high-profile panel of speakers to explore the hidden agendas behind our values and attitudes toward the place of ‘the human’ in today’s societies, and debate what must now be a key issue for the 21st century.

Speakers: Professor Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, the Department of Sociology, the University of Warwick and author of 'Humanity 2:0'; Dr Rachel Armstrong, Senior TED Fellow and co-director, AVATAR (Advanced Virtual and Technological Architectural Research) in Architecture & Synthetic Biology, The School of Architecture & Construction, University of Greenwich; China Miéville, author of several works of fiction and non-fiction; and Sarah Chan,  Research Fellow in Bioethics and Law, University of Manchester.

Pigs Bladder Football

Artist John O'Shea is a dear friend and a great young artist whose latest work is titled 'Pigs Bladder Football'. I Chaired a debate during the #ANDfest about 'Fanaticism' inspired by his work. I also took part in making a pigs bladder football, while also doing reasonably well in keepy uppies, captured in this stunning action shot ;)

Find below a few shots from the weekend:

The game of Pigs Bladder Football

The shop on boldstreet

John getting things ready

Inflating the bladder

John working on a podcast

#media2012 Hacks & Hackers

During the #ANDfest we had a Hacks and Hackers meeting run by ScraperWiki. Participants spent the day developing a story and scraping data to support it. This was an important step forward for #media2012. Here are some photos from the day.

#ANDfest 2011 Photo Essay

Another #ANDfest passes, another weekend of great art/film/digital/networking/speaking etc. Here's a glimpse of my weekend. A lot is omitted from what took place, but this is what fell in front of my lens.

Mike Stubbs opening speech

Opening Night performance at Black-E, THE MODES OF AL-IKSEER, Harminder Singh Judge

Bicycle powered popcorn

Small Cinema in China Town

AND Salon with link to #Rewire conference

David Shrigley 'tattoo event'

Pigs Bladder Football with John O'Shea

Zee exhibition at FACT

#media2012 Hacks & Hackers day with ScraperWiki

Brain Gear

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:

New Media Olympics

 

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

Virtual Futures 2.0

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...

There's Nothing Virtual About the Future on Prezi

Photos from the event

X-Men

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.

Synthetic Biology

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:

 

What Does Synthia Want? The Ethics of Synethic Biology on Prezi

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.

Community Media Week

photographs from Leicester's Community Media week, where I gave a brief overview of the East Midland's role in #media2012. great day.

#cheltscifest

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.

#media2012

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.

Do we have time to live forever?

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.

Die Untoten

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.

The Undead

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

Life Isnt Fair

My keynote lecture for the Future of Fairness conference at Otago University.

 

Life Isn't Fair, But Should it Be? on Prezi