Gennady Stolyarov II

Last updated

Gennady Stolyarov II
Born1987 (age 36–37)
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Belarus)
Citizenship United States
Alma mater Hillsdale College
Occupations
  • Writer
  • activist
  • actuary
Notable workDeath is Wrong
Political party Transhumanist
Website The Rational Argumentator

Gennady Stolyarov II [lower-alpha 1] (born c. 1987) is a Belarusian-American libertarian and transhumanist writer, actuary, [1] [2] [3] [4] and civil servant [5] known for his book Death is Wrong. [6] [7] Stolyarov also leads two transhumanist political parties. [8]

Contents

In his children's book, Death is Wrong, he argues that death is an enemy [7] and encourages readers to help overcome it using technology. [6] In an article on transhumanism's attempts to overcome mortality, James Moore of the Huffington Post provided a discussion of Stolyarov's motivation in writing Death is Wrong: "Why not believe this is possible, Stolyarov asks, because the first part of accomplishing immortality is to believe it is possible and dying is not required. Teach that to the young and the world will change. Death, he insists, is wrong." [9] Rebecca Hiscott of Mashable wrote an extensive profile of Death is Wrong and noted that the book’s “final message is a call to action: Dying is wrong, children, but through scientific progress you can make it right.” [10] She also highlighted “Stolyarov's fear: If children are not taught that death can be overcome, they will never strive to overcome it.” [10] Leanne Butkovic of Fast Company wrote of Death is Wrong that "The language is just saccharine enough for children to dig into, but the portentous themes will strike deep, philosophical chords in adults. The overall message is positive: The way technology is headed, we should be able to continue discovering and doing the things we love indefinitely." [11] Joelle Renstrom, writing for Future Tense, criticized the book by calling it "creepy" and saying, "Kids could grow up not just afraid of death, but also afraid of failing to fix it." [6] However, in October 2014, Renstrom also acknowledged that "Transhumanism has gained traction as scientists and thinkers such as Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey, and Gennady Stolyarov have become increasingly well known." [12] Meghan Neal of Motherboard also called the book "creepy" but noted, "Wacky as this still all sounds, he may have a point." [7] Mark Shrayber of Jezebel authored a profile on Death is Wrong, which, while it echoed some of Renstrom's criticisms, also offered various points of agreement. Shrayber wrote, "I agree that death is a frightening concept, one that keeps me up many nights. [...] I want to agree with Stolyarov that the singularity is coming and that in less than thirty years we will have harnessed life-extension to a point where we can all at least live to be 100. But I don't know if this is a concept we should be selling to children, especially without looking at the complexity of what such advances could mean." [13]

Frank Swain of BBC Future interviewed Stolyarov in April 2014 and described Death is Wrong as “a controversial children’s book that encourages young minds to reject the fatalist notion that death is inevitable.” [14] He described Stolyarov’s view that death “is simply a technological challenge waiting for the appropriate level of money and manpower to solve it.” [14] Stolyarov is cited as stating that “It would be wonderful to get to a world where all death is optional. Right now, essentially all of us are sentenced to the death penalty, even though most of us have done nothing to deserve it.” [14]

In his last regular column for BBC Future on September 23, 2014, Frank Swain revisited his interview with Stolyarov and featured Stolyarov's views on the future of human augmentation: "Instead of relentlessly optimising ourselves to a model of perfection, he predicts an explosion of diversity. 'Different people would choose to augment themselves in different ways, stretching their abilities in different directions. We will not see a monolithic hierarchy of some augmented humans at the top, while the non-augmented humans get relegated to the bottom,' he reasons. 'Rather, widespread acceptance of emerging technologies would create a future where a thousand augmented flowers will bloom.'" [15] Swain wrote, "I prefer Stolyarov’s vision of the future, and it’s one I subscribe to." [15]

In their 2017 book Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of Longevity, entrepreneurs and investors Jim Mellon and Al Chalabi wrote, “Longevists such as Gennady Stolyarov have also been prominent in recent years. Stolyarov wrote that death is ‘the enemy of us all, to be fought with medicine, science, and technology’ – and adding our own postscript, only now are the armaments for that fight available to scientists.” [16]

Stolyarov is also involved in transhumanist politics. He is the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, which advocates life extension claiming 880 members in 2018 and over 1,600 members by October 2019. [8] [4] Alex Pearlman published an extensive profile of the U.S. Transhumanist Party's 2019 Presidential Primary on Medium's GEN on October 16, 2019. While Pearlman described some of the chaos of this primary process, she also noted that "Since taking over, Stolyarov has organized the fringe ideology [of transhumanism] into an efficient political machine, registering it as an official political party in Nevada, and growing party membership to over 1,600 registered members." [4] James Bickerton of the UK Express interviewed Stolyarov for a July 6, 2020, profile on the 2020 U.S. Transhumanist Party Presidential candidacy of Charlie Kam. Stolyarov is cited as stating that the electoral campaign's "focus was on raising awareness of the movement claiming: 'What I’ve found out with regard to transhumanism is that the barrier really isn’t hostility on the part of the general public, the greatest barrier is unawareness. So how does one spread awareness? One seeks to reach new demographics and one seeks to reach them using creative means.'" [17] In April 2021, Riley Snyder and Tabitha Mueller of The Nevada Independent covered Stolyarov's opposition, on behalf of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, to Nevada's Senate Bill 292, a Democratic-Party-sponsored bill which increased the barriers to ballot access for minor political parties. [2]

Molly Fosco of OZY Media interviewed Stolyarov for the March 25, 2019, Episode 4 of the Future of Health podcast, where Stolyarov’s thoughts were cited regarding the future of radical life extension, the technologies involved in it, the philosophy of transhumanism, and how humans who apply various commonplace technologies can already be considered transhuman. [18] In the podcast Stolyarov is quoted as stating that “Radical life extension will be a combination of nanotechnology, robotics, AI and repairing the body at the cellular level” and “Nothing is beyond the reach of human reason in terms of improving our state of life, including the radical extension of human life.” [18] Stolyarov further expressed his thoughts about types of future enhancements: "I think the future is one of integration between biological and mechanical or electronic augmentations. The key is to preserve a certain continuity of bodily processes. Whatever part you get, it needs to integrate seamlessly into your existing organism." [18]

WIRED Magazine featured Stolyarov's views on transhumanism in a profile by Laura Mackenzie on April 29, 2020, entitled "Eternal Frame". [19] Mackenzie cites Stolyarov as explaining that "most of us are already using technology to overcome human limitations in some way" and that through the progress of technology "we can overcome 'more fundamental limitations' such as material scarcity, disease, and even death." [19] Stolyarov is further quoted as saying that, as a result of emerging medical technologies, “there would be no upper limit to the human lifespan; no expiration date, so to speak… My hope is [that this will be achievable] in 20 to 30 years from now.” [19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Belarusian: Генадзь Сталяроў II, romanized: Hyenadz’ Stalyarow II

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transhumanism</span> Philosophical movement

Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cognition, and well-being.

Transhuman, or trans-human, is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. These abilities might include improved intelligence, awareness, strength, or durability. Transhumans appear in science-fiction, sometimes as cyborgs or genetically-enhanced humans.

Extropianism, also referred to as the philosophy of extropy, is an "evolving framework of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition". Extropians believe that advances in science and technology will some day let people live indefinitely. An extropian may wish to contribute to this goal, e.g. by doing research and development or by volunteering to test new technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Pearce (philosopher)</span> British transhumanist

David Pearce is a British transhumanist philosopher. He is the co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association, currently rebranded and incorporated as Humanity+. Pearce approaches ethical issues from a lexical negative utilitarian perspective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max More</span> English-American philosopher and futurist

Max More is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on emerging technologies. He was the president and CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation between 2010 and 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hughes (sociologist)</span> American sociologist and bioethicist

James J. Hughes is an American sociologist and bioethicist. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and is the associate provost for institutional research, assessment, and planning at UMass Boston. He is the author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future and is currently writing a book about moral bioenhancement tentatively titled Cyborg Buddha: Using Neurotechnology to Become Better People.

The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies." It was incorporated in the United States in 2004, as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, by philosopher Nick Bostrom and bioethicist James Hughes.

Many of the tropes of science fiction can be viewed as similar to the goals of transhumanism. Science fiction literature contains many positive depictions of technologically enhanced human life, occasionally set in utopian societies. However, science fiction's depictions of technologically enhanced humans or other posthuman beings frequently come with a cautionary twist. The more pessimistic scenarios include many dystopian tales of human bioengineering gone wrong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Vita-More</span> American artist and transhumanist

Natasha Vita-More is a strategic designer in the area of human enhancement and life extension. Her interests are located within the ethical uses of science and technology and socio-political implications of revolutionary advances impacting humanity's future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giulio Prisco</span> Italian computer scientist

Giulio Prisco is an Italian information technology and virtual reality consultant; as well as a writer, futurist, transhumanist, and cosmist. He is an advocate of cryonics and contributes to the science and technology online magazine Tendencias21. He produced teleXLR8, an online talk program using virtual reality and video conferencing, and focused on highly imaginative science and technology. He writes and speaks on a wide range of topics, including science, information technology, emerging technologies, virtual worlds, space exploration and futurology.

Body hacking is the application of the hacker ethic in pursuit of enhancement or change to the body's functions through technological means, such as do-it-yourself cybernetic devices or by introducing biochemicals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Posthuman</span> Person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human

Posthuman or post-human is a concept originating in the fields of science fiction, futurology, contemporary art, and philosophy that means a person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human. The concept aims at addressing a variety of questions, including ethics and justice, language and trans-species communication, social systems, and the intellectual aspirations of interdisciplinarity.

<i>The Transhumanist Wager</i> 2013 science fiction novel by Zoltan Istvan

The Transhumanist Wager is a 2013 science fiction novel by American author Zoltan Istvan. The novel follows the life of Jethro Knights, a philosopher whose efforts to promote transhumanism ultimately lead to a global revolution. It was a first-place winner in visionary fiction at the International Book Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoltan Istvan</span> American writer, futurist, philosopher and transhumanist

Zoltan Istvan Gyurko, professionally known as Zoltan Istvan, is an American transhumanist, journalist, entrepreneur, political candidate, and futurist.

The Transhumanist Party is a political party in the United States. The party's platform is based on the ideas and principles of transhumanist politics, e.g., human enhancement, human rights, science, life extension, and technological progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transhumanist politics</span> Political ideologies based on Transhumanism

Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology. Specific topics include space migration, and cryogenic suspension. It is considered the opposing ideal to the concept of bioconservatism, as Transhumanist politics argue for the use of all technology to enhance human individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioconservatism</span> Cautious stance towards modifying human nature

Bioconservatism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes caution and restraint in the use of biotechnologies, particularly those involving genetic manipulation and human enhancement. The term "bioconservatism" is a portmanteau of the words biology and conservatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immortality Bus</span> 1978 Wanderlodge

The Immortality Bus is a 1978 Wanderlodge that has been made to appear as a 38-foot brown coffin.

<i>Immortality or Bust</i> 2021 documentary film by Barry Daniel Sollinger

Immortality or Bust is a 2019 feature documentary focusing on the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign of Transhumanist Party nominee Zoltan Istvan. Directed by Daniel Sollinger, it won two awards at film festivals - the Breakout Award at the 2019 Raw Science Film Festival and Best Biohacking Awareness Documentary at the GeekFest Toronto 2021. It is distributed by Gravitas Ventures.

The Transhumanist Bill of Rights is a crowdsourced document that conveys rights and laws to humans and all sapient entities while specifically targeting future scenarios of humanity. The original version was created by transhumanist US presidential candidate Zoltan Istvan and was posted by Zoltan on the wall of the United States Capitol building on December 14, 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "In Pursuit of SOA General Insurance FSA". Society of Actuaries. September 2, 2015. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Snyder, Riley; Mueller, Tabitha (April 2, 2021). "Permanent expanded mail-in voting, straight ticket ballots draw partisan fire in Legislature". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved November 4, 2021. 'A 2 percent threshold would be essentially unattainable,' said Gennady Stolyarov II, chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party and a Lead Actuary for property and casualty insurance with the state's Division of Insurance. 'Even more onerous [are] the requirements in section two, the petition signatures must be apportioned equally among the petition districts, which is essentially impossible to fulfill.'
  3. ↑ Varner, Maddy (February 25, 2020). "Suckers List: How Allstate's Secret Auto Insurance Algorithm Squeezes Big Spenders – The Markup". The Markup. Retrieved November 4, 2021. Gennady Stolyarov II, a lead actuary at the Nevada Division of Insurance, said all this secrecy and complexity leaves drivers in the dark about how to keep their rates low.
  4. 1 2 3 Pearlman, Alex (October 17, 2019). "Would You Vote for a President Who Promised Eternal Life?". GEN. Retrieved November 3, 2021. [...] Gennady Stolyarov II, a 32-year-old Belorussian actuary and the chairman of the U.S. Transhumanist Party [...]" "Since taking over, Stolyarov has organized the fringe ideology into an efficient political machine, registering it as an official political party in Nevada, and growing party membership to over 1,600 registered members.
  5. ↑ Scism, Leslie (December 3, 2011). "A Home-Insurance Trap?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved November 4, 2021. [...] Nevada, which began posting policy forms in October for its 10 largest home and auto insurers. Gennady Stolyarov, a Nevada insurance regulator, said in an email that officials 'hope that this is just the beginning' of an effort to improve consumers' ability to comparison-shop for insurance.
  6. 1 2 3 Renstrom, Joelle (March 2014). "The Most Terrifying Kids' Book". Slate. Retrieved August 25, 2014. Death is Wrong, Says Creepy Kids' Book [webpage title] ... The book encourages kids to help eradicate death with technology. ... In late February, Stolyarov and the Movement for Indefinite Life Extension started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $5,000 to distribute 1,000 free copies to kids.
  7. 1 2 3 Neal, Meghan (March 1, 2014). "A Transhumanist Wants to Teach Kids That 'Death Is Wrong'". Motherboard. Vice. Retrieved August 25, 2014. But Stolyarov's strategy to groom the next generation to grow up thinking they might not have to die is unique—and more than a little bit creepy.
  8. 1 2 Bromwich, Jonah (May 19, 2018). "Death of a Biohacker". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018. Gennady Stolyarov II, the chairman of the United States Transhumanist Party, a political organization with close to 880 members that supports life extension through science and technology, had been corresponding with Mr. Traywick since November 2015.
  9. ↑ Moore, James (March 6, 2014). "Transhumanism and All My Mortal Friends". HuffPost. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Hiscott, Rebecca (March 16, 2014). "Children's Book Teaches Kids 'Death Is Wrong'". Mashable. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ Butkovic, Leanne (February 24, 2014). "How Young Is Too Young To Learn About The Singularity?". Fast Company. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ Renstrom, Joelle (October 8, 2014). "The Transhumanist Party Announces Their 2016 Presidential Candidate". GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ Shrayber, Mark (March 15, 2014). "Should We Be Teaching Kids They Never Have to Die?". Jezebel. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  14. 1 2 3 Swain, Frank (April 20, 2014). "How to live forever". www.bbc.com. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Swain, Frank (September 23, 2014). "Cyborgs: The truth about human augmentation". BBC Future. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ Mellon, Jim; Chalabi, Al (2017). Juvenescence: Investing in the Age of Longevity. Fruitful Publications. p. 261. ISBN   978-0-9930478-1-7.
  17. ↑ Bickerton, James (July 6, 2020). "Trump challenged by radical presidential candidate hoping to REVERSE ageing". Express.co.uk. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 Fosco, Molly; Watson, Carlos (March 26, 2019). "Fancy a Good Death? Tune in to OZY's New Podcast". OZY. Retrieved November 4, 2021. "'Radical life extension will be a combination of nanotechnology, robotics, AI and repairing the body at the cellular level,' says Gennady Stolyarov, chairman of the U.S. Transhumanist Party. Stolyarov and his party suggest that even a few billion dollars from private donations, investments or government grants could dramatically accelerate progress in the life-extension field." [...] "Nothing is beyond the reach of human reason in terms of improving our state of life, including the radical extension of human life." (Statement by Gennady Stolyarov II) [...] "Gennady Stolyarov and many other members of the group believe that many of us are already transhuman by virtue of wearing glasses or having fillings in our teeth." [...] "I think the future is one of integration between biological and mechanical or electronic augmentations. The key is to preserve a certain continuity of bodily processes. Whatever part you get, it needs to integrate seamlessly into your existing organism." (Statement by Gennady Stolyarov II)
  19. 1 2 3 Mackenzie, Laura (April 29, 2020). "The eternalists: hacking life to solve death". WIRED Middle East. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.