| TechnoCalyps | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Frank Theys |
| Written by | Frank Theys |
| Narrated by | Jay McMahon |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by |
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| Music by | Francisco López |
Production company | Votnik |
| Distributed by | GoDigital Media Group |
Release date |
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Running time | 156 minutes |
| Country | Belgium |
| Language | English |
TechnoCalyps is a 2006 Belgian transhumanism documentary film written and directed by Frank Theys. It explores the advance of technology. [1] [2]
Set as a three-part documentary, TechnoCalyps posits that genetics, robotics, artificial intelligence, bionics, and nanotechnology seem to be converging towards a goal of having mankind transcend human limits. "director conducts his inquiry into the scientific, ethical and metaphysical dimensions of technological development. The film includes interviews by top experts and thinkers on the subject worldwide". [3] [4]
Jay McMahon narrated the documentary that has following interviewees:
H+ Magazine wrote that the film focuses "on the various emerging technologies that Transhumanism has coalesced around and feature illuminating (or potentially terrifying) interviews with scientists working in these fields", [5] and Crónicas de Esperantia wrote that the film was an excellent documentary that shares some future keys. [6] Christopher Webster of Quiet Earth reviewed the documentary and wrote that it "is a really smart look at humanity's quest for immortality through science" and how with its focus on hard science "gets into how this quest effects art and culture and how the whole mess intersects to form the very fabric of who we are." [2]
Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. It also predicts the inevitability of such technologies in the future.
Mind uploading, also known as whole brain emulation (WBE), is the theoretical futuristic process of scanning a physical structure of the brain accurately enough to create an emulation of the mental state and transferring or copying it to a computer in a digital form. The computer would then run a simulation of the brain's information processing, such that it would respond in essentially the same way as the original brain and experience having a sentient conscious mind.
The Omega Point is a supposed future when everything in the universe spirals toward a final point of unification. The term was invented by the French Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955). Teilhard argued that the Omega Point resembles the Christian Logos, namely Christ, who draws all things into himself, who in the words of the Nicene Creed, is "God from God", "Light from Light", "True God from true God", and "through him all things were made". In the Book of Revelation, Christ describes himself thrice as "the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end". The idea of the Omega Point is developed in later writings, such as those of John David Garcia (1971), Paolo Soleri (1981), Frank Tipler (1994), and David Deutsch (1997).
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Michel Bauwens is a Belgian theorist in the emerging field of peer-to-peer (P2P) collaboration, writer, and conference speaker on the subject of technology, culture and business innovation. Bauwens founded the P2P Foundation, a global organization of researchers working in open collaboration in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property. He has authored a number of essays, including his thesis The Political Economy of Peer Production.
Artificial intelligence is a recurrent theme in science fiction, whether utopian, emphasising the potential benefits, or dystopian, emphasising the dangers.
Francisco López is an avant-garde experimental musician and sound artist.
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Zoltan Istvan Gyurko, professionally known as Zoltan Istvan, is an American transhumanist, journalist, entrepreneur, political candidate, and futurist.
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Transhumanist politics constitutes a group of political ideologies that generally express the belief in improving human individuals through science and technology.
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Frank Theys is Belgian filmmaker and visual artist. Theys lives in Brussels and Amsterdam.
To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death is a 2017 nonfiction book by Slate columnist and literary journalist Mark O'Connell. The book is a breezy, but skeptical, gonzo-journalistic tour of transhumanism and radical life extension. It chronicles O'Connell's travels around the world to interview prominent transhumanists.
The Immortality Bus is a 1978 Wanderlodge that has been made to appear as a 38-foot brown coffin.
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.
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