World Transhumanist Association Totally Explained

Everything about The World Transhumanist Association totally explained

The World Transhumanist Association (WTA) is an international non-governmental organization which advocates the ethical use of emerging technologies to enhance human capacities.

History

The WTA was founded as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1998 by Nick Bostrom and David Pearce. It began working toward the recognition of transhumanism as a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry and public policy.
The WTA has spawned a host of chapters around the world. In total there are nearly two-dozen formed or forming local groups—one on virtually every continent. A dozen transhumanist groups in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia have also formally affiliated with the WTA.
In possible contrast to the defunct Extropy Institute, WTA officials considered that social forces could undermine their futurist visions and needed to be addressed. A particular concern is the equal access to human enhancement technologies across classes and borders. In 2006, William Saletan of Slate reported a political struggle within the transhumanist movement between the libertarian right and the liberal left resulting in a more centre-leftward positioning of the WTA under its former executive director James Hughes.

to support discussion and public awareness of emerging technologies;
to defend the right of individuals in free and democratic societies to adopt technologies that expand human capacities;
to anticipate and propose solutions for the potential consequences of emerging technologies.

Programs and activities

The WTA established the Journal of Transhumanism. More recently, it renamed its journal the Journal of Evolution and Technology and transferred it to the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and launched a webzine/blog called Transhumanity .
The WTA also holds an annual conference called TransVision. Past conferences include

TransVision98, June 5-7: Weesp, The Netherlands, Europe

TransVision99, June 4-6: Stockholm, Sweden, Europe

TransVisionMM, July 15-16: London, England, Europe

TransVision01, June 22-24: Berlin, Germany, Europe

TransVision03, June 27-29: Yale University, USA, North America

TransVision04, August 6-8: University of Toronto, Canada, North America, with nearly 125 participants including Steve Mann, Robert K. Logan and Robin Hanson.

TransVision05, July 22-24: Caracas, Venezuela, South America

TransVision06, August 17-19: University of Helsinki, Finland, Europe, with a simultaneous virtual online conference. The theme of the conference was Emerging Technologies of Human Enhancement.

TransVision07, July 24-26: Chicago, USA, North America. The theme of the conference was Transforming Humanity: Innerspace to Outerspace. In 2006, the WTA adopted the following programs of activity:

Campaign for the Rights of the Person: A campaign to modify national laws and international human rights conventions to establish (a) that bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and cognitive liberty should be explicitly recognized and protected, (b) that universal access to enabling technologies (including such things as education and medicine) is a right in itself, and a precondition for all other rights, (c) personhood, sentience, and capacity for having morally relevant interests are the bases of rights-bearing, not humanness or the human genome.

Campaign for Longer Better Lives: A campaign for a multinational research program to develop therapies to slow aging.

Campaign for Future Friendly Culture: A campaign to encourage balanced and constructive portrayals of longevity, human enhancement and emerging technologies in popular culture.Further Information

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