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Public lecture; Stirling; Sept. 20

Whatever we Know, there is More: the Cyborg Enhancement of Human Experience

 

Public Lecture by Liviu Babitz (CEO, Cyborg Nesthttps://cyborgnest.net/)

 

Sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy

 

When: 17.45 – 19.15, Thursday September 20th

Where: Pathfoot Lecture Theatre, University of Stirling

 

What would it be like to have an extra sense for experiencing the world, something in addition to the usual biological endowment of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste? And what would it be like to have a piece of intelligently designed technology physically, permanently and intimately anchored to your body that gave you that extra sense? How would that change the way you encounter, remember and think about reality? Liviu Babitz can tell you, because, for well over a year now, he has been a real, living cyborg, a technologically enhanced human being. Liviu’s sensory capacities have been augmented by the North Sense, an artificial exo-sense that is fixed onto the upper part of his chest, and that enables him to sense – to experience, not merely to detect – the magnetic field of the planet, and thus to perceive directly where north is.

Beyond any practical advantages such technological augmentation may bring (knowing where north is has been historically significant for human beings across cultures, and some other animals have an evolved, organic north sense), Liviu’s goal, and the goal of his fellow digital pioneers and transhumanists at the company he co-founded, Cyborg Nest, is to change the way we perceive reality. In this public lecture, Liviu will discuss the North Sense and his experience of living with it as part of him, in the context of a broader set of opportunities and concerns associated with our increasingly intimate and powerful couplings with progressively more sophisticated and intelligent technology. To explore these issues, Liviu will be joined by Professor Michael Wheeler (Philosophy, University of Stirling) and Dr Alisa Mandrigin (Anniversary Research Fellow in Psychology and Philosophy, University of Stirling). Everyone is welcome and there will be time to ask questions and join in the discussion. So come along and glimpse our species’ future.

 

This event is free, but if you are intending to come along, it would be helpful if you would register using the following link. This is to assist us with the planning. Thank you.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whatever-we-know-there-is-more-the-cyborg-enhancement-of-human-experience-tickets-49980125902??