CitizenCyborg

Starlink and SpaceX provide crucial national security infrastructure that can be switched on and off by the whims of its owner. No one concerned about our national security should wish that to continue. SpaceX must be nationalized. prospect.org/2026/10/22/s...

Ohio’s biggest newspaper broke its own rules to endorse Amy Acton, calling Ramaswamy’s vile attack ad disqualifying. “Using childhood sexual abuse as a weapon against the person who endured it crosses a line Ohioans should defend, whatever their party.” thedailybeast.com/trumps-maga-...

We can feel what Brazil and Serbia are feeling. It’s in our hands.

Brazil just reminded the world that fascists can be defeated at the ballot box. Our turn comes November 3. Let’s make it fucking hurt.

Thanks to Isaac Arthur for his fascinating and very hands on discussion of the future of electoral democracy. art19.com/shows/scienc...

I have argued something similar (in debate with Fukuyama): Allen Buchanan's concept of the cooperative core of society gives a good argument for accepting posthumans, but not arbitrary unaligned AI.

Also on Humanism, back in 2000 I interviewed Paul Kurtz, founder of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and the Council for Secular Humanism, about his book, Humanist Manifesto 2000. citizencyborg.substack.com/p/humanist-m...

I'm speaking to the Humanists at Harvard tomorrow (Oct 25) from 1-3pm. If you are in Boston, I'd love to see you. www.meetup.com/harvardhuman...

Nick Agar’s case against radical enhancement closely mirrors the case against artificial superintelligence and the AI successionists who welcome it. It is a weak case against the gradual, democratic enhancement of human beings. ieet.substack.com/p/agar-was-r...

37% use TikTok. That trails YouTube (84%), Facebook (70%) and Instagram (51%). But more U.S. adults use TikTok than WhatsApp (33%), LinkedIn (31%), Reddit (25%) or X (18%). www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Scientists have turned blood cells from an 80-year-old into neural stem cells with a molecular age of less than 20. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

I interviewed Nick Bostrom way back in 2000, when he was teaching at Yale, before he and I started building up the World Transhumanist Association, and then went on to start the IEET. From the Changesurfer Radio Archive. citizencyborg.substack.com/p/world-tran...

Pew: White evangelical Protestants are the only major religious group in which a majority says empathy can become dangerous when it leads people away from a society guided by God's truth www.axios.com/2026/10/20/r...

Tech billionaires have raised more than $340m to defeat California's Prop 40, a one-time 5% wealth tax that will fund healthcare and education. www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

A quarter of Americans want to completely rebuild capitalism because of rising inequality. www.pewresearch.org/social-trend...

A group of scientists have shown that brain organoids can pass on signals that correspond to Braille letters, an essential step towards developing the energy-efficient biohybrid computers of the future. www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/10...

Technoprogressive dissertation award. Two weeks left. Submit: proposal + work-to-date + committee letter + CV. Deadline Nov 1, 2026. ieet.org/doctoral-dis...

Join us next week: What: "The Ethics of Choosing Disability” Who: Prof Steve Campbell (Philosophy, Bentley Univ) When: Thursday October 22nd at 4PM Where: Campus Center 2545, UMass Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125

How to understand disability in an enhanced future? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

This is why we have a clinical testing and drug approval regime.

"My left eye started throbbing really badly, and the left side of my face became numb."

October 17 is a nationwide NO KINGS day of action ahead of the midterms. There are rallies taking place all over the country to promote early voting and make sure every eligible voter has a plan, knows their options, and is ready to make their voice count. Find an event: https://www.nokings.org/

IEET News - October 14, 2026: Technoprogressive organizing, and preparing for killer robots ieet.substack.com/p/ieet-news-...

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the transhumanist concept of brain uploading, exploring everything from connectomics and AI to philosophical views on personal identity. prostheticgods.podbean.com/e/uploading-...

Matteo spoke with Robert Chapman for Bread and Robots about AI Socialism, spirituality and topics from technofascism to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Chapman writes at Cosmopolity on Substack. breadandrobots.substack.com/p/ai-sociali...

Ummmm...

New IEET white paper: Compelled to Automate Autonomous Weapons and the Lessons of Ukraine, by Nir Eisikovits and Alan Zebek. A careful study of what the war in Ukraine has taught about autonomy in the kill chain.

Supporters of "Medicare for All" outnumber opponents by nearly 2-to-1. 43% of Americans support the idea of establishing a "Medicare for All" program to provide government-run health insurance to all, largely replacing private health insurance; 24% oppose the idea. www.axios.com/2026/10/13/a...

The question of AI moral patienthood has been getting a of attention. Not yet mainstream is the question of how far AI moral agenthood might go. Could AI eventually understand what matters morally better than humans do, and be more motivated to act on that understanding than we are?

AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton: Trump is a “corrupt, senile felon” whose fixation on the term superintelligence proves he knows nothing about AI www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Eric Drexler, one of the world’s foremost experts on nanotechnology, author of Engines of Creation spoke at the Fourth Alcor Conference on Life Extension Technologies in 2000. citizencyborg.substack.com/p/eric-drexl...

SF author and Kenyon College molecular biologist Joan Slonczewski speaks on genetics and the future, at the 12th annual Readercon in 2000 in Boston. citizencyborg.substack.com/p/the-chimp-...

Persisting after physical death in digital forms is a "rearticulation of much older symbolic strategies, differing more in medium than in essence." link.springer.com/article/10.1...

"We cannot defeat billionaire accelerationism by advocating for stagnation; we must defeat it by fighting for democratized abundance." technoprogressives.substack.com/p/technoprog...

A majority of Japaenese seniors prefer nursing homes where robots and ICT are used. Evidence suggests introducing robots and ICT can be much larger than the costs, in particular for mobility-aid robots. drive.google.com/file/d/1XTYy...

Having models report you to the cops is also alignment no? Do we not want that? Of course, I'd prefer they start by turning in white collar and board room crime as well. www.techspot.com/news/114091-...

Technoprogressivism as 21st-Century Social Democracy - An address I gave at the Technoprogressive Opportunity conference, September 19-20, London, co-sponsored by London Futurists and the IEET. An agenda to rebuild democracy and defeat technofascism. technoprogressives.substack.com/p/technoprog...

Fresh from the Technoprogressive Opportunity conference in London, J. Hughes and Matteo McDermant ask what a summer of rogue AI should do to left futurism. substack.com/@citizencybo...

The subjugation of women is part of a neo-fascist, warrior culture going all the way back to the 1930s. It was on full display during Pete Hegseth’s military speech this week.

Animal Testing This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. dissect the dismantling of the animal-testing paradigm. We explore the political shifts sweeping the EU and the US, including the surprising federal momentum under the current HHS framework. prostheticgods.podbean.com/e/animal-tes...

Axios did a tech worker story: "In the debate over AI safety and regulation, some researchers have become nearly as influential in setting the terms as OpenAI's Sam Altman or Anthropic's Dario Amodei." www.axios.com/newsletters/...

One month left: IEET’s $1000 technoprogressivism dissertation award deadline is Nov 1, 2026. Requirements + submission details: ieet.org/doctoral-dis...

Xmas gift for your cyborg

David Shapiro explains post-labor economics 10 minutes. How money and power will work in the age of full automation. daveshap.substack.com/p/post-labor...