Johnathan Hickman has written a very important work - and yes, it’s a comic book, named Transhuman. He addresses most of the important concepts of posthuman intelligence in today’s capitalistic world. Who is going to get there first? How are they going to get there? And what rules are they willing to break?

In a fun homage to the Dot-com boom, Hickman basically introduces the average non-signularity tracking reader to the concepts of transhumanism. But more importantly, the funding of becoming Transhuman. And he doesn’t treat it lightly. In the post-Watchmen world of superheros, the powers aren’t important as the story around them, and the characters.

Transhumanists are already “outside the norm” as we stand today. We’re having to change our name, and while we attend TED conferences, we really aren’t accepted by the mainstream. Hickman does a great job bringing these types of characters to life, and those who wish to take advantage of them.

Some Singularity searchers will complain that it’s not realistic (cough), that once a Transhuman event occurs, our souls (cough) will transcend or some other bullshit, but they’re the people who are jumping on the bandwagon without looking deeply enough or reading hard enough.

And then there’s Hickman’s take on non-Human intelligence, which I must say really sticks it to you. Read it and find out. Available at all COOL comic book stores around.

Let Oscar Pistorius run. And ignore DVICE.com’s opinion on him.

Before we begin today, it’s important to get across a couple of issues - 1) I don’t know Peter Pachal, he’s probably a nice guy, 2) anything I say is likely to go into the bitbucket, or at worst, generate traffic for both DVICE.com and heresy.com. I’m under no delusions here - my site is fucking small beans. So, there’s no real downside for me posting this.

On the other hand, Pachal’s announcement that SHIFT: Why the Olympics should say no to cyborgs like Oscar Pistorius is a sad, sad case of anti-transhumanism nonsense and fear of the future. Pistorius, for those that don’t know, is a double leg amputee that runs fast with his cool cheetah legsprings.

Watch him run.

So, here’s the basic facts that people argue:
- Oscar may have an advantage because the springs could give him an advantage. Up to 25% less energy expenditure - I’m… leary of that very convenient number. (See NYTimes article)
- Oscar isn’t a threat yet (the Slate article covers this nicely)

And then Pachal writes “Let’s create the cyberolympics” which is the “separate but equal” view of transhumanism and human-plus. I read the poetry and hear the announcers, everyone is in awe of the body conditions of Olympic athletes, but when they speak, they speak of the soul, the Olympic heart and dedication required to be in those competitions.

If anything, the Paralympics should be folded directly into the Olympics to celebrate all of these athletes’ souls, because there will be a time that being human is a choice, and being something other than human will be the norm. And until there’s enough people with cheetah springs to run their own heats, at least let people the possibility human spirit now. Give him and every consciousness an opportunity for a gold medal, just like the whole bodied humans.

This isn’t a handicap run where we feel sorry for the cripple, or fight against engineering over the human spirit. Dedicating one’s life to run fast, or play ball, or wrestle is a dedication of a lifetime. We normals envy their physiques, but yearn for the Olympic spirit.

If “Tech is our Obsession” is the slogan for DVICE.com, it shouldn’t be making luddite proclamations but championing their cause, and the same goes for Mr. Pachal. I realize he intended something LIKE this, but let’s tear the barriers down, not move them around. I visit DVICE.com (and Engadget, Grinding.be, IO9.com, etc.) so I can see what is possible, not read about the fear of technological change. We get enough fear mongering in our everyday lives.

Until then, reload the video and watch Oscar run. Watch them all run.

(Another decent article about the Olympic committees decision here).

So, there I was, at my local George and Dragon, with the monthly leftovers from my godless group of Bright/Freethink/Atheistic Whatevers, somewhere after the Slippery Nipple shot but before the fourth oatmeal stout, and voila! One of the ladies says the magic words:

“I got a chocolate body scrub this afternoon, and after that, they covered me with caramel and wrapped me up.”

Me and two other guys simply couldn’t let it go. The image was… delicious. Yummy. Tantalizing. And her skin was soft too (I checked).

But like the sorta-hangover I have, I came to a simple realization. Like everything we consume, Chocolate has an incredible bizarre and horrible relationship with child exploitation (WIKI link). How could the economics of the one food related to happy children, Valentine lovers and fat people be so FUCKED UP? Supposedly, Hershey

Now, granted, I love my sex slaves… I mean, I’d love to have a sex slave, but I don’t want my consumption of food, especially the food I enjoy, to be related to human slavery. And when a woman describes how she was dipped in chocolate to me, I really don’t want the mixed messages that comes.

Because damn, that was one tantalizing description of a woman being dipped into chocolate, scrubbed clean and covered in caramel. MMmmmmmm, chocolate dipped women… yummy