Resources for Further Exploration

Transhumanism | Intentional Living | Meditation | Mind Machines & EEG Neurofeedback | NLP and Hypnosis | Intelligence Enhancement | Smart Drugs | Life Extension | Brain / Computer Interfaces | Uploading | Nanotechnology | The Singularity | Recreational Drugs | Human Sexuality | Intentional Community | The Holy Bookstore | Seattle | Other Stuff

Transhumanism: General Information

(Go to the Church of Mez Transhumanist Page)

There are many good Transhumanist resources available on the web.  In particular three sites have high quality content worth exploring:

The World Transhumanist Alliance maintains the definitive transhuman website.  Of particular value  on that site are 

• The Transhumanist Declaration

• What is Transhumanism?

• The Transhumanist FAQ

• The Journal of Transhumanism

The Extropy Institute maintains a site devoted to the increase of extropy (a measure of the intelligence and vitality of systems) in the world.   In particular we recommend reading the Extropian Principles and browsing the extropian journal, Extropy Online

Anders Sandberg maintains an impressive Transhumanist Resources site, one of the oldest transhumanist sites on the web.   

Recently Ziana Astralos has also created a comprehensive list of Transhumanist and Extropian Resources.

Perhaps the very most useful resource for those with a serious interest in Transhumanism and Extropy are the various Transhuman and Extropian mailing lists.  Many of these lists are extremely high volume, but within that volume are high quality discussions of a broad range of technical, social, and philosophical issues. 

• Search or Subscribe to the Extropians Lists

Intentional Living

(Go to the Church of Mez Intentional Living Page)

There are some excellent Transhumanist essays on the web which deal with issues of transhuman identity.  Among them:

by Max More:

• On Becoming Posthuman 

• Self Ownership: A Core Transhuman Virtue

• Technological Self-Transformation

• Dynamic Optimism

by Romana Machado 

• Self-Transformation and Extreme Longevity

In addition, almost all of the sections below provide resources for transhumanists. 

Meditation

(Go to the Church of Mez Mental Tools Page)

There are several good meditation resources on the web:

• Yahoo's Meditation Page and the Meditation FAQ are good overviews.

• Erowid maintains an excellent Meditation Index with links to many instruction sites.

• The alt.zen FAQ is a good, short introduction to zen meditation.

• Buddhanet has a very detailed online guide to vipassana meditation.

• The Transcendental Meditation organization lacks online instruction but has an impressive summary of research showing the benefits of TM. 

Mind Machines & EEG Neurofeedback

(Go to the Church of Mez Mental Tools Page)

Mind Machines and EEG Neurofeedback have somewhat less published data than meditation, but some good resources exist.

• Light and Sound Technology gives a good short summary of how mind machines work.

• Mind State Management: The Software of the Mind goes into more detail on correlates of brainwaves and how they respond to meditation, hypnosis, and mind machines. 

• Applications: How to Use the Principles of Mind State Management is a good practical guide to manipulating EEG rhythms for specific goals.

• A Journey Towards Personal Autonomy is a wonderful treatise on the potential of EEG neurofeedback to uplift healthy individuals (as opposed to merely treating pathologies).

• Yahoo has an index of companies that sell mind machines.

Books:

• An excellent book on the subject is MegaBrain: New Tools and Techniques for Mind Expansion by Michael Hutchison

NLP & Hypnosis

(Go to the Church of Mez Mental Tools Page)

There are a few good sites covering these topics on the web:

• A Brief Introduction to Hypnosis, The Alt.Hypnosis FAQ, and the hypnosis.com FAQ make good starting points.

• Hypnosis.com's Trance Page is chock full of useful hypnosis scripts, and has links to introductory material on NLP.

• The Introduction to NLP at nlpinfo.com is the most clearly written we've seen on the web.

Intelligence Enhancement Techniques

(Go to the Church of Mez Mental Tools Page)

A great many sections of this site, including the sections on Meditation, Mind Machines, and Nootropics are geared towards increasing intelligence.  This section lists other mental tools and techniques for improving memory, reading speed, comprehension, and creativity.

Among those resources:

• Mind Tools is a comprehensive and restrained site with dozens of cognitive skill tutorials. 

• The Memory Page has thorough explanations of mnemonic techniques to enhance memory. 

• Learn a language online with DrBigBrain's online tutoring and memorization system. A helpful study aid for many subjects.

• BrainDance has a useful online MetaLearning Handbook, a set of interactive learning pages, and an overview of the Braindancing Book. 

• Anakin's Brain is an enthusiastic intelligence increase site devoted to the ideas of Win Wenger.

• Genetic Engineering

Nootropics (Smart Drugs)

• Better Living Through Chemistry is the only comprehensive survey of nootropics available on the web today.

• Erowid maintains a small but growing Nootropic Vault with detailed info on several smart drugs.  Over time this is likely to become the best non-commercial Nootropic resource on the web.

• CERI, publishers of the Smart Drugs & Nutrients books, have extensive but scattered information on their web site.

The best resources to learn about Nootropics are the books Smart Drugs and Nutrients and Smart Drugs II: The Next Generation

Life Extension

• The Life Extension Manual is an extremely high-quality resource on the web, marred only by its heavy focus on supplements.

• The Life Extension Foundation is a comprehensive site with a similarly narrow focus, and products to sell you.

• The Sci.Life-Extension FAQ is a balanced but relatively brief document.

• The Caloric Restriction FAQ has info on one of the few techniques regularly shown in animal models to increase maximum life span.

• The Prospect of Immortality and the Cryonics FAQ are two thorough guides to cryonics.

• Alcor, CryoCare, and the Cryonics Institute are three companies providing cryogenic storage of humans.

• Human Life Span Extension is covered in this book

Brain / Computer Interfaces

Uploading

• The Mind Uploading Home Page gives a good overview of the field.

• Anders' Uploading Page provides links to many excellent resources on the web.

Nanotechnology

• The Foresight Institute is a non-profit institute dedicated to guiding the emerging technology of nanotechnology to improve the human condition.  Their site provides excellent information for lay and technical readers alike.

• The Nanotechnology FAQ is an excellent introduction to the field.

• The first chapter of Drexler's Engine's of Creation is on the web.

• Zyvex is the world's first molecular nanotechnology development company.  (Sorry, they're privately held.)

The Singularity

• Technological Singularity, by Vernor Vinge - The document that started it all.

• A Critical Discussion of Vinge's Singularity Concept - Top notch discussion of whether or not a singularity can occur, and what it could be like.  Edited by Robin Hanson, with comments from 13 prominent transhumanists and responses by Vinge.

• Staring Into the Singularity, by Eliezer Yudkovsky - A very striking, slightly grandiose description of the singularity.

• Anders Sandberg's Singularity Page

• Singularity.Org - Dedicated to bringing on the singularity as soon as possible.

Recreational Drugs

Comprehensive Drug Sites

• Erowid's Psychoactives Vault is the most comprehensive drug-lore collection online.

• The Lycaeum Drug Archive is another comprehensive source.

Safety

• DanceSafe provides balanced information on drug safety and ways to reduce risk.

• Ecstacy Testing Results at DanceSafe provides a chemical analysis of anonymously mailed-in samples of "E", as well as home testing kits.

Legalization

• Drug Peace Campaign - end the war on drugs.

• Drug Reform Coordination Network - major clearinghouse for drug policy information.

Human Sexuality

• The Alt.Sex FAQ

Intentional Community

The Holy Bookstore

Buy Books at The Holy Bookstore

Or check out each of our recommendations:

Seattle Resources

• Local weather forecasts, and traffic conditions.
• You can pay your parking tickets online!
• Send e-mail to the mayor, or City Council or individual council members.
• Live online police scanner.
• Personal accounts of the WTO riots.

Other Stuff

• Human Cloning and a book excerpt about human cloning

What, you didn't get enough already?