Future Now
The IFTF Blog
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TEDxMarin Talks From IFTF: Our Germs, Bodies, and Brains
In September, IFTF Research Director Miriam Lueck Avery and Distinguished Fellow Jamias Cascio shared their thoughts on the future of our germs, bodies, and brains at TEDxMarin. Read more and watch their talks below.
Miriam Lueck Avery | Our Germs, Our Future
What are we really? Our bodies aren’t really self-contained machines. They’re more like ecosystems. The recent explosion of research into our body's microbial universe will change 21st century treatment of metabolic, immune, and psycho-emotional disorders. What’s more, it will cast a whole new perspective on our metaphors, cultural assumptions, and the very identity of “self”.
Jamais Cascio | Magna Cortica: The ethics of brain augmentation
If intelligence, empathy, love, spirituality, or memories could be altered by taking a pill, implant, or even microbe, would you say yes? Mind-enhancing drugs will be capable of manipulating our brains. They will also challenge our society’s morals, offset playing fields of business and global power, and what we consider “normal". Jamais suggests a Magna Cortica for the upcoming age of biohacking, which was also featured in our 2014 Ten-Year Forecast.