''TechnoCalyps'' is a 2006 Belgian

transhumanism Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...

documentary film written and directed by Frank Theys. It explores the advance of technology.

Documentary precept

Set as a three-part documentary, ''TechnoCalyps'' posits that

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

bionics Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The word ''bionic'', coined by Jack E. Steele in August 195 ...

, and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

seem to be converging towards a goal of having mankind transcend human limits. "Director conducts his inquiry into the scientific, ethical and metaphysical dimensions of technological development. The film includes interviews by top experts and thinkers on the subject worldwide".

Cast

Jay McMahon narrated the documentary that has following interviewees: *

Ian Buruma Ian Buruma (born 28 December 1951) is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the United States. In 2017, he became editor of ''The New York Review of Books'', but left the position in September 2018. Much of his writing has focused on t ...

* Jean-Jacques Cassiman * L. Stephen Coles * Sadaputa Dasa *

Hugo De Garis Hugo de Garis (born 1947) is an Australian retired researcher in the sub-field of artificial intelligence (AI) known as evolvable hardware. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he performed research on the use of genetic algorithms to evolve artifi ...

Aubrey de Grey Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey (; born 20 April 1963) is an English biomedical gerontologist. He is the author of ''The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging'' (1999) and co-author of '' Ending Aging'' (2007). De Grey is known for ...

Theodore John Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( ), was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusi ...

Raymond Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition te ...

Jeffrey Lichtman Jeffrey Harris Lichtman (born June 5, 1965) is a New York-based criminal defense lawyer. Early life and education Jeffrey Lichtman was born on June 5, 1965, in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He grew up in Clark, New Jersey. He attended Emo ...

Ralph C. Merkle Ralph C. Merkle (born February 2, 1952) is an American computer scientist and mathematician. He is one of the inventors of public-key cryptography, the inventor of cryptographic hashing, and more recently a researcher and speaker on cryonics. M ...

Marvin Minsky Marvin Lee Minsky (August 9, 1927 – January 24, 2016) was an American cognitive scientist, cognitive and computer scientist concerned largely with research in artificial intelligence (AI). He co-founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...

Hans Moravec Hans Peter Moravec (born November 30, 1948, Kautzen, Austria) is a computer scientist and an adjunct faculty member at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. He is known for his work on robotics, artificial inte ...

Max More Max More (born Max T. O'Connor, January 1964) is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on emerging technologies. He was the president and CEO of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation between 2010 and 2020. Born in Bristol, E ...

David F. Noble David Franklin Noble (July 22, 1945 – December 27, 2010Morrow, Adria"David Noble, academic and activist, dies at 65" ''The Globe and Mail'', December 28, 2010, accessed December 30, 2010.) was a historian and critic of technology, science ...

Mark Pesce Mark D. Pesce ( ; born 1962) is an American-Australian author, researcher, engineer, futurist and teacher. Early life Pesce was born in Everett, Massachusetts in 1962. In September 1980, Pesce attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M ...

Joe Rosen Joe Rosen (December 25, 1920 – October 12, 2009) was an American comic book artist, primarily known for his work as a letterer. Over the course of his career with Marvel Comics and DC Comics, Rosen lettered such titles as ''The Fantastic Four'' ...

Kirkpatrick Sale Kirkpatrick Sale (born June 27, 1937) is an American author who has written prolifically about political decentralism, environmentalism, luddism and technology. He has been described as having a "philosophy unified by decentralism" and as bei ...

Anders Sandberg Anders Sandberg (born 11 July 1972) is a Swedish researcher, futurist and transhumanist. He holds a PhD in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, and is a former senior research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the Un ...

* Richard Seed *

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

* Gregory Stock * Mark W. Tilden *

Frank Tipler Frank Jennings Tipler (born February 1, 1947) is an American mathematical physicist and cosmologist, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Mathematics and Physics at Tulane University. Tipler has written books and papers on the Ome ...

Margaret Wertheim Margaret Wertheim (born 20 August 1958) is an Australian-born science writer, curator, and artist based in the United States. She is the author of books on the cultural history of physics, and has written about science, including for the ''New Y ...

Robert J. White Robert Joseph White (January 21, 1926 – September 16, 2010) was an American neurosurgeon and bioethicist best known for his work on hypothermia and his experiments with head transplants on mammals, including living monkeys. Early life Whi ...

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

Terence McKenna Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946–April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist and mystic who advocated for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants and mushrooms. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, ...

* Rael * Osman Bakar * Michel Baudry * Ted Berger * Yang Dan * Thomas B. DeMarse *

Anne Foerst Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in t ...

* Erin D. Green * Mark Humayun * Hamada Kazuyuki *

Carlo Montemagno Carlo Montemagno (August 7, 1956 – October 11, 2018) was an American engineer and expert in nanotechnology and biomedical engineering, focusing on futuristic technologies to create interdisciplinary solutions for the grand challenges in health, ...

Natasha Vita-More Natasha Vita-More (born February 22, 1950) is an American strategic designer in the area of human enhancement and life extension. Her interests are located within the ethical uses of science and technology and socio-political implications of revo ...

* Jim Yount

Reception

H+ Magazine ''h Magazine'' was an American magazine, published by Apple Ridge Films, a company founded by photographer, Robert Todd Williamson. The publication covered entertainment news, film, television, music, theater, books, multimedia, and popular cult ...

'' wrote that the film focuses "on the various emerging technologies that Transhumanism has coalesced around and feature illuminating (or potentially terrifying) interviews with scientists working in these fields", and ''Crónicas de Esperantia'' wrote that the film was an excellent documentary that shares some future keys. Christopher Webster of ''Quiet Earth'' reviewed the documentary and wrote that it "is a really smart look at humanity's quest for immortality through science" and how with its focus on hard science "gets into how this quest effects art and culture and how the whole mess intersects to form the very fabric of who we are."

References

External links

* * {{official website, http://www.technocalyps.com/
''TechnoCalyps'': Part I. TransHuman

''TechnoCalyps'': Part II. Preparing for the Singularity

''TechnoCalyps'': Part III. The Digital Messiah
Transhumanism Futurology documentaries 2000s English-language films 2000s Belgian films

Documentary precept

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links