Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
An appeal by participants of the Second International Global Future 2045 Congress to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
March 11, 2013
Mr. Secretary-General,
We, scientists, public figures and business leaders from Russia, the USA, the UK, and Canada as well as participants of the Second International Global Future 2045 Congress (15-16 June 2013, New York) would like to bring to your attention a number of serious issues.
The world stands on the threshold of global change. Ecological, political, anthropological, economic and other crises are intensifying. Wars are waged, resources wasted senselessly, and the planet is being polluted. Society is experiencing a crisis of goals and values, while science and technology are providing unprecedented opportunity for advancement. National leaders remain focused on short-term internal stability, without paying sufficient attention to the opportunities for the future of civilization.
Humanity essentially faces this choice: slide into the abyss of global degradation, or find and realize a new model of development, a model capable of changing human consciousness and giving new meaning to life.
We believe that to move to a new stage of human evolution, mankind vitally needs a scientific revolution coupled with significant spiritual changes, inseparably linked, supplementing and supporting of each other. The vector of future development provided by technological advancement should assist the evolution of the consciousness of humanity, the individual and society, and be the transition to neo-humanity.
This type of research will be discussed at the Global Future 2045 congress. Cutting-edge technologies will be showcased, many of which have already been developed and improved, but not yet available to the people who need them.
The key components of these studies are:
1. The construction of anthropomorphic avatar robots—artificial bodies.
2. The creation of telepresence robotic systems for long-distance control of avatars.
3. The development of brain–computer interfaces for direct mental control of an avatar.
Applications:
– rehabilitation of the disabled;
– replacement of people working in hazardous conditions, or those tasked with cleaning up during peacekeeping missions etc.;
– telepresence technologies for personal and business communications, as well as tourism.
The successful further development of the above three studies is expected to lead to further breakthroughs, including:
4. Development of life-extension technologies involving life-support systems for the human brain integrated with an artificial Avatar body.
(Note: Per the Global Trends 2030 forecast of the US National Intelligence Council, using replacement limb technology advances, people may choose to enhance their physical selves as they do with cosmetic surgery today.)
Application: the significant extension of the lives of individuals whose biological bodies have exhausted their resources.
5. A study of the main principles of the functioning of the human brain, and the creation of a functional model.
6. Development of prostheses for parts of the human brain.
7. Creation of a fully artificial equivalent of the human brain.
8. A study of human consciousness and the possibilities for its future embodiment in a non-biological substrate.
Applications:
– treatment of degenerative diseases and traumas of the brain;
– exploration of regions of outer space hostile to biological human life;
– radical extension of human life to the point of immortality.
Participants of the Global Future 2045 congress include scientists, philosophers, representatives of different religions, public figures, business leaders, and philanthropists. We will demonstrate the realistic nature of Avatar technologies and launch a new science megaproject that will form the foundation of a new evolutionary strategy for humanity. This realization will make it possible to solve many of society’s problems once and for all, overcoming the biological limitations of humans, and creating a new civilization with high ethics, culture, spirituality, high technology and science.
This new strategy should become an alternative to nationally focused ideologies, transforming the inhabitants of our planet into citizens of Earth, and bringing nations together, making it the meaning of life for each citizen to serve high ideals and principles, and pursue constant self-development.
To carry out this important mission, your support is key for us. We invite you to take part in the congress personally, or send a recorded or written appeal to the participants.
We believe that in the near future, the UN General Assembly will gather not to regulate military conflicts, but to recommend that heads of state and leaders of national and transnational organizations take it upon themselves to realize the strategy for the transition to neo-humanity.
Signed by:
- Dmitry Itskov — Founder of the 2045 Initiative. President of the Global Future 2045 congress.
- Ray Kurzweil — Director of Engineering, Google; futurist and inventor, co-founder, Singularity University, and author of How to Create a Mind.
- Dr. James Martin — British author and entrepreneur and the largest individual benefactor to the University of Oxford in its 900-year history.
- Dr. Theodore Berger — USC Professor, brain prosthesis technology developer.
- Dr. Peter H. Diamandis — Founder and Chairman, X Prize Foundation, co-founder, Singularity University, author of Abundance.
- Dr. Robert Thurman — Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University. Author and tireless proponent of peace.
- Dr. Amit Goswami — Professor Emeritus from the Theoretical Physics Department of the University of Oregon.
- Dr. David Hanson — Robotics designer and researcher, creating androids: humanlike robots with intelligence and feelings.
- Dr. Alexander Kaplan — Psychophysiologist, founder of the first Russian Brain-Computer Interface laboratory.
- Dr. Ben Goertzel — Artificial General Intelligence researcher and entrepreneur. Founder, OpenCog Project. CEO, Novamente LLC.
- Dr. Natasha Vita-More — Human enhancement theorist, university lecturer, co-editor The Transhumanist Reader on the philosophy of self-directed human evolution.
- Dr. Randal Koene — Head of Carboncopies.org, author of the concept of Substrate-Independent Minds (SIM).
- Dr. Anders Sandberg — Researcher, Future of Humanity Institute, and science debater, futurist, author of the Whole Brain Emulation Roadmap.
- Dr. Stuart Hameroff — Neuro-anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona. Co-creator of the Orch OR model of the quantum nature of consciousness and memory.
- Dr. Ken Hayworth — President of the Brain Preservation Foundation, and Senior Scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus.
- Dr. David Dubrovsky — Russian philosopher, psychologist and expert in the field of analytical philosophy of mind.
- Dr. Witali L. Dunin-Barkowski — Head of the Russian project for reverse brain engineering. Professor. Founder of the Russian Association of Neuroinformatics.
- Dr. Alexander Panov — Astrophysicist, author of the Snooks-Panovcurve which describes the singularity.
- Dr. William Bushell — MIT-affiliated religious anthropologist.
- Lazar Puhalo — Archbishop (ret.) of Ottawa of the Orthodox Church in America.
- Swami Vishnudevananda Giri Ji Maharaj — Russian yoga master, philosopher, futurologist.
- Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill — Cooperman/Ross Endowed Professor in Honor of Sister Rose Thering at Seton Hall University.
- Nigel Ackland — Pioneering user of the world's most advanced bionic artificial arm.
