Existential Hope Drop #7: Robin Hanson, George Mason University
On Futurism, Grabby Aliens, And His Best Career Advice
November 2022: HOPE DROP #7: ROBIN HANSON
Is Robin Hanson feeling hopeful about the future? What future does he want to see? How big can the future be? In this episode of the Existential Hope podcast we ask Robin Hanson about his reflections on the future, and we also collect his best career advice. This Hope Drop features, professor of economics at George Mason University.
What will the future look like, according to Robin Hanson?
Hanson is associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He has a doctorate in social science from Caltech, master’s degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago, and nine years experience as a research programmer, at Lockheed and NASA.
Robin speaks on:
How people tend to think about the future
His Grabby Alien paper and the Fermi Paradox
What excites him about the future (hint, it's mainly how big it is!)
About his career as a researcher within multiple fields
And much more!
What could a future world with technologies such as cryonics, whole brain emulation, and interstellar colony ships look like?
That is the vision of a positive future as envisioned by Robin Hanson, which is the basis for this art piece.
About the artist
Yann Minh is one of the first French artists who built immersive multimedia installations. Born in 1957, he has been a video, multimedia, digital and new media artist since 1979. He is also a writer of cyberpunk science fiction, and founder of the Noonautes, a neo-cyberpunk movement. A child of television, comic strips and science fiction, his work is inspired by Nam June Paik, Giger, Druillet, Moebius, Philip K. Dick and Marshall McLuhan.
NEWS FROM THE XHOPE ECOSYSTEM
Longtermism & Existential Hope: Why having hope for the longterm future matters
Medium post on longtermism and Existential Hope: "We live at the beginning of history, and the future ahead of us is really, really big. That is, if we can get there. A look at today’s media invokes doom, slow demise, catastrophe, and existential angst. But we have to remember that the opposite path is possible, too!"
Why progress needs futurism
In this post on the Progress Forum Eli Dourade writes on futurism as a critical element of progress. "Why is futurism important for progress? Futurism can imbue the progress community with a more concrete vision of the future." Read the post to learn about Eli's three reasons on why futurism is important.
Why are imaginary worlds so popular as entertainment?
Fictions set in large and rich imaginary worlds are more and more popular around the world. Why do humans tend to enjoy fictional environments that differ from the real world?
Can a yoghurt commercial inspire xhope? This one does.
“Dear Alice” is a love letter from a grandmother to a granddaughter and an optimistic vision of the future of farming. It’s a nostalgic look towards a new era of agriculture, with beautifully crafted backgrounds, delicate animation and a completely unique score by long-time Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. It’s not a perfect utopia, but a version of a future we can all reach if we just decide to put in the work.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
We always want to know about what resources, projects and organizations in the ecosystem across future-positive organizations you would like to see on the Focus Areas.
The future is for everyone to create together, so please, if you have any thoughts or ideas on what to feature, please let us know via our Contribute-page!