WHAT DOES HE DO?
Dr. Max More is an
internationally acclaimed strategic futurist who writes, speaks,
and organizes events about the fundamental challenges of
emerging technologies. Max is concerned that our rapidly
developing technological capabilities are racing far ahead of
our standard ways of thinking about future possibilities. His
work aims to improve our ability to anticipate, adapt to, and
shape the future for the better.
In
developing, communicating, and implementing better ways of
foreseeing possible futures and of making decisions under
growing uncertainty, Max takes a highly interdisciplinary
approach. Drawing on philosophy, economics, cognitive and social
psychology, management theory, and other fields, he develops
solutions and strategies for minimizing the dangers of progress
and maximizing the benefits.
Dr. More co-founded and served as
Chairman of Extropy Institute, a diverse network of
innovative thinkers committed to creating solutions to enduring
human problems. He authored the Principles of Extropy, which
form the core of a transhumanist perspective. As a leading
transhumanist thinker, Max strongly challenges traditional,
limiting beliefs about the possibilities of our future. At the
same time, he tempers visionary aims with analytical and
practical strategizing.
As a
writer, Max has authored dozens of articles and papers on
topics including how to improve and apply critical and creative
thinking, especially about uncertain future possibilities; the
ethics of biotechnology and other technologies that directly
affect humans; the philosophical implications of technological
transformations of human nature; and strategic futures thinking
in business. He recently wrote the
Proactionary Principle,
the latest of influential pieces that include "The
Principles of Extropy", and “A
Letter to Mother Nature”. He is
currently working on a book, tentatively titled Beyond
Caution, that responds to resurgent neophobia with a
spirited yet balanced defense of progress.
As a speaker, Max
frequently lectures at conferences and companies, gives
seminars, and engages in debates and panel discussions on issues
surrounding the impact of emerging technologies. Known as a
highly capable communicator, he is able to synthesize diverse
areas of knowledge and communicate the results clearly and
insightfully.
As an organizer, Max
brings together a diverse range of thinkers, scientists,
philosophers, artists, and entrepreneurs to examine
technological and social trends and then form individual and
organizational strategies for flourishing in a time of
accelerated change.
As a
consultant, Max (as part of the ManyWorlds team) works with
companies and other organizations to improve strategic futures
thinking and weave it into regular decision-making and
innovation processes. This includes analyzing the interaction of
technological trends, and developing strategic
scenarios.
His
academic background: Max has a degree in Philosophy,
Politics, and Economics from St. Anne’s College, Oxford
University (1984-87). He was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship in
Philosophy in 1987 by the University of Southern California. Max
studied and taught philosophy at USC with an emphasis on
philosophy of mind, ethics, and personal identity, completing
his Ph.D. in 1995, with a
dissertation
that examined issues including the nature of death, and what it
is about each individual that continues despite great change
over time.
He is currently writing a book on
the forces driving us into the future and how to apply cognitive
and strategic tools to improve our thinking about the resulting
issues.
ANYTHING
ELSE?
Born in January 1964 in Bristol, in the
Southwest of England of half-English, half-Welsh ancestry.
Married since 1996 to
Natasha Vita-More.
After living for 15 years in the Los Angeles area, Max moved to
Austin, Texas in 2002.
At least
since watching the Apollo 11 moon landing at the age of 5, Max
has always been fascinated by the possibilities offered by
technology for overcoming limits. He started a personal life
extension regimen in his early teens, and created several
publications to discuss ideas about space colonization, life
extension, cognitive enhancement, and liberty. His deep interest
in economics shifted increasingly to philosophy as he formulated
a "big picture" of possible futures. At the age of 40, More has
been writing about these ideas and organizing practical activity
for over 20 years. Before moving to the USA in 1987, he
incorporated the first biostasis organization in Britain,
generating considerable media coverage. His doctoral work on
personal identity analyzed the effects of technology on the
self, and alternatives to current conceptions of death and
identity.
Max More
has become a widely recognized thinker on the philosophical and
cultural implications of advanced, emerging, and future
technologies. Echoing the words of his instructors throughout
his education, reporters have noted his ability to explain
clearly and persuasively radical and complex ideas. Jim
McClellan, in his major 1995 Observer (UK newspaper)
article, said: "The funny thing about Max is that while his
ideas are wild, he argues them so calmly and rationally you find
yourself being drawn in."
Max’s ideas
and background have been described in publications such as
Wired (where Ed Regis described him as "the primary
intellectual force behind Extropianism") The
Village Voice, Icon, Knowledge@Wharton, The L.A.
Weekly, GQ (Britain), GQ (Spain), The New
York Times Magazine, Focus, .net, and c’t
(Germany), the national UK newspapers The Observer,
The Guardian, and The Sunday Times.
His ideas
have been discussed in books including Gundolf Freyermuth’s
Cyberland, Brian Alexander’s Rapture: How Biotech Became
the New Religion, Damien Broderick’s The Spike, Chris
Dewdney’s Last Flesh, Mark Dery’s Escape
Velocity, Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us,
by Rodney Brooks, Erik Davis’s Techgnosis, among others.
Television and video appearances include a
bioethics debate on
Crossfire,
two series on The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel,
documentaries in France, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands,
Russia, Chile, and Belgium, the Terry Wogan Show (then
Britain’s top talk show); CNN’s Futurewatch; the CBS
series Mysteries of the Millennium; several appearances
on Breakthroughs: A Transcentury Update cable TV show;
the documentaries New Edge and the theatrical release
Synthetic Pleasures; and many other television and radio
shows. Dr. More’s thinking has been discussed in a dozen books.
He has also appeared in at least two novels, but continues to
insist that he is a real person.
When not
working, he may be found scuba diving, skiing, shooting, or in
the gym weight-training or running, or at home playing with his
cats Quark and Quasar and his dog Oscar.
AND? DON'T BE
BASHFUL...
Marvin Minsky, “the father of
artificial intelligence”, said of Dr. More: “We have a dreadful
shortage of people who know so much, can both think so boldly
and clearly, and can express themselves so articulately. Carl
Sagan was another such one—and (partly by paying the price of
his life) managed to capture the public eye. But Sagan is gone
and has not been replaced. I see Max as my candidate for that
post.” Ray Kurzweil, author, inventor, and winner of the
Presidential Medal for innovation in technology said: “Max
More's ideas are very influential among other "big thinkers,"
who in turn are influence leaders themselves. Max's writings
represent well grounded science futurism, and reflect a
sophisticated understanding of technology trends and how these
trends are likely to develop during this coming century.”
Max More, Ph.D.
4607 Lyra Circle, Austin, TX 78744, USA.
Telephone: 512-263-2749
max@maxmore.com
.com