Dear Futurists,

1.) Nesta FutureFest discount code

Will technology control us? Or can we control technology?

Is democracy broken? If so, how can we fix it?

Can we protect our planet… by reforming the economy?

Can we rebuild our cities… to respond to our needs?

Regular readers will recognise the above questions as ones that often arise during London Futurists events. The good news is that they’re all given a central position in the description of the FutureFest event that Nesta are holding in London’s Tobacco Docks on 6-7 July.

Here’s a 90 second video introducing FutureFest

Over one hundred speakers will be sharing their insights and opinions in up to five different parallel streams of activity over the two days.

I’m happy to report that Nesta have kindly made the discount code LONDONFUTURISTS_FF18 available for use by members of London Futurists when you register for FutureFest. This will reduce the ticket prices by 10%.

If you attend, then I urge you to stay right to the end of the second day, when you’ll be able to see James Hughes, Executive Director of the IEET, plus me, plus two other panellists, discuss how technology will change the roles of spirituality and religion in the future. That’s in the session entitled “Let there be bytes”:

As our planet hums with increasingly intelligent computers, and as genetics gives us god-like powers over our biology, it’s no surprise that some see the need for new spiritual and religious practices and creeds. What will give us deeper meaning to the frantic innovations around us?

2.) RAADfest discount code

Held in August 2016, and again in August 2017, RAADfest has become arguably the world’s most important regular gathering of what has been called “the superlongevity community”.

On each of the two previous occasions, the set of participants was impressive. This year, the speaker lineup is looking even better. The organisers tell me that registrations for RAADfest 2018 are higher, at this stage of the booking cycle, than for either of the two previous events.

The venue is the same as before – the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center in San Diego. But the date has moved later in the year: 20-23 September.

If you use the code FUTURIST when you register, it will reduce the ticket price by $50.

3.) The Energy Debate – Sat 30th June

Mathijs Beckers, the speaker at the London Futurists event “A plea for sanity in the energy debate: The humanist case for nuclear energy” happening on Saturday 30th June, tells me that his new book “Climate Zero Hour” has just been published:

In an age of political expediency and ideological schisms it is best to consider the facts and let reason and science be the judge of what is right and wrong. Climate Zero Hour examines the world-wide energy dilemma from a position of reason and offers insight on how to move ahead on climate change and argues that a larger role for nuclear energy is required.

Mathijs tells me he can provide a small number of readers with a complimentary copy of his book, in return for an expression of interest in writing a review of the book. If you’d like to become involved, please let me know by reply.

Either way, I hope to see many of you at the event on 30th June. The topics to be covered are of great importance in my view. I don’t expect everyone in the audience to agree, but I am hopeful we will all be able to grow smarter and wiser as a result of the debate.

To RSVP to attend, click here.

4.) Videos of previous London Futurists events

A number of you have been in touch with me, asking about the availability of videos from the TechXLR8 Futurist Summit on 12th June.

I’m afraid that my only answer at the moment is that the person in the TechXLR8 admin team who knows what has happened to the footage recorded seems to have taken a well-earned break, following many months of frantic preparation work ahead of TechXLR8.

As soon as I have more information, I will share it.

As for the recordings from our UBIA event earlier in June, these are gradually appearing on the event page. You’ll see that five videos have been posted. The remaining five should appear over the next week or so.

5.) Next steps with the Abundance Manifesto

I’d like to provide a brief update about the project “Transhumanist Abundance Manifesto” which I introduced in the previous London Futurists newsletter.

Since that first report, I’ve revised some of the text in the Manifesto. And I’ve filled out many more details in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list that accompanies the Manifesto.

If you find yourself in sympathy with the goals of this Manifesto, I’ll appreciate hearing your thoughts on improving the FAQ:

• Which new questions should be added?
• Which existing answers strike you as inadequate?
• What content would you propose adding?

You can add your questions and suggestions directly into this shared online document.

Thanks!

// David W. Wood
Chair, London Futurists