Dear Futurists,

It’s been some time since there’s been a formal meeting of London Futurists. However, there’s a chance to meet in the Marlborough Arms this Wednesday. And another chance to meet, at another pub, this Thursday.

For the details, and for some other news items that may be of interest, read on!

1.) The Future: What’s most important? And what’s most encouraging?

Members and friends of London Futurists are invited to meet over drinks for a roundtable discussion of whatever’s on people’s minds about the future.

For example: which news of technology breakthroughs has caught your attention? Or news of company failures due to naivety or overconfidence regarding immature products? Or accelerating social trends? Or books or articles or videos or podcast episodes that you think deserve wider attention?

Come to the meeting prepared to offer a few minutes of joined-up thinking on one of the above questions. Or, come simply to listen, perhaps to speak up if the spirit strikes you, and to meet old and new friends.

That’s this Wednesday, 21st August, from 6pm, in the Marlborough Arms pub in Bloomsbury.

There’s no charge to attend this gathering, but the venue will expect us to buy some drinks, and some of us may wish to order some food too (here’s the menu).

For more details, and to RSVP to attend (so the venue can be confident in setting aside enough tables for our use), please click here.

2.) Informal Meetup for Londoners Interested in Longevity

Meetup has just drawn my attention to a new group that’s been formed: “London Longevity”.

They’ve scheduled an inaugural get-together in the Bubba Oasis in Angel Islington from 6pm this Thursday (22nd August).

It’s described as follows:

Hello! Come and join us for the first meetup of Longevity in London, an informal meetup of like-minded people over a few drinks.

If you’re interested in the longevity space, this is a great opportunity to connect. It’s just a casual and relaxed evening—good chat in a nice pub atmosphere.

You’ll also have the chance to meet others in the field, share your interests, and maybe even find some serendipity that could change the future of health and longevity.

For more details, and to register to attend, click here.

3.) CogX Leadership Summit on AI, 7 October

As in previous years, London Futurists is again partnering with CogX to support their flagship annual event in London.

This year, the CogX Leadership Summit will be hosted at the iconic Royal Albert Hall, London. It’s a one-day event, on 7th October.

Some of the speakers who have already been announced include:

• Anna Makanju – Vice President of Global Affairs – OpenAI
• Verity Harding – Founder, Formation Advisory Ltd – Google DeepMind (former)
• Debbie Weinstein – Vice President and Managing Director, Google United Kingdom & Ireland – Google
• Marietje Schaake – International Policy Director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center – Stanford University
• Tina Woods – Founder & CEO – Collider Health
• Sana Khareghani – Professor of Practice in AI at King’s College London and AI Policy lead for Responsible AI UK

See here for the preliminary details of the event, and for the opportunity (up until 30th August) to obtain early bird tickets.

And – I’ll whisper this – a small number of tickets can be obtained with an additional 20% discount for the first few people who use this code when registering: 20LFUTURLDN24.

4.) Ten thought-provoking books

Are you looking for suggestions for books to read during a break from your usual activities?

Let me draw your attention to ten books, each of which are eye-opening and thought-provoking in their own ways.

Indeed, they might change your life trajectories, so beware!

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life. By Nick Lane.

Fascinating insight into the remarkable (and unlikely) evolutionary journey from non-life to modern warm-blooded life. With plenty of insights along the way regarding energy, sex, aging, and death. You’ll wonder why you never knew about this before.

Methuselah’s Zoo: What nature can teach us about living longer, healthier lives. By Steven Austad.

A different view regarding what animals can teach us about aging. How many animals live much longer, and more healthily, than any simple theory would predict. Implications for human aging. And implications for what kind of studies rejuvenation researchers should prioritize.

Eve: How the female body drove 200 million years of human evolution. By Cat Bohannon.

Milk. The womb. Menopause. Perception. Tools. Voice. The brain. Love. When you look at the long span of evolution from a female perspective, many things fall into place in an inspiring new way. A startling reminder that our approach to science often suffers from being male-centric.

We Are Electric: The new science of our body’s electrome. By Sally Adee.

Yet another fascinating alternative angle from which to make deeper sense of biology. The electricity throughout our bodies is involved in more processes than we previously thought. Move over genome, epigenome, and biome: make way for the electrome.

Sentience: The invention of consciousness. By Nicholas Humphrey.

Why has evolution given rise to phenomenological consciousness? How can we detect and assess consciousness throughout the animal kingdom? And what are the implications for AIs that might be sentient? Lots of captivating biographical asides along the way.

The Other Pandemic: How QAnon contaminated the world. By James Ball.

Evolution has produced not just intelligence and beauty but also viruses and other pathogens. Mental pathogens (“memes”) have lots in common with their biological analogues. That’s one reason why, alas, the whole world may be on the point of going crazy.

The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A scientist’s warning. By Peter Hotez.

Part of the growing wave of social irrationality is a determined virulent opposition to the patient methods and hard-won insights of science. Millions have already died as a result. There may be worse ahead. What lies behind these developments? And how can they be parried?

End Times: Elites, counter-elites, and the path of political disintegration. By Peter Turchin.

A science of history: is that idea a fantasy? Actually there are important patterns that transcend individual periods of revolutionary turmoil. However, there’s no inevitability in these patterns – provided we are wise and pay attention. You’ll never look at history the same way again.

The Coming Wave: Technology, power, and the 21st century’s greatest dilemma. By Mustafa Suleyman.

Current debates about the safety of forthcoming more powerful AI systems should be understood in wider economic, political, and historical context. Following a full diagnosis, a ten stage multi-level plan provides some grounds for optimism.

Uncontrollable: The threat of artificial superintelligence and the race to save the world. By Darren McKee.

Still unsure whether forthcoming more powerful AI systems pose catastrophic risks to humanity? Wondering what you, as an individual, could do, to help reduce these risks? Then this is the book for you. Written especially clearly and compellingly.

5.) There’s lots to catch up with on our podcast

Finally, in case you’ve missed them, let me draw your attention to some marvellous recent conversations on the London Futurists Podcast:

• Thinking more athletically about the future, with Brett King and Rob Tercek
• The low-cost future of preserving brains, with Jordan Sparks
• Surveillance and diversity: surprising insights from the Gulf, with Holly Joint
• The double-edged sword of technology, with Wendell Wallach
• Stop cryocrastinating! with Emil Kendziorra
• Introducing Conscium, with Daniel Hulme and Ted Lappas
• Taming the Machine, with Nell Watson
• AI Impacts Survey – The key implications, with Katja Grace

If you enjoy any of these episodes, please consider giving the podcast a five star rating, and writing a brief review, so that other people are encouraged to listen too!

// David W. Wood
Chair, London Futurists