Mike LaTorra

Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies

Mike LaTorra has long been concerned with advancing and safeguarding both the material, scientific achievements, and the spiritual, cultural aspects of human civilization. After 15 years working as a technical writer in industry, he became a college professor in the English Department of New Mexico State University where he teaches Technical Communication courses. He is the author of A Warrior Blends With Life: A Modern Tao, the only book on spirituality from that time to mention nanotechnology. He serves as President of the Daibutsuji Zen Temple and on the Board of Directors of the IEET and the World Transhumanist Association.

At the Convergence Unconference in November, he presented a joint session with J. Hughes called Digital Serfs & Cyborg Buddhas. The talk centered on the concept of today's digital (or data) serfdom as it currently exists -- and is growing -- among high-tech workers. In a future of mind-uploading, the situation could worsen into a dystopian horror. The bright alternative to this vision of servitude in dark digital mills is life as an enhanced, empowered, free individual, the Cyborg Buddha, who enjoys both technological abundance and the time to enjoy it in contemplative bliss.

video


Digital Serfs and Cyborg Buddhas.

audio

Transvision 2004, "Trans-Spirit: Religion, Spirituality and Transhumanism"