My first paper is being presented as part of the Human Enhancement and Transhumanism Unit, and traces techno-cultural imaginaries, narratives, and emergent practices from metaphysical traditions, through to my research communities, which includes an immortalist new religious movement, transhumanists, and other radical life extension (RLE) activists.
As part of an effort to create a new Emerging Technologies Unit, I am presenting a paper in an exploratory session. The paper explores the fear of transhumanism among conspiracy theorists. I examine the interpretative strategies used to make sense of transhumanism and emergent technologies like the metaverse and Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
The roundtable discussion is part of the Applied Religious Studies Committee, Death, Dying, and Beyond Unit, and Teaching Religion Unit. The theme of the roundtable is “Working and Teaching Outside the Academy: A Roundtable on Death, Dying, and Beyond Landscapes,” and I will be joined by by my wife who is the CEO of Keeper Memorials and co-founder of TalkDeath.
