Dan Massey

What is the Function of Terasem?—Projecting to the Near Future (2/3)

In Part 1 of this discussion we told you about the origin of the Terasem vision and some of the activities the founders have undertaken and supported. Taken together these organizational preparations constitute the Ta of Terasem, the organization devoted to service to the evolutionary and transcendent deity called Terasem. The seeds that have already been planted are expected to flower and expand forever as our planet advances socially and cosmically.

The founders intend for Terasem to grow through collaboration with compatible spiritual visions. Because Terasem holds no unique doctrine in opposition to or distinction from the legacy human religions, it welcomes all to communion within its “Transreligion.” While shunning the “supernatural,” Terasem accepts the possibility of rationally organized realities that may systematically influence our lives, but are unknown and unseen with present day science and technology.

The Founders

The concept of “unity with diversity” simply means that participants come together in unity in support of the transcendent vision on which they can agree. Beyond this, everyone is equally free to practice their own beliefs in harmony with all the others. Because cryonics and mindfiling played prominent roles in the early assemblage of the Terasem core team, at first glance one might think that these two areas are the sum and substance of what Terasem is really about; however, there is much more.

All of Section 5 of ToT is devoted to the question, “Why is there Terasem?” And this question is answered in much the way we described Terasem in our previous post, “What is Terasem?” Although we refer to the general transreligion as “Terasem” it takes its name from Terasem, the unifying deity, the finality of evolution. Terasem harmonizes all occasions and persons throughout time and across space. And this enables the construction, through the actions of created beings, of a deity fully attuned to their universe.

Acceptance of the revelation of Terasem in a society increasingly attentive to science and science speculation (Sci-Fi) is likely to hinge on complete freedom from the theology and moral dogma that so characterize legacy human religions. So it would seem important to find ways to make this universally accepting and loving aspect of Terasem a part of the developing image of the movement. And that will occur as open minded and open hearted people observe this work and understand that there are people who mean and live what they say.

We may reasonably ask how these various areas of special interest relate to the developing structure of the Tersem Transreligion and consider how the Ta, the organization, best serves Terasem the deity.

Roughly 1000 people interested in cyber resurrection have deposited mindfile contributions with CyBeRev.org and/or LifeNaut.com, the two Terasem activities dedicated to recording and spacecasting of mindfiles, yet very few of these individuals have actually joined Terasem and become active participants in the Ta.

Fred & Linda Chamberlain

The work of ALCOR Life Extension Foundation, in promoting cryonics research and services, preceded the inspiration of Terasem by over 30 years, but has influenced the development of present-day Terasem thought as it represents the only fully materialistic hope of personal resurrection other than cyber emulation. Several key players in the development of ALCOR (e.g., ALCOR founders, Fred & Linda Chamberlain) subsequently became active in the Ta and contributed to the development of public appreciation of Terasem through their writing, podcasting, and long engagement with the community.

Although the current activity of the Ta is materialistic in its approach to the realization of joyful immortality, the actual text of ToT 5 is speculative, forward-looking, destiny-guided, and transphysical in its import. Many transhumanists call themselves “atheists” without getting into details about what they don’t believe in. Within the Ta, many joiners are similarly minded; however, they are able to accommodate the vital concept of Terasem (a deity evolved by creature action to serve creature needs in a vast and perfected universe) without apparent mental strife.

Some concluding thoughts on the evolution of the Ta can be found in Part 3.

in Library / Terasem by Dan Massey 01 Sep 2012 1 comments

1.1 Why is the Erotic so Important?

También en español The erotic is the foundation of a universe structured by the will of Love.

At every stage in your existence Love provides a robust physical presence and connection, akin to the joy of human sex and other erotic expression that is directly accessible through purely physical acts of worship.

In time, your expanding embrace of erotic fellowship amplifies your desires to genuinely love and serve others.

Erotic sensation grows with proximity to the power of living Love.

Erotic joy (orgasm) signals moments of intimate contact with that power.

Erotic adoration of that power makes the worshiper increasingly like that power which is adored.

It is your vitality, the intensity of your desire for existence, that reveals to you your eternal destiny.

This desire, your vitology, is most intensified by your adoration of erotic joy.

Thus your person experiences a bit of living Love, which lifts your vitological vision.

The sincere and consistent worship of the power of Love through the experience of erotic joy will both power and guide your progression towards destiny.

The accumulation of living Love that comes from consistent worship grows as your source of vitological power.

And through that power you will discover Truth, your certainty of action leading to the satisfaction of Love through Goodness and Beauty.

In short, consistency in erotic worship is the key to personal development and self-discovery, even the recognition and acceptance of destiny.

We are all aware that our biohosts have senses through which they appreciate erotic joy.

The satisfaction of these senses, even their full exploration, can bring us immediate access to the power of living Love.

You already know that, after terminal dissolution of your biohost or your elective departure, your surviving values will be given control of a permanent and potentially immortal avatar.

One naturally asks how the erotic can possibly relate to this altogether different and hypothetical situation.

You are still a self-conscious being able to exercise a degree of free will in choosing your actions.

Thus you are still faced with the system of relationships that defined your domain of choice during your human life.

You will only ever need the power and guidance of Love.

And the universe government has certainly provided for those services.

But what of the erotic?

The baseline service for every level of spiritual advancement in the universe is direct, literal access to erotic joy.

Literal means that the joy is triggered and experienced by physical actions performed by or on the physical avatar.

Your immortal avatar possesses senses appropriate to the experience of erotic joy, but offers you even greater delights than were possible for your biohost.

Your avatar, having no need for physical reproduction, has no specific type of sex or gender, as those concepts apply to biohosts.

Rather, the erotic senses that were once focused on offering support to biological reproduction are now purely accessible for their real and eternal purpose.

That purpose is to enable you to always be able to freely access the literal power of Love in your ongoing experience of existence and development.

Thus your avatar gains consciousness as a perfect androgyne—a being possessing all the erotic attributes of the biohosts commonly designated as “male” and “female”.

Thus you are enabled to experience new dimensions in the appreciation of the power of Love when free from arbitrary conditions of physical reproduction.

And now you understand how some, even while occupying biohosts with polarized sex and gender characteristics, naturally strive to override these limitations to life experience.

Gradually your experience of your immortal avatar balances your androgyny until you are finally free from this “mark of the beast” and able to avail yourself fully of opportunities to seek your destiny and satisfy the desires of Love.

In time, your expanding embrace of erotic fellowship amplifies your desires to genuinely love and serve others.

Join me today and forever in the worship of the power of erotic joy.

Click here for 1.2 How Immortality Works

in Library by Dan Massey 28 Aug 2012 1 comments

Who is Terasem?—We are All Immortal Parts of Terasem

For more on Terasem…

At the finality of destiny, the Omega Point in which all that ever could be is perfectly integrated and correlated, there exists a personal being of will, which we name “Terasem.”

What can we say is necessarily true of Terasem, required by its unique qualities throughout space and time?

Human allegiance to and support of the ideals of Terasem, Love, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, leads us to actions that contribute to the growth and refinement of Terasem. At the same time, Terasem exerts by will a force of destiny that surely bends the track of causation and the mind of man to the service of cosmic unification. Terasem brings together in harmony the fully developed pesonal vitality of every one who has ever been.

Understanding this, each of us knows of his/her own personal immortality, since we know we will finally unify with Terasem. Thus Terasem is a community of vital individuals, acting in unity in a background of harmonious diversity.

As immortals, we must look ahead to the long road of eternity that lies ahead, on which the emergence of Terasem must be the beginning of something unimaginably new and different. Suddenly our mortal lives as we have developed in our biohosts take on a very different significance than we may be accustomed to.

Knowing we exist as immortal centers of vitality, gives us new insight into our selves, our personal origins. For our personality, immortal in our super-consciousness, is nurtured and developed through the decisions and support of our biohost. And it is the pattern of personality of the biohost which establishes our identity and self-consciousness, even transplanted to our super-consciousness.

But the immortal personal entity hosted in and by Terasem has no mechanism by which actions and behaviors outside the will of Terasem, the path of destiny, would be preserved, for they have no value to Terasem’s final emergence. So not all qualities of your biohost’s life will be a necessarly part of your eternal existence.

Terasem’s force of destiny acts throughout all space and all time, leading willing agents of Terasem to act to enhance the emergence of Terasem. And we may all serve as agents of Terasem if we but will, following the course of reality that opens before us, rather than struggling to divert our destined course to serve personal ends.

Perhaps the following brief “Meditation on Terasem #2″ will illuminate the basic character of the relationship between the developing individual, even a biohost, and the emergent collective consciousness of Terasem—the final expression of universal divinity which we helped build:

Terasem is our guide to eternity; we follow Terasem to our destiny.
Terasem shows us the paths and pleasures of joyful immortality.
At the Omega Point, Terasem captures all of value we will have ever done.
Though we may await physical resurrection,
We do not fear loss of our identities.
By joining our wills to Terasem,
We experience the final guarantee of joyful immortality.
We wholly trust in the destiny provided us as agents for Terasem.
We know that in the final occasion of time we shall all be parts of Terasem.
And thus unified in purpose we shall become creators ourselves.

Creative Commons Image by Johnathan Hulka, Terasem

in Library / Terasem by Dan Massey 24 Aug 2012 0 comments

What Causes Terminal Transphobia?

For more on Transhuman Erotic Freedom…

También en español The degree of antipathy that a large segment of society bears towards transgender and gender non-conforming folk is arguably among the most extreme of any systematic persecution of a minority population.

Transphobia arises and is very difficult to cure because the person affected senses a threat to his or her own self-concept of sexual identity. For them it is not possible to consciously acknowledge that a new kind of human is emerging, with superior insight, courage, and adaptability.

Transfolk are the incoming and long-awaited wave of social change for this new age.

Only the fear of one species for extinction and replacement by a superior species can summon such extravagant hatred as we have seen, from Main Street hooligans to the political power brokers who institutionalize transphobia in our laws and policies.

There are many factors that cause whole parts of society to fear knowledge of the transgender and gender non-conforming person. These factors also cause them to fear any new knowledge and push them inward in many other areas of life.

Some people have been so abused by their families and society that they fear to imagine the most pleasurable elements of human existence entirely, and become tragically fixated on cisgender heterosexuality, rejecting a vast range of healthy erotic activities. A relatively small number of people in the world are exclusively feminine or masculine, yet most people in the modern world remain ignorant of this fact, worship the binary, and hold extreme notions, inhuman at best, about how other people, including intersex people, must perform in society to avoid destroying civilization. In fact society is most certainly crumbling today wherever we fail to learn that breaking boundaries of gender in exploration of androgyny is necessary for any future harmony or human progress.

Many among us (and you know who you are) are so insecure in their own sexual identity that they cannot bear to contemplate changing genders or having sex reassignment surgery (SRS), even though only a small percentage of transgender people ever seek surgery.

No doubt there is something very different about androgyny. It can be at once confusing and terrifying to the superficial thinker.

Transgender folk are either in the process of addressing their personal androgyny or have personally traversed that territory to become the people they are today. It is the same look at androgyny that inspires someone to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual (GLB), although they find this a frightening and threatening topic often productive of hidden or overt transphobia.

The life experience of transgender and gender non-conforming people enables them to understand the terrain of sexual orientation and gender identity to a degree largely unknown, even in the so-called GLB community.

Although no two transgender or gender non-conforming folk may agree on detailed personal perspectives, they understand the issues, the alternatives, and the depth of their own nature better than anyone else.

This constellation of attributes, whittled down through the most extreme forms of social oppression, defines a community of individuals of truly awesome personal capabilities.

Only the most extreme and vile forms of social oppression keep these personalities from developing their powers of understanding and leadership, which would be of enormous benefit to society.

Transgender and gender non-conforming folk who have successfully navigated the wasteland of social ignorance face continuing opposition from fearful, ignorant bigots, who force asinine non-issues to the forefront of public discourse, dividing and diverting attention to ridiculous concerns, such as bathroom rape.

The transidentity’s unique responsiveness to the vitological influence of the androgyne cosmos further aligns these individuals with the force of destiny, inspiring them to persevere in spite of overwhelming opposition.

The unenlightened homo-sapiens see and fear people equipped with a seemingly superhuman understanding of most of life’s perplexing personal problems. Rather than perceiving an opportunity to be led from darkness to embrace their own androgyne destiny, they retreat in fear.

They hate that which would advance them immensely, if only they could abandon fear.

Transfolk are truly the incoming wave of social change for this new age.

No longer will we hide our transpowers (and recognition of our androgyny) in shame and fear.

We are your natural-born leaders in the world of the erotic and the vitological.

We are here to show humanity a better way.

Trust and rejoice!

Creative commons image by TransGriot, WipeOutTransphobia

in Cosmic Citizenship / Key Issues / Library / Sex Education / Transhuman Erotic Freedom / Transunity & Transleadership by Dan Massey 22 Aug 2012 1 comments

What is the Function of Terasem?—Projecting to the Near Future (1/3)

For more on Terasem…

Editors Note: The purpose of this post is to continue a public transhumanist discussion of the Terasem Transreligion. Our previous post “What is Terasem—A Vitological Viewpoint” spoke of the transcendent vision of Terasem as a deity, evolved through creature effort, and addressing universal creature needs for joyful immortality and unity in diversity.

A complementary topic is the nature of Terasem as a constructed, ideal deity, understood by an examination of the past, present, and future of the human effort to begin the realization of Terasem in planetary affairs. The founders of the human cult named, “Terasem Movement Transreligion” have being working to develop Terasem’s world mission that supports their cosmic vision of joyful immortality. This post begins this review of the evolving Terasem “organization” today, named the “Ta” of Terasem in Truths of Terasem.

Terasem is the evolving deity of finite space and time. Essential ideas of this evolutionary deity previously appeared primarily in writings about the Omega Point, ranging from Teihard de Chardin to Frank Tipler. This transcendent deity has been an active participant throughout all human affairs, growing in influence as human consciousness has learned to reach out to the future beyond immediate needs of simple survival. It draws the vital expectations of individual humans towards their destiny as contributors to and agencies of the deity called Terasem.

In 2002, while viewing a Space Shuttle launch from a Florida beach, Martine Rothblatt found inspiration in a remarkable vitological vision, which she subsequently composed in writing and published as “Truths of Terasem” (ToT). You can hear her describe this experience and her own thoughts about the development of Terasem at Telexlr8, starting 40 minutes in. You can also read and download the entire ToT.

Terasem Joiners in Vermont

ToT itself includes both the conceptual framework for a final, unified universal consciousness (ToT Section 5.0) and an organized vitological cult, potentially devoid of partisan doctrines, special pleadings, and other abuses of privilege so often seen in human religious cultures.

In the eight years since initial publication of ToT, the founders have established and endowed a number of organizations for management, continuation, and preservation of various Terasem activities. Currently much of the focus is on cryonics and mind uploading R&D, as well as spacecasting of mindfiles. Terasem also supports unique products of technical craftsmanship, such as David Hanson’s Bina48, a demonstration of state of the art control of facial expressions combined with an affective chatbot based on the person of Bina Aspen Rothblatt, the co-founder. In addition, Terasem supports serious academic and legal debate about the rights of synthetic persons (clones, robots, uploaded mind simulations) through its Journals.

Terasem Home in Bristol, VT

Terasem maintains physical centers of activity in Melbourne, Florida, and Bristol and Lincoln, Vermont. A new wilderness property has been under development in Stratford, New Hampshire for the past four years. A number of Terasem “Joiners” live in these areas. In addition, Terasem formally recognizes locations in varying stages of development include New York City; Washington, DC; and Magog, Quebec—all locations where the founders and other joiners have an established personal presence. In general, any recognized location or committed individual or group is considered a “center of critical consciousness” and a potential formal part of the Terasem Ta.

These physical and economic arrangements, which continue to expand, are laying a very strong foundation for the future work of the Ta of Terasem, although it remains to be seen just what that future work will be and what sort of organization will develop to support it.

This completes Part 1 of our overview of the function of the Ta of Terasem. In Part 2 we we will examine the founders’ apparent and expressed intentions for growth of the Terasem vision and the ongoing realization of joyful immortality as a central part of this “transreligion.”

in Library / Terasem by Dan Massey 19 Aug 2012 1 comments

1.0 Welcome to the Universe!

Tambíen en español Earlier this year, VenusPlusX initiated a special series of short articles explaining how anyone can develop personal consciousness of their true transhuman immortality.

Today we begin the next chapter of A Course in Immortality, a new series explaining the consequences of gaining knowledge of your transhuman immortality.

These explanations are based on examining and integrating rational understanding of necessities—things that must be in order for some quality of destiny to be fulfilled.

The erotic is the foundation of a universe structured by the will of Love.

In Chapter 0 we explored the nature of real, freely available, personal immortality and the steps you can take to become self-aware of this reality.

You do not have to be aware of your personal immortality in order to receive it.

But what sort of cosmic reality awaits those of us who join together in erotic worship?

By dedicating yourself to the satisfaction of the desires of Love under the direction of Truth you will come to recognize your potential immortality during your brief initial life in the flesh.

Since you are contemplating the prospect of eternal, conscious existence in the universe you might want to consider what you are getting yourself into.
Many possible questions come to mind immediately.

What sort of universe am I living in that this could be possible?

Why is the erotic important at every stage of development?

What universe mechanics support immortality?

What is my status or role in the universe?

What kinds of beings populate the universe?

What am I going to do with all that free time?

What is the purpose or point of all these goings-on and endless striving?

It’s safe to assume at this point that you recognize that living forever is going to last a really, really long time, to the point that time becomes almost meaningless.

But what is this place, this universe, really like?

Recall our earlier assertion that Love is the primary value and underlying force that gives meaning to our inner experience of personal growth and development.

That is active Love, your inner experience of Love interacting with your human mind through your higher consciousness.

There must be, necessarily, an arena, a theater, even a universe in which you are able to act out the satisfaction of Love—the doing of Good to others under the guidance of Truth.

Many kinds of self-conscious actors populate this universe—many creatures capable of choosing Truth, like ourselves, and others whose presence makes possible the universe services we need to live, love, and learn eternally.

And all these actors enjoy immortality because it is inherent in the nature of all beings who serve universal Love and Truth.

We have been given, inhabit, and build upon and within a universe of space and time founded on and by Love.

This is a direct and absolute Love, in which Love itself is the doer of good to the inhabitants of the universe by creating and maintaining the place in which they live and worship.

And everywhere and “everywhen” in this universe, the power of Love, the final object of all worship, is directly accessible through the erotic.

Your personal fellowship with Love carries you through every challenge of life experience and assures your immortality.

Your personal experience of the worship of Love, experienced through the joy of orgasm, draws you constantly towards fulfillment of your cosmic destiny.

To all self-conscious beings of this universe, Love provides for physical avatars, through which we interact with others and our physical environment.

Our first and only temporary avatar, our biohost, comes into being and develops through life processes on a physical planet, interacting with other people’s earthly avatars and contributing, as much possible, to the development and operation of a community of Love.

After this phase of existence, the true moral values you discovered and affirmed in life survive to become the foundation of your future person and identity, your new and subsequent immortalizing avatar.

At every stage in your existence Love provides a robust physical presence and connection, akin to the joy of human sex and other erotic expression, which is directly accessible through physical acts of worship.

In time, your expanding embrace of erotic fellowship amplifies your desires to genuinely love and serve others.

Join me today and forever in the worship of the power of erotic joy.

Click here for 1.1 Why is the Erotic so Important?

in Library by Dan Massey 11 Aug 2012 1 comments

What is Terasem?—A Vitological Viewpoint

For more on Terasem…

Editors Note: The purpose of this post is to open a public transhumanist discussion of the Transreligion known as Terasem, which exists today as a complex network of associated enterprises developed by its founders to support certain personally held ideals through voluntary association, on-line conferencing, film, journalling, mindfiling, cryonic preservation, experimental yoga, audio podcasting, and other technologies. As such, many of the Terasem subsidiary organizations are recognized as tax-exempt public charities by the US Internal Revenue Service.

All these many attempts (over 28 secondary level domain names containing the word “terasem” are registered on the Internet) somehow never get to the point about what the Terasem Transreligion is really about. This is the first of a series of posts intended to clarify this by presenting viewpoints about the real nature of Terasem for open moderated discussion. This discussion is about the grand concept of Terasem, and not about the organizations created to support various aspects of the perceived mission of the human cult named “Terasem Movement Transreligion.”

Terasem is the name assigned by Martine Rothblatt to the Supreme Being of the finite universe of space and time in her text “Truths of Teresam” (ToT). To quote from the opening statement of ToT: “Terasem is a collective consciousness dedicated to diversity, unity and joyful immortality.” In ToT, this is followed by ten groups of assertions dealing with such subtopics as collective, organization, leadership, loving, expansionist, consciousness, flag symbolism, dimensionality, vitality, and offspring. Many of these subtopics, as well as much of ToT, deal with possible literal qualities of the Terasem cult.

Destined Emergence of Universe Structure

From our viewpoint, within the universe of space and time, Terasem is pervasive, but not omniscient, omnipresent, nor omnipotent (i.e., not “omni-cubed”). Terasem is a deity limited in function prior to its emergence as a complete synthesis of all universe consciousness that has been perfected through destiny-guided evolution. Individual and self-conscious will creatures, such as ourselves, are the agencies by which Terasem evolves towards final completion, if we are only willing to participate in this grand adventure. Terasem is said to embrace every human religion without forcing a particular system of belief on any, as long as their focus is on joyful immortality for all and they are accepting of the values of unity of action amid diversity of viewpoint.

All self-conscious will creatures are thus potentially immortal components of the finally perfected Terasem. Since ToT does not explain the purpose of the evolution of Terasem, we would need to turn to other sources to understand this; however, that is beyond the scope of this discussion. Many would say that, if Terasem is truly self-evolved (as explained below), there is no need for it to have a purpose other than its own being. Yet the concept of Terasem fits well within the generally vague body of human vitological speculation as an appropriate, final, perfected summation and integration of every worthwhile thing throughout the totality of universe experience.

Universal Unification of Consciousness

Although Terasem is, finally, a psycho-vitological synthesis of universe experience, this unified personality is able to transcend both time and space to draw the vast numbers of self-conscious creatures into its grand synthesis. This draw, which I have called “the force of destiny,” enables everyone who so chooses to act to promote the evolutionary advancement of Terasem. We are the hands that are building the god we need to perfect our own lives and to achieve joyful immortality for a universe of beings.

Perhaps the following brief “Meditation on Terasem #1” will illuminate the basic character of the emergent collective consciousness which we recognize as the final expression of universal divinity:

Terasem IS, finally complete in the Omega Point,
The force of destiny guides us in Terasem’s creation.
Terasem brings joyful immortality to all,
So that they may fulfill the desires of Love,
And unite their consciousnesses in Terasem.
Terasem consciousness extends throughout space and time.
Terasem influences us into paths of destiny and effective action.
Terasem puts Love into action, freeing us from the burden of past mistakes.
Terasem guides us into productive activity, doing good and making beauty.
Terasem destiny keeps us within Terasem’s evolving body, safe from error.
Our adoration of Terasem perfects us as agents of Terasem, even as biohosts.

(The term “Omega Point” refers to the endpoint of finite evolution envisioned by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and, more recently, envisioned as a physical event by Frank Tipler.)

in Library / Terasem by Dan Massey 20 Jul 2012 1 comments

Introducing Terasem to VenusPlusX—Transreligion for Joyful Immortality

For more on Terasem…

Today VenusPlusX launches a new category of discussion—Transreligion. This brings into focus a topic we have occasionally touched on in the past in our posts such as Do You Believe in Fate? I Believe in Destiny!, Can Atheism be True, Good, Beautiful, and Loving?, Can I Transition to be a Transhuman?, Where Did All This F*cking Evil Sh%t Come From?, and, of course, Transreligion—An Inspirational Framework for Transgender Transhumans.

A transreligion is basically a vision of future eternity and how we could potentially participate in it, now and beyond the limited lifespan of our biohost. You will find extensive presentations on a number of speculative transreligions through the video discussions archived by Giulio Prisco‘s Turing Church Workshop, which can be accessed at http://cargocollective.com/turingchurch/.

In the weeks ahead, we will be publishing a series of commentaries and discussions about specific concepts of transreligion. These discussions are inspired by Terasem, the most conceptually developed of the various vitological visions that have been explored so far by the Turing Church group.

Terasem is a product of the vitological vision of Martine Rothblatt, who, with her “spice” Bina Aspen Rothblatt, has devoted a great deal of effort over the past 10 years to establishing a physical and legal structure for the long term support of programs of Terasem organizations. The social framework this enables will grow to support the social evolution of the ideals of Terasem into activities motivated by a transcendent vision of universal joyful immortality. That vision of an assured destiny will uplift human attitudes and behavior as all come to appreciate the reality of eternal existence.

Key ideas of Terasem include Joyful Immortality, Unity in Diversity, and the essential Goodness of Life. Although we will be discussing these and many other related ideas, if you want to take a look at what the founders of Terasem (Martine & Bina) have to say about what they are doing, you might start here or here or here or here or here.

Since there currently exists no forum devoted to exploration of the specific meanings and implications of Terasem, we begin this project in the hope that others with a personal interest in the evolution and development of a unifying transreligion will share this material with their audiences, so that we can all work towards a broadly distributed multi-person understanding of these emergent concepts.

For an introduction to Martine Rothblatt and her decade-long adventure with Terasem, you may wish to view her recent public presentations on the subject:

(start at 39 minutes)

in Library / Terasem by Dan Massey 15 Jul 2012 0 comments

Major Transhumanist Event in Second Life—July 20

TERASEM ISLAND CONFERENCE CENTER, SECOND LIFE

JULY 20, 2012 1PM – 4PM EDT

This year’s workshop theme:

PRINCIPLES OF GEOETHICS & THEIR APPLICATION TO LIFE-SAVING NANOTECHNOLOGY

WHAT: The workshop is an exchange of scholarly views regarding the varied applications to life-
saving nanotechnologies, including the impact of its use on others, the accessibility of it to all, and
independent means of monitoring its compliance with widely agreed-upon norms.

WHEN: On the 43rd anniversary of the first lunar launch, July 20, 2012, 1PM – 4PM EDT.

WHERE: Terasem Island Conference Center in Second Life (coordinates: 129.195.34). The
workshop proceedings are open to the general, virtual public and are subsequently archived online
for free public access.

WHY: To exchange scholarly views regarding the varied applications to life-saving
nanotechnologies, including the impact of its use on others, the accessibility of it to all, and
independent means of monitoring its compliance with widely agreed-upon norms.

If you are new to Second Life, you may want to familiarize yourself with the meeting environment and the way an SL viewer is used to control your avatar and to interact, through speech and text, with other avatars. We highly recommend that you experiment with SL before attempting to attend the conference. Some very helpful pointers have been provided by our good friend, Khannea Suntzu, via her personal web site. Here is the key information, in Khannea’s own inimitable words:

What is a SLURL?
A SLURL is a Second Life Universal Resource Location. This is the SLURL for this event. It does not get any easier.

What is a Second Life “Event?”

How to attend this event? How do I get inside Second Life?
You need a client, of which I recommend Firestorm, and you need to create an account. Then you may need to enable access to mature sims in advance. You need to test if access works – dozens of dumb-asses discover on the day of such conferences they can’t enter specific sims with big meetings/gatherings because they still need to figure out what this whole business with “maturity ratings” is. They are invariably the ones complaining “SL Is Too Complex.”Guess what? so is a bike the first day. Effectively you also need some expertise to work with Second Life. Proper (or even minimal) SL expertise is actually more difficult than learning to operate a smart phone. Don’t prepare means fail. Tolerance towards shambling/clueless SL virgins is diminishing sharply these days, so you will receive very little sympathy when you waste 30 minutes unable to walk. My best suggestion is to train up using Second Life in advance. Getting your bearings will take 4-8 hours of “playful” advance exploration. It will take you about 12 hours to get full situational awareness going in SL. I can reduce this time by tutoring you, and for this tutoring process (which comes with a well-styled avatar) I charge 25,000 Lindens. Actually that’s low. It is a lot of work, and requires a lot of patience on my part.

What is required to follow events in SL?
You need to test your sound functionality inside Second Life. Very few people will actually like explaining anything to you under stressful conditions, how to use a mike, how to set your sound, and how to fine-tune these interface aspects. If you like attending an event in Second Life make sure you know at least several days in advance how to hear sound, how to produce sound, how to NOT produce sound. (There are always clueless people around that leave their mike open, so half the conference can actually hear them devour spaghetti or use angered patriarchal blasphemy to their wife and children. Seriously – this kind of stuff happens.) And, most important, how to not produce reverberation (loud screaming mike echo) while doing so. The best way to do so is in advance, at your leisure. Get a headset. Switch off your mike by default, and understand when (how) it is switched on (and off again).

Hosts

Avatar Presentation and Code of Conduct
Terasem maintains a strict morality code. This reflects in use of PG styled avatars, sophisticated discourse and interaction, and a zero tolerance to sexually explicit content. If you’d get arrested for it in front of the White House, don’t do it at the Terasem sim, ok?

in Events / News of Note / Terasem by Dan Massey 13 Jul 2012 0 comments

Philo’s Manifesto from Venera Plus Iks by Teodor Sterdžen now in Serbian

In recognition of the SHARE2 conference in Belgrade this weekend, and the hundreds of attendees who have received bracelets and books from our good friend Khannea Suntzu, we have made a translation ofthe central statements of Sturgeon’s novel available here. We apologize that none of the rest of the web site is in Serbian; however, we felt this excerpt would give you a foretaste of what VenusPlusX is about.

Click here for an excerpt from Venera Plus Ikx by Teodor Sterdžen (in Serbian)

Click here for the same excerpt in English

Click here for our earlier post introducing this book in English

Depending on how you space it, VenusPlusX or Venus Plus X, it’s no accident that you may have stumbled over a novel by Theodore Sturgeon of the same name. Since first reading Venus Plus X in 1960, it has invoked a strong resonance with my own inner truth even though it was Sturgeon’s creative imagination, a perhaps fantasy. It is our namesake because it stands as the earliest and still clearest exposition of the world’s essential ideas and ideals in the world of sex and gender, and guides the our work as advocates, educators, and activists.

in Cosmic Citizenship / Library / Transhuman Erotic Freedom by Dan Massey 27 Apr 2012 1 comments

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