Who am I, and why did I create this website?
My name is Mike Treder. I am an American and a citizen of the world. Within my adult life I have been a husband, a father, a truck driver, a teacher, a salesman, a business manager, a website developer, an actor, a vocational counselor for parolees, and now executive director of an NGO. This website is not particularly reflective of my family life, nor of my occupational life. Rather it is a reflection of my inner life, a life that has been devoted for the most part to learning and imagining.
For nearly four decades I have sought to understand the nature of the universe and have devoted much of my free time to that pursuit. I have studied physics, cosmology, technology, psychology, philosophy, history, and literature. In recent years, my dreams about the possible futures that might exist for the human race have been overtaken by the encroaching probability that I will live to witness that which I had only imagined.
The next 30 years will see as much progress as the last 140 years; science, technology, and society will be as different in 2035 as today's world is different from 1865!
This website, then, is an attempt to portray how these mind-boggling changes may affect each one of us.
What are my credentials?
Although I was gifted with high intelligence, I have had a difficult time deciding what I want to do with my life. I have explored many different areas of interest and have worked in widely varied occupations. Along the way I have acquired a great breadth of knowledge and experience, and now describe myself as a polymath.
In terms of my credentials for creating this website, I am neither a scientist nor an academic. I am largely self-taught, but still quite learned. It has been my good fortune to become acquainted with a number of the world's best and brightest thinkers.
Today I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the World Transhumanist Association, and on the Executive Advisory Team for Extropy Institute. In addition, I am a Research Fellow with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, a consultant to the Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University and to the Future Technologies Advisory Group, and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the World Future Society.
My proudest career accomplishment is the founding of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN), along with my colleague Chris Phoenix. CRN is a non-profit think tank dedicated to raising awareness of the issues presented by advanced nanotechnology: the benefits and dangers, and the possibilities for responsible use. I work as the organization's executive director.
Why do I call myself an "incipient posthuman"?
I was born as a human being in 1954. My life expectancy at birth was 66 years. If that were still the case, I would have fewer than 20 years left. That's not enough. Even with today's life expectancy (as of 2005), I will probably only live another 35 years or so. That's also not enough. I enjoy life far too much to give it up without a fight.
Therefore, I desire to become a posthuman, meaning:
I hope to live long enough to be the beneficiary of advanced life-extension procedures.
I seek the opportunity to participate in direct human-machine interfaces, including implants of sensory enhancement, memory expansion, health monitoring, and communication devices, among others.
I am willing to be one of the first to undergo an upload of my personality into a supercomputer and/or robot.