A Better Curriculum

Jamis Cascio gives a better curriculum for the Singularity University than the one they currently have on their website. I thought the same things he did when I was trying to figure out where I – a critical theory, philosophy, pop-culture, and politics guy – would fit into their courses. I mean, James Hughes, Donna Haraway, and Ron Bailey (my heroes) would have a seriously hard time being a part of this school. That’s why his idea for a new curriculum is so great. Here it is:

[Intro:] Future Studies & Forecasting:
With Ray K as the chancellor, you’re not going to get away without a Singularity 101 session—but this doesn’t need to be a full track.
1. Remaking Our Bodies:
   Understanding biotech, radical longevity, and enhancement.
2. Remaking Our World:
   Understanding energy, ecological systems, and nanotechnologies.
3. Remaking Our Minds:
   Understanding neurotech, cognitive systems, and AI.
4. Power and Conflict:
   Emphasizing the role that political choices have in shaping technology.
5. Scarcity, Trade, and Economics:
   How does scarcity manifest in an accelerating tech world? How do you deal with mass unemployment, technology diffusion, leapfrogging?
6. Demography, Aging, and Human Mobility:
   Shifts in population and cultural identity; understanding impact of extending life.
7. Human Identity and Communication:
   Understanding the changing nature of identity in a densely-linked world, looking at how different forms of identity clash.
8. Governance and Law:
   How does governance emerge? How are laws about technology shaped?
9. Ethics, Morality, and Unintended Consequences:
   How ethics emerges in a swiftly-changing environment; morality and technology; precautionary/proactionary principles.
10. Openness, Resilience, and Models for Dealing with Rapid Transformation:
    Open source, open access, open governance; understanding resilience.

Sign me up for #4 and #7 please, a-thank you. [IEET]