To Be a Machine
Mark O’Connell

• Thursday 8 June 2017, 6.30PM to 7.20pm
• Free admission
  Booking required
• The Lakehouse, Ron Cooke Hub, University of York (map|getting to campus)
• Wheelchair accessible

Event details

What is transhumanism? Simply put, it is a movement whose aim is to use technology to fundamentally change the human condition, to improve our bodies and minds to the point where we become something other, and better, than the animals we are. It's a philosophy that, depending on how you look at it, can seem hopeful, or terrifying, or absurd.

Join journalist and author Mark O'Connell as he explores this international movement: its philosophical and scientific roots, its key players and possible futures. Drawing on his book To Be A Machine, Mark discusses charismatic techies seeking to enhance the body, immortalists who believe in the possibility of 'solving' death, computer programmers quietly re-designing the world, and vast competitive robotics conventions.

About the speaker

Mark O’Connell is a journalist, essayist, and literary critic from Dublin. He is a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine, a books columnist for Slate, and a staff writer at The Millions. He has a PhD in English literature from Trinity College Dublin. His latest book is To Be A Machine: Adventures among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death.

Waterstones

Books will be available to buy from the Waterstones' stall at this event.

Tickets