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Advancing beneficial technology
Foresight Institute is a non-profit organization focused on emerging world-shaping technologies. It was founded in 1986 on a vision of coming revolutions in technology that will bring extraordinary opportunities, as well as unprecedented challenges. Foresight’s mission is to steer towards positive futures, futures of Existential Hope.
If we push in the right directions — learning, teaching, arguing, shifting directions, and pushing further — then we may yet steer the technology race toward a future with room enough for our dreams.
—K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation
Join our reflection on creating positive futures
News and Updates
A few 2019 Vision Weekend shots until the professional photos and videos are online. This weekend was incredible, thanks to you! Sign up to our mailing list at bit.ly/foresightupdates to get a ping about follow-ups and future events. We can't wait to see you again -- hopefully soon!
2019 Vision Weekend: 1 DAY TO GO, 10 TICKETS LEFT
We are expecting to sell out in the next few hours so if you are on the verge of getting your ticket, now is the time.
Secure your spot directly through our event page (foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019) or apply for the last round of income applications: bit.ly/2019income-support
2019 was a fantastic year: for the next two days, we’ll throw together our favorite people, organizations and ideas across this year’s salons, technical competitions and private strategy meetings.
If you had to miss those gatherings and want to make up for it in a day, or if you attended every salon and had a great time, consider joining us tomorrow.
You’ll pick apart ideas that are still under the radar, predict their likelihood using Metaculus, join our favorite thinkers in private sessions, get advice on your projects from goal-aligned organizations during office hours, explore an interactive Existential Hope room, join one of the 20 lightning talks by participants, or start your own spontaneous breakout.
More info on the website: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019
Welcome home!
2 DAYS UNTIL VISION WEEKEND! - Join as Patron to attend a magical gathering, have delightful food and conversations, make lasting connections over positive visions for the future ✨ only 5 Patron seats left
Consider becoming a Foresight Institute Patron to participate in a private dinner and evening gathering Saturday Night (7pm-late) at Civana House, a beautiful community on Alamo Square.
Vision Weekend speakers and representatives of major nonprofits and for-profit organizations will be there to connect with you. Find a list of speakers and organizations here: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/.
We are all working on a small part of the larger mission of building positive futures enabled by technology. We will have a frank discussion about our challenges & bottlenecks, and how we can mobilize all hands on deck in 2020 to tackle them as a community.
Healing Foods Chef Donica Tomko will be serving a dinner menu specially made for the occasion.
There will be a chill area with tea service, and the opportunity to try on prototype technology for consciousness states exploration with the Qualia Research Institute.
If you already have a Senior Associate Membership but would like to upgrade to Patron, reach out to lou [at] foresight [dot] org
![2 DAYS UNTIL VISION WEEKEND! - Join as Patron to attend a magical gathering, have delightful food and conversations, make lasting connections over positive visions for the future ✨ only 5 Patron seats left
Consider becoming a Foresight Institute Patron to participate in a private dinner and evening gathering Saturday Night (7pm-late) at Civana House, a beautiful community on Alamo Square.
Vision Weekend speakers and representatives of major nonprofits and for-profit organizations will be there to connect with you. Find a list of speakers and organizations here: https://foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/.
We are all working on a small part of the larger mission of building positive futures enabled by technology. We will have a frank discussion about our challenges & bottlenecks, and how we can mobilize all hands on deck in 2020 to tackle them as a community.
Healing Foods Chef Donica Tomko will be serving a dinner menu specially made for the occasion.
There will be a chill area with tea service, and the opportunity to try on prototype technology for consciousness states exploration with the Qualia Research Institute.
If you already have a Senior Associate Membership but would like to upgrade to Patron, reach out to lou [at] foresight [dot] org](https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/73313637_10157508165812778_6774704159410094080_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=AQlZxp-OUKGe_PP_93bKLnk4Kumih6e8GEF3JgA1oe5k0IDxAUJ8IzffgyW5Dqi-QZA&_nc_ht=scontent.xx&oh=8a9d6d138602093a082bc910648f8050&oe=5E4D756F)
-4 DAYS UNTIL VISION WEEKEND! - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ❔🤔 FAQ 🤔 ❔
⭐️ Who will be there?
Some of the most radical, visionary, ambitious and passionate futurists & technologists, plus a lot of the major nonprofits and for-profit organizations working on building abundant futures through technology.
⭐️ What will I learn about?
Cutting edge research & technology, new strategies to tackle the biggest challenges humanity faces, ambitious projects about to be born.
⭐️ Membership is not something I can afford right now. Can I still come?
Of course, income should not be a limiting factor. Apply promptly and get access to “pay-what-you-can” tickets: bit.ly/2019income-support
⭐️ What will the future look like one year from now?
We will use Metaculus as a forecasting tool and kick-off a year-long forecasting tournament on predictions made by our speakers.
⭐️ Where can I read the program? What time is the session on…?
Schedule here: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/.
⭐️ What is the Speaker and Patron Gathering and can I join?
Upgrade to a Patron ticket to participate in a private dinner at a beautiful venue with all our speakers and advising organizations.
⭐️ Will I have fun, make amazing new friends, and have deep, meaningful, and intelligent conversations?
...... YES !!!!!!!!
THIS Sat & Sun: We got the Go to use Metaculus as forecasting tool at 2019 Foresight Vision Weekend!
Please apply for income-support asap to make use of the pay what you can option: bit.ly/2019income-support.
We'll kick-off a year-long FORECASTING TOURNAMENT on the following speaker-generated predictions:
Brewster Kahle Nov 2, 2020: Twitter Bans Donald Trump's Campaign account for violation of Terms of Service
Aubrey de Grey Nov 2, 2020: Longevity VC and angel investing in the US exceeds $5 billion
Gaia Dempsey Nov 2, 2020: An effective neural qubit with a decoherence time exceeding one hour has been experimentally measured
Creon Levit By Nov 2, 2020: VC, angel, and anonymous donor investment in the US for psychedelics research and psychedelics-focused startups exceeds $100 million.
Thomas Kalil Nov 2, 2020: 10 additional organizations (e.g. philanthropists, companies, research universities) are involved in the identification and pursuit of 21st century moonshots
David Friedman Nov 2, 2020: Trump's trade war with China will still be going
Zinaida Good Nov 2, 2020: The second study on thymus regeneration in human has been initiated
Gillian Hadfield Nov 2, 2020: Companies and philanthropists have committed $100 million to catalyze basic social science needed for safe and beneficial AI
Robin Hanson Nov 2, 2020: DeepMind has cut its # employees by >20% from its 838 in August 2019
Christine Peterson Nov. 2, 2020: All ten of the most-surveilled cities in the world are now in China
TBC
A preview of the program is below. Please find the full program and speaker bios on the event page: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/.
We can't wait to collaborate with you!
Looking forward to it!
“Contemporary Materials Science: How Can Molecular Machines Help?”, co-chaired by Prof. Fraser Stoddart and Dr. Melissa Dumartin, Northwestern Univ.
The competition was held September 20-21, 2019 near the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Illinois.
This meeting is part of Foresight’s invitational technical competition series. These events are highly result-oriented: In two days, multidisciplinary teams of scientists and technologists compete to develop project proposals leveraging their scientific disciplines to address urgent challenges for humanity.
A major motivation for the focus on molecular machines is the tremendous potential to heal the Earth's environment, revolutionize medical care for human healthspan and longevity, and develop materials with unprecedented properties and functions including sensing, computation, and actuation. In this workshop, a multidisciplinary group of specialists in target technical areas collaborated with those tackling the challenges of atomically-precise 3D structures and molecular machines, including construction pathways using chemistry, applied physics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and engineering.
Participants were drawn from a wide variety of fields, not limited to materials science and molecular machines.
Areas to be addressed include the design and construction of complex structures and molecular machines built via organic and inorganic chemical synthesis; objects and devices constructed from DNA, RNA, proteins, or biomimetic polymers; construction via scanning probe; and other approaches to building with molecular precision from the bottom up.
Rather than ask each participant to formally present their current research, the process enables all participants to actively use their research, knowledge, and skills in a multidisciplinary group to create new, fundable research proposals. These are then presented to the full group, and a panel of expert judges will select winners in a variety of categories. Videos of all presentations are posted online.
To get an idea of what our technical competitions are like, please see this 4-minute summary video with competition co-chair Sir Fraser Stoddart, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBSP4-Fhbdg
For an example of the project proposals generated at these events, please see AI for Nanoscale Design, the winning research proposal at a previous competition: youtu.be/EYmFBi1jZKs
Foresight Institute, which administers the Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology, is handling logistics. Foresight is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to advancing transformative technologies for the benefit of life, and the biosphere.
Our friends at #TTConf are hosting their 5th annual, two-day conference and friends of Foresight get 15% OFF ticket prices.
The Transformative Technology Conference focuses on #tech for mental health, emotional wellbeing, and human flourishing. It sits at the intersection between neuroscience, psychology, technology, and entrepreneurship. Speakers include Ed Boyden, Taizo Son, Daniel Chao, Adam Gazzaley, Eugenia Kuyda and many more.
Click below to learn more & register:
ttc-2019.eventbrite.com?discount=ForesightVIP
The Transformative Technology Conference & Expo 2019
The Transformative Technology Conference is the only conference focused on tech for mental health, emotional wellbeing, and human flourishing. We sit at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, t...Thanks for sharing, Foresight team!
So exciteddd! Can't wait.
⭐️ ⭐️ Income support applications to Vision Weekend ⭐️ ⭐️
The goal of Vision Weekend, Nov 2 & 3, is to gather a group of dedicated thinkers and doers who can turn visions for better futures into action. While this is our annual member gathering, we wish all value-aligned minds to be able to join. 💛
Check out our speakers and program on the website: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/ or apply via this direct link: bit.ly/2019income-support.
Those spots are limited, so please only apply if you could not otherwise join.
Vision Weekend Sessions, Breakouts, Lighting Talks Schedule is finally out! - mailchi.mp/foresight/vision-weekends-2019-full-schedule
The 2019 Foresight Vision Weekend Program is online!
On Saturday you can look forward to a rapid succession of 10-minute talks by your favorite speakers, followed by collaborative predictions on their topics. On Sunday you'll have the agony of choice amongst seven parallel tracks, from speaker breakouts, to lightning talks, to office hours with your favorite organizations - or start your own impromptu breakout!
If you'd like to deepen your connection with the Foresight community, consider signing up for a Patron membership at check-out to join Saturday night's Speaker & Patron gathering: foresight.org/vision-weekend-2019/.
We hope you'll join us soon, tickets are going fast!
