About
Zoltan Istvan is an American transhumanist and writer, best known for the creation of Transhumanist Wager & 3 Laws of Transhumanism. Currently he is running for a President in US 2020 Elections.
Formerly a reporter for the National Geographic Channel, he is one of the world’s most influential transhumanists and believes transhumanism will grow into a mainstream social movement in the next decade.
Istvan states that in the 21st Century, as modern man confronts the finitude of life, everyone faces a Transhumanist Wager, a concept which states that if a person loves and values life, they would want to live for eternity. While hope and beliefs are great, doing something scientifically constructive towards ensuring immortality beforehand is the most logical conclusion towards ensuring the goal.
According to Istvan’s novel, the Three Laws of Transhumanism are:
- A transhumanist must safeguard one’s own existence above all else.
- A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible—so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First Law.
- A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe—so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.
Istvan helped to publicize Transhumanism by driving a bus shaped like a casket – the “Immortality Bus” – across the United States. At the end of the Immortality Bus tour, Istvan delivered a “Transhumanist Bill of Rights” to the U.S. Capitol.
His 20-point platform includes a universal basic income, increased funding for space travel and taking money from the military and putting it into science and medicine.
