Up-Wing Priorities

round 2010 the world will be at a

new orbit in history. We willtranslive all over this planet and

the solar sphere-at home ever)ryvhere.We will be hyperfluid: skim onland-swim in the deep oceans-flashacross the sky.

Family will have given way to Univer-sal life. People will linkup/linkout freeof kinship and possessiveness.

We will stream ahead propelled by acornucopia of abundance.

Life expectancy will be indefinite.Disease and disability will nonexist.Death will be rare and accidental-butnot permanent. We will continuouslyjettison our obsolescence and growyounger.

At 2000 plus ten all this will be thenorm-hardly considered marvelous.

But why wait for 2010? A new ideo-logical thrust-a new set of priorities canhelp acielerate our upflow.

All the old guidelines are now off tar-get. Capitalism and socialism for exam-ple are burned out industrial-age con-structs. They have helped propel us tothis time zone. But they have no scenar-ios for higher orbits. At best they want torealign existing social systems.

The Right/Left has no program toscreen out aging and death. No granddesigns for our new civilizations acrossthe solar system. Right/Left plannersare still committed to the "industrializa-tion of space"-orbital communities

70

with three-story houses-eight-to-fivejobs-schools-farms-Italian restau-rants! Is this why we want to trailblazeacross the universe?

Throughout the 20th century theworld has veered Left. In the comingyears we will wing beyond Right andLeft. We will move Up.

Up is a triumphant new trajectory-acoalescence of all the Big Bang break-throughs of our times.

The foilowing Up-Wing priorities areinterdependent-to advance rapidly inany one area we must leap ahead in allareas.

These priorities are accelerators-tar-geted to speed up our forward thrust tothe first or second decade of the nextcentury. By 2010 we will have splashedthrough so many Time shifts that we willneed entirely new accelerators.

Physical Immortality: The most basicand urgent problem facing us is death.All other human constraints are deriva-tive. Death casts a pall over all of life. Solong as we are terminal we cannot en-hance the bcslcquality of life. So long asthere is death no one is free.

Accelerators: Slow down agingthrough genetic,/cellular intervention.Telemonitor every person for continu-ous protection from internal and exter-nal hazards. Reformat our terminalbodies into versatile telebodies with easyplug in replacement parts. Facilitatefreefly to reduce gravitational wear and

By F,M, ESFANDIARY

tear and rapidly break away from natur-al disasters. Provide universal cryonicsuspension in case ofunavoidable death.Spread a Psychology of Immortali-ty-the will to live forever.

Space Co I oniza t ion: W e must urgent-ly accelerate colonization and explora-tion of the solar system and the universebeyond. Why is this a top priority? Be-cause such a trajectory opens up a Pan-dora's Box of infinite space-infiniteenergy-infinite raw materials-infinitegrowth. Quickens transition beyond in-dustrialism. Accelerates evolution fromEarth-programmed animal,/humans topost humans. Multiplies chances for in-terconnect with other intelligences whichcould instantly lightspeed us ahead amillion years.

During these trans-century decadesorbital societies offer excellent oppor-tunities for clean rapid break from Earthconditions which for millenniums haveperpetuated human suffering. Under nocircumstances should we replicateEarth-like societies: no exclusive procre-ation or parenting-no families schoolshospitals or prisons-no money econo-mies or subsistence work-no slaughterof animals for food-no leadershipgovernments-no nations-no cemeter-ies. Orbital civilizations should start offwith 2l st-century telespheres.

Telespheres: Let us speedup the orbitshift from industrialism to the new age.The world of telespheres is flowing fromthe confluence of breakthroughs inmany areas: limitless energy-interac-tive telecommunication-ultra intelli-gent machines-biological and culturalrevolutions-space colonization. Theseand other forces are recontexting life infundamentally new ways. We are creat-ing electronic environments that inte-grate all peoples and services. No oneneed remain waterholed near stationarycentralized sources of learning liveli-hood or decision making. You connectfrom wherev er you are. For example thetrack beyond school is teleducationwhich facilitates transmission of contin-uous updated info to anyone anlrvhereanytime. Beyond hospital-preventivetelemedicine. Beyond bureaucracy-tel-emanagement and teleconference. Be-yond vindictive judicial systems- pre-ventive crime telemonitor. Beyond prof-it retailing-direct teleshopping fromproduction decenters. Beyond leader-ship government-teledemocracy viauniversal referendums. . ..

Telebrain: How do we fastforu'ardthe human brain? Continued mapping

lM. Esfandiory is a telecommuni-I cator-wrircr-long-range plon-ner-university lecturer. He hsstaught Up-Iling philosophy since themid-1960s-first at the New Schoolfor Social Research (New York) ondcurrently at UCLA (Extension). Hismost recent boaks are OptimismO ne - Up - W i n gers - Te I esp heres.

Esfandiary says : " I am universal. Itranslive sll over the planet. Leam viatelecom. Hove mony professions.A m inv o lved wit h many peop le. Con-sider all children as mine also. Neitherright nor left-I om Up. I have noage. Am born and reborn every day. Iintend to live forever. Barring on ac-cident I probably will. I olso want tohelp others live on indefinitely. Myphilosophy: optimism-abun-d q n ce-u n ive rsa I ism-im m o r-tality. "

l/

I

FL fL RE LIFE.I-, June I98l

of more and more of the brain. Implant-ed slow-release drugs to self-regulatemoods and biochemical shifts. Geneticengineering to regenerate aging braincells-upgrade intelligence-deactivatevestigial parts of brain.

Plug inlplug off super microchip im-plants to amplify brain versatility andpower. For example: millisec computa-tions in the head with visual displays-instant access to info-hi-speed play-back-simultaneous info retrieval,/trans-mission. Implanted transceiver for di-rect brain to brain interface. Implantedsensors for continuous monitoring of allbody functions and self-regulation ofbiorhythms and mood swings. By 2010the human brain should emerge as a su-per telebrain-a powerful autonomoustransceiver free of the animal body-able to connect with new replaceablebodies.

Universal Life: We need to hasten thetransition to universal telegenesis uni-versal parenting universal life. Mating isno longer necessary to perpetuate thespecies. We can now reproduce throughinsemination-inovulati on-telegene-sis-in vitro births-in vitro cloning. Asmating loses biological function fami-ly-marriage-coupling phase out. Hu-manity is decoupling. In our rapidlyconverging worlds we need to grow fluidand universal-able to connect withmore and more people without gettingblackholed in exclusive commitments.

Accelerators: Fertilize only thosescreened sex cells most likely to spawnhealthy wholesome new lives. (Later wewill mix most desirable elements ofmany people's cells.) Identities of thosewhose sex cells are selected for reproduc-tion are never disclosed. Therefore thenewborn belong to no specific parents.They lift off in mobilias-with manytrans parents. Shared parenthood easesburdens on parents and reduces thechild's early programming to lifelongpainful traumas of imprinting and pos-sessiveness.

As coupling phases out people flowwithin a global network of linkups. By2010 exclusivity will have phased out.Whose child are you? Whose parents?Whose sister or brother? Who are youinvolved with? All these will be flash-backs from our tribal past. People willconnect openly freely universally.

Teleconomics: To stream full blast to2lst-century teleconomics we mustspeedup development of solar ener-

72

gy-nuclear fusion-hydrogen fuel.Energy is the central accelerator. Abun-dant energy means overflow food andlimitless raw materials. The new wealth

-particularly solar energy-is nonmo-nopolizable and will reinforce glof,al de-centralization of wealth-information

-power. The new abundance also accel-

erates development of intelligent tech-nology which will cancel out subsistence

"We wont tCIIspreqo o new

cworeness thot

work and labor force. Work will betransformed into a voluntary creativeprocess. By 2010 the glut of energy willhasten phase out of money which in turnwill help phase out profit and competi-tion-imbalances in wealth-conflictsof interest-cycles of inflation,/reces-sion-exploitation. How absurd all thisemphasis on finite resources and sac-rifice at the very moment in evolutionwhen we are opening up the infinite re-sources of the universe. We have super-abundant resources to last us a millionyears-a billion years. Enough to lastfor as long as there is a Universe.

Teledemocracy.' All forms of leader-ship are intrinsically authoritarian-thedifferences are in degrees. Voting forleaders and representatives (who thenmake unilateral decisions for the people)is not democracy. Let us stop deludingourselves. In our times democracymeans directparticipation in all decisionmaking. This means voting not forleaders-but voting directly on issues.

Accelerators: Every week everymonth-or as often as necessary-peo-ple deploy their transceivers to votedirectly on issues. All sides of every issueare regularly telecast. Computer flash-forwards of probable consequences ofeach scenario are simultaneously aired.(Because there are no struggles for lead-ership issues are depoliticized. The focusis on merits of each plan.) Temporarycommittees (picked at random everymonth) supervise the referendums andthe implementation of decisions. In theage of two-way interactive telespheresleaders and representatives are as

superfluous as scribes. By the first dec-ade of the new century government willexist mainly in name as power will shiftto the people via direct consensing.

Te lec o mmunilles.' Industrial age citieshave a great future-as museums. Weshould close them down and clear out.What will replace cities? We have someearly forerunners of 21st centurytelecommunities: mobile communities-airparks-global festivals-global festi-vals-global video events-space colo-nies.

A telecommunity can be instant-ac-tivated in days dismantled in hours.These new communities accomodate theincreasing mobility of people-they arein effect liftoff/landing platforms. Theyare also fluid and modular-no stonesbricks or concrete-nothing that willstay long enough to atrophy into

frorn here on weclre resigned to

noth ing-considerno humsn prob-

l.lerns rrrevers-.t I Iibie-no qools

v" I t tt

u noTTo tnoDle.

FUTUR"E LIFEt27. June l98l

tenements and ghettoes. Abundant solaenergy means that these linkup spherescan be set up anywhere. Deploy onlyautomated vehicles and any modulesthat fly. Streets are obsolete. The newcommunities are completely tele-sphered: teleducation-telemedicine-teleshopping etc. The size is nonissue

-they continuously expand contracttransform as people flow in and out.Telecommunities coalesce the newvariables and can act as momentumswings to 2lst-century life.

Globolism:"ln the age of global tele-communication-supersonics andworld travel-global economy-na-tions exist mostly in name. In our timesnationalism is a sure sign of backward-ness. Nations are like peeing territoriescharted by dogs. Such territoriality is an-tifuture-you should be able to pee any-where in the world.

Accelerators: More and more globalinfrastructures to accommodate globalissues. Global referendums-globaltele-com networks and publications-globalexchange programs-common marketsand regional blocs-universal language(Unilang)-anything that will bring ustogether.

How can you the individual reinforcethis process? For one thing publiclydisavow nationality. What is your na-tionality? I am global. But where are youfrom? I am from planet Earth. Such astand can help spread the new conscious-ness. Live global: Each time you travelyou make the world a little more in-timate. The earlier children translivearound the world the better the chancesthey will emerge as world people andglobalize the rest. There are no moretourists or foreigners no internal affairsor national honor. This whole planetnow belongs to all of us.

2Lst Century Values: Traditional val-ues have issued from eons of scarcity

-hardship-brief lifespans-insulari-ty. Late 20th-century breakthroughs areformatting new environments whichspawn new values and ideals. A 2lst-century consciousness is surfacing in-creasingly free of Puritan guilt-shame-cynicism-self-denial.

What does the oldworld psychologyof sacrifice mean in the new age of abun-dance? Entire generations are coming online who have never known poverty andhardship-for whom abundance andcomfort are the norm. The new con-sciousness views hardship as stunt-

FUTURE LIFE#27, June l98l

"How obsurd ollthis emphosis onf in ite resources

ond socrifice ot thevery momentwhen we ore

opening up the in-f inlte resources of

. I t,Tne unrverse.

ing-wealth as liberating.What does age-old orientation to suf-

fering mean at a time when medicalbreakthroughs are screening out physi-cal and mental pain?

What does the work ethic mean in theage of intelligent technology which is

taking over more and more of our work?The work ethic now slows downgrowth.The new Leisure ethic accelerates in-novation and progress.

What does competitiveness mean inage of plenty? Why do we need to

know who is best at anything? Why con-tests? Why winners and losers? Why theNobel prize the Pulitzer prize theAcademy Awards? Systems that pit peo-ple against one another are oldworld andmanipulative and must be boycotted.Competition saps everyone's energy. Tohlperspeed ahead we need complemen-tation of everyone's creativity.

What do religions and spiritualismswhich demand childlike submission todeities and "higher authorities'' rnean ata time when vigorous new generationsgrowing up in permissive open en-vironments accept no authorities as finalor absolute? At a time when our cosmicleaps are daily proving that there are nopermanent constraints-that we are freeagents in the Universe?

The greatest breakthrough of our ageis unfolding in our self image. A newbrand of revolutionary is fast emerging

-fired up by entirely new dreams. Up-Wingers are not content with civil rights

-equal rights-human rights. Thesefreedoms are no longer enough.

We now want to design all areas ofour evolution. We want biological free-doms. We want the freedom to spreadout across the Universe. We want eachone of us to be alive a hundred yearsfrom now-a thousand years-amillion- forever.

We want to spread a daring new opti-mism crystallizing from the obvious factthat for the first time in all the eons of lifewe are no longer blackholed within thismicroplanet-no longer trapped withinfragile terminal bodies- that we areemerging as a triumphant newspecies-extraterrestrial and immortal.

We want to spread a new optimismand self-confidence stemming from theglaring fact that we who launch probesinto interstellar reaches-we who flashsignals to other beings across the MilkyWay*we who decode light streaming infrom the outbanks of the Universe overten billion light-years away-can surelynow mobilize our genius to accomplishany'thing.

We want to spread a new awarenessthat from here on we are resigned tonothing-consider no human problemsirreversible-no goals unattainable.

We want to spread the awareness thatwe are at lift off to a beautiful new age.There is a new Hope in the world. EO 1981 Up-Wing Priorities. F.M. Esfandiary

't3