entombed in the shrine of zeroes and ones

Transhumanism, when it is an actual "intellectual and cultural movement" instead of just a decent plot hook for a novel, is a ridiculous dodge.  My objections, though, are not because of the morality of what we might do, which seems to be the bone of contention in the all of the criticisms listed in Wikipedia; i think that's all a bunch of handwringing nonsense.  Instead, the real problem with transhumanism is that it turns away from the problems that we have now by thinking about how we can solve them in the future.  We should be thinking about how to solve these problems now.  How can one think about moving beyond one's humanity when we don't yet know how to effectively be human?

To call yourself a transhumanist is to reveal yourself as the worst sort of elitist asshole, because you're trying to solve your personal inconveniences with technology that doesn't exist.  There are people all over the world dying because they have no clean water; societies still haven't figured out how to have representative leadership that scales as populations increase and that discourages leaders from making a career out of pulling strings; there's (a possibly imagined renaissance of) fundamentalist fuckheads around the world who are trying to stamp out critical thinking; and much more, at the root of all of which lies this: we don't know how to teach our kids how to learn and what to learn in order to make tomorrow better.  So when you talk to me about the Singularity, i'll probably just tell you to fuck off, because there's no way we'll generate artificial intelligence worth a damn when we barely have a clue what natural intelligence is or how it works (and i'm talking wetware here).  Stop wanking to your fantasy of a nanotech-enhanced brain, and spend that energy figuring out how to get along with your neighbor.

The Singularity is the nerd version of the Rapture, and it's just as likely to happen, and it's just as embarrassing to write about.

1: Given that you don't have a purely US-centric point of view, and given the sometimes "eccentric" kinds of things that happened in your home country of Ecuador (your brother once told me an uncle of yours is a politician, and was shot in the behind while in a house of congress), how do you view the continuing faux-religiousizing and right wing swinging of the United States? Furthermore, what do you really think anybody can do about it?

Damn, i don't remember hearing that story.  I do know that one of my mom's cousins was, until last year's purge, a member of the Supreme Court.

I view the current attempt to turn the US into Jesusland as just that — an attempt.  I find a lot of the complaints i've read a tad hysterical.  However, there is no doubt that the attitude is utterly wrongheaded, misguided, and won't work, even if they nominally succeed in what they're trying to do.

What can anybody do about it?  What anyone does when faced with unpleasant political activity: initiate opposing political activity.  Vote, volunteer, write, start a campaign, run for office.

2: What was your most embarrasing moment while naked?

I honestly can't think of any embarrassing moments while naked, but that might be because i'm not embarrassed easily.  Kim's kids often just walked into my room early in the relationship because they were used to it and encountered me in the nude, but they seemed to be more embarrassed by that than i was.  "Rooonnnnn!!" "Hey, don't like it?  KNOCK NEXT TIME."

3: Certain science fiction pundits posit the concept of "The Singularity" — a moment where technology and culture will advance beyond the capacity of today's humanity to conceive of, let alone grasp. Given your somewhat advanced technical qualifications, how far ahead do you see such a moment being?

Perhaps it's because i haven't really read any Singularity books, but i regard the notion of the Singularity as hooey.  Machines are still effectively as stupid as they were 20 years ago.  It's great to speculate what'll happen when we have giant AIs... but the way these guys are trying to predict stuff based on past events makes me wonder how many of them are problem gamblers.  One caveat: this probably will change once we map the human brain.  But i'd say that's a very long way away.

4: Follow-up question to #1: What kinds of effects do the rampant adventurism and imperial leanings of US foreign policy have in seemingly peripheral countries like Ecuador?

I honestly can't answer such a complex question.  I know Ecuador has announced it's not interested in renewing the lease that allows the US to have a naval base in Manta, which it claims to use in the War on Drugs.  Beyond that, it seems to me that American policy has barely touched Ecuador.  Whether that's an accurate assessment is up to someone with a greater understanding of economics (which is, by far, my weakest subject).

5: When I last saw you, you were (in your own words) "pretty messed up." You seem to have come a long way and gotten your life back on track. To what do you attribute this transition, and what steps do you take to insure that things don't go off the rails again?

I grew up.  When i flunked out of college, i was still in denial about it.  After that, i went to Seattle, had a relationship fall apart, lost my job, and went broke.  When i returned to Miami, where my mom welcomed the chance to bail me out, i almost magically seemed to have grown a clue about my priorities.  I don't expect to go off the rails again any more than i could forget how to drive.