First post!

From my taking notes at Convergence '08:

Meta-Civilization: how to think about civilizations as if you'll outlive them all. Understand, steer, optimize, engineer...

Structure:
- transhumanist intro - How to think about civilizations as if you'll outlive them all. Cynthia Breazeal at SS: "what kinds of experiences do we need in order to make living forever worth enduring? How to maintain trans/posthumanism during periods between civs?
- civilization intro: governance, infrastructure, language, eventually via virtual worlds, the laws of reality. Cyclic history (Chinese: dictatorship, oligarchy, democracy, chaos, start over...). Governance/politics: "how shall we live together". Infrastructure: roads, communications equipment, economics, etc. Language: Form that minds use to communicate with each other (not equipment) - current poverty of serialized vibrations in air / linear strings of symbols.
- UNDERSTAND: studying history, dynamics of power, human nature, institutions, bureaucracy. Guns, Germs & Steel. Collapse. Rise & Fall. On Human Nature. The Amish. The Long Decent. The Ultimate Resource. The Upside of Down.
- STEER: politics, technology/innovation, advocacy, civics. Don't bail! Citizen Cyborg. The Assault on Reason. League of Angry Voters. democracylab.org
- OPTIMIZE: maximize your returns from a given civilization. What does it reward? Which rewards are the best? Rich Dad Poor Dad. Mystery of Capital. Wealth of Nations. How do we ensure we get posthumanity from THIS civilization?
- ENGINEER: Utopia/Science Fiction (Brave New World). Founding Fathers. Long Now. Seasteading. Virtual Worlds. Fun Theory.