Mindless Link Propagation Post #1. Actually I hope them to be not too mindless.

Eric Boyd: I'll be talking at BIL this weekend about meta-civ. BIL is the sister unconference to TED, held this year in Long Beach. If you saw my presentation at Convergence '08, this one is likely to be similar. There are likely other topics of interest to metaciv readers, so please consider attending!

Dmitry Orlov: Social Collapse Best Practices Talk at Long Now, Cowell Theatre, Fort Mason, SF, Friday, February 13, 02009. Based on his book Reinventing Collapse: Soviet Example and American Prospects. Classic metaciv territory.

Kevin Kelly: Consequences of Technological Convergence. Kelly speculates on whether technology is "forcing" cultures to be more similar. Is technological development deterministic? Three scenarios...

Eliezer Yudkowsky: Fun Theory Sequence and 31 Laws of Fun. Comprehensive review of his "Fun Theory", an important topic in civilization (and AI) design.

James Hughes: Strengthening Transnational Governance to Mitigate Risks. He argues that in the world we live in, the biggest problems are created by lack of governance, not over governance. Solutions therefore can be found in strengthening (global) governance. The UN already has lots of interesting "steer" metaciv projects, but they are woefully underfunded and lack teeth. This presentation was at the GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISKS: Building a Resilient Civilization conference.