
Zoltan Istvan, presidential candidate of the Transhumanist Party - fezz
http://www.theverge.com/a/transhumanism-2015?mod=e2this
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stoolpigeon
His name had me very, very confused. Wikipedia says his full name is Zoltan
Istvan Gyurko. That makes a lot more sense. I don't think there's an English
common name that is the equivalent of Zoltán (It comes from the word sultan),
István is Steven. So if we just pick another common English name, calling him
Zoltan Istvan is a lot like someone having the name Robert Steven. Gyurkó on
the other hand is a normal Hungarian family name.

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underyx
Actually, family names that can also be first names are quite common in
Hungarian. There are even people who have the same first and family name, such
as István István.

Edit: Heh, case in point:
[https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Istv%C3%A1n](https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Istv%C3%A1n)

~~~
stoolpigeon
Huh - in the 4 years I've lived in Hungary I've yet to come across this. Of
course that isn't that long - but enough that seeing Zoltan Istvan messed me
up. Thanks for pointing that out - it's interesting.

~~~
Create
It's only from Napoleon, that there are names you are familiar with: and only
in territories he occupied (much like SI, house numbering etc.).

The places he didn't invade would keep names like "Bush House, London", or
names like "Richardson" ...son of Richard. Zoltan Istvan is for Zoltan's son
Istvan and he presumably would be from somewhere like Transylvania, where
Napoleon (~ administration) never got a foothold.

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alphadevx
I listened to an interview with him recently on the Singularity podcast,
discussing this campaign among other topics, quite interesting:
[https://www.singularityweblog.com/transhumanist-zoltan-
istva...](https://www.singularityweblog.com/transhumanist-zoltan-istvan-on-
his-presidential-campaign/)

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ommunist
This is the only sane guy among all the candidates.

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reasonattlm
Zoltan Istvan is a character, and an outspoken transhumanist in a time when it
is becoming perhaps a trifle unfashionable to refer to oneself as a
transhumanist. Of course we are all transhumanists together here, reading this
post while hoping and planning for a future in which fundamental limits of the
human condition will be overcome through technological progress. Istvan has
been publishing and speaking relentlessly on the topic of transhumanism for
years now, and of late has settled upon the forthcoming presidential race as
one of the few opportunities for an activist to make use of the US political
system to promote a cause. In Europe starting single issue parties is a viable
approach, but not in the US. So Istvan is touring, attracting attention, and
giving interviews.

Here is something to consider: in the matter of changing the world, is it
better to fund research into the technological progress you desire or is it
better to fund publicity efforts for that same technological progress? I
suspect that both are needed, striking some sort of balance between (a)
science that is within striking distance but effectively invisible to the
world and large funding sources, which has been the state for SENS
rejuvenation research for quite some time, and (b) advocacy that is so far
ahead of technological plausibility that the snake-oil salesmen sneak in and
corrupt an entire generation with their nonsense, which is the story of the
last quarter of the last century with respect to progress towards the
treatment of aging. An argument for the "fund research" side is that
meaningful progress in science tends to generate its own news. An argument for
the "more publicity efforts" side is that there are plenty of historical
examples of important scientific progress languishing at the verge of
completion for a lifetime or longer. Personally, I'm in favor of funding the
research at this time, and one of my main reasons for that is that early stage
research has become very cheap over the course of the modern biotechnology
revolution, while publicity remains stubbornly expensive. Yes, it is far
easier to send your message out into the world, but there is now such a sea of
content that making yourself heard is harder than ever.

~~~
aaronem
> we are all transhumanists together here

You assume rather a lot, don't you?

~~~
notahacker
See, I'm all in favour of cautious experiments with human body enhancement,
but I've always seen people that choose to identify as transhumanists (and
other forms of singularity believers) as the materialist equivalent of
religious millennialists, believing that [near]immortality on earth will come
before the end of their natural life - if only people will listen to them -
with a keen desperation. Zoltan Istvan's an interesting guy though.

