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A

ADHOCRACY: A non-bureaucratic networked organization. "This form is already common in organizations such as law firms, consulting companies and research universities. Such organizations and institutions must continually readjust to a changing array of projects, each requiring somewhat different combinations of skills and other resources. These organizations depend on many rapidly shifting project teams and much lateral communication among these relatively autonomous, entrepreneurial groups." [Scientific American, Sept. 1991, p.133. Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, 1970]

AEONOMICS: (from aeon and economics) The study of the economic problems of immortal existence. [Mark Plus; August 1991]

A-LIFE: Artificial life: The modeling of complex, life-like behavior in computer programs. A-Life forms can evolve and produce behaviors not contained within rules set by the programmers. See also the Introduction to Artificial Life by the Santa Fe Institute.

AGORIC SYSTEM: open, free market systems in which voluntary transactions are central.

AI: Artificial Intelligence. See the Artificial Intelligence Resources for more information.

AI-COMPLETE: (In analogy with NP-complete) A problem where the the solution presupposes a solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the synthesis of a human-level intelligence). [Definition from the Jargon File]

ALEPH: A point or state where an infinite amount of information is stored and processed (As in the Omega Point). [Mitchell Porter]

ALGERNON: Any human who, via artificial or natural means, has some type of mental enhancement which carries a price. [Eliezer S. Yudkowsky 1996, the term based on the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes) ]

AMORTALIST: A person who opposes death.

ARACHNIOGRAPHY: A bibliography of web pages. [Andrew J. Butrica]

ARCH-ANARCHY: The view that we should seek to void all limits on our freedom, including those imposed by the laws of nature. [T.O. Morrow, 1990]

ARCOLOGY: Arcology is a termed coined by Italian architect Paolo Soleri in 1959 to describe the concept of Architecture and Ecology working as an integral system. Arcology designs are fully 3-dimensional mega-structure cities which can (theoretically) achieve much greater efficiencies, and promote more social interaction than 2-dimensional cities, while using far less land and consuming fewer resources. See also the FAQ of Arcosanti [Definition by Nathan Koren].

ARROW IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM: The theorem in economics, due to Kenneth Arrow, which says that you can't construct a "social preference function" (ranking the desirability of varius social arrangements) out of individual preferences, while retaining a particular set of features ("nondictatorship" - the social preference function can't be just one person's individual preferences; consistency - the social preference function can't rank A above B, B above C, and C above A; "positive relation" between individual and social preference - if the social preference function ranks A above B, and some person's individual preference changes from "B above A" to "A above B", that shouldn't cause the social preference to switch to "B above A"; and an "irrelevance" assumption which I don't quite remember, but is something like this, that if an individual changes their mind about the relative worth of C and D, it shouldn't affect the social preference standings of A and B.)

ARTILECT: An ultra-intelligent machines (from "artificial intellect"). [Hugo de Garis, Cosmism: Nano Electronics and 21st Century Global Ideological Warfare].

ASEX: A person who has been physically and mentally altered so that ve no longer is male or female [Greg Egan, Distress]

ASIMORT: (a) A dead science fiction writer. (b) A dead secular humanist. (c) Any person who believes it to be their duty to die to "make room" for future generations. [Mark Plus, April 1992]

ASIMOV: An AI that has been constrained in some way to serve human interests [ Rudy Rucker, Wetware 1988. Based on Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics]

ASSEMBLER: A molecular machine that can be programmed to build virtually any molecular structure or device from simpler chemical building blocks. Analogous to a computer-driven machine shop. [K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation, 1986]

ATHANASIA: The act of preventing death. [W.T. Quick, 1988]

ATHANOPHY: A philosophical system that offers a possible means of overcoming death scientifically. [Michael Perry, 1991]

ATHEOSIS: The process of recovering from belief in God. [Mark Plus; August 1991]

AUGMENT: A person whose physical or cognitive abilities have been technologically expanded beyond the range of natural humans. [David Brin, The Postman]

AUTOEVOLUTION: Evolution directed by intelligent beings instead of natural selection.

AUTOEVOLUTIONIST: Someone who regards autoevolution as desirable; the opposite of a biological fundamentalist.

AUTOMATED ENGINEERING: The use of computers to perform engineering design, ultimately generating detailed designs from broad specifications with little or no human help. Automated engineering is a specialized form of artificial intelligence. [K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation, 1986]

AUTOMORPHISM: "Living as art", a sub-movement of transhumanist art where self-transformation and living itself is the medium.

AUTOPOTENT: A system having complete power and knowledge over itself. [Nicholas Boström 1996, Predictions from Philosophy?]

AUTOSCIENT: A system having complete knowledge of its inner workings. [Mitch Porter, originally in the form auto-omniscient. January 1998 ]


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Anders Sandberg / asa@nada.kth.se
2000-03-11