A Frontier of Ethiopian Futurism*
We are getting to know the emerging
Saharan transhumanist community
on a breathless tour of a place midway
between Hong Kong and Washington.
Polyrhythmic music plays in the background.
In a museum, photos of dead infants
and of men with arms removed at the shoulders.
There are herds of goats on the side of the road.
These Ethiopians have read Ray Kurzweil
and are believers in the Singularity.
They sit at fires talking about nanotechnology,
gene therapies, artificial intelligence, self-driving cars.
Millions now living will never die.
*Inspired by “Four Days at the Frontiers of Ethiopian Futurism,” an article by Ben Goertzel posted on h+, an online magazine of futurism and transhumanism.