Joshua will be leading this discussion on Cyborgs. He has this to say:
Notions of "cyborgs" and "cyberspace" occur frequently in relation to transhumanism, yet in my experience, most transhumanists do not know much about the cyber(netics) at the roots of such words. Not surprising, since cybernetics has become relatively esoteric since the mid-20th century when it influenced nearly every branch of science as well as art, religion, and other cultural institutions. The people who labored through the birth of cybernetics and have nurtured its development are some of the most transhuman (and humane) thinkers I have ever encountered, and I would like to tell you about some of them and their ideas, and see what you think they may have to offer the transhumanists of today and tomorrow.

"Cybernetics is simultaneously the most important science of the age and the least recognized and understood. It is neither robotics nor freezing dead people. It is not limited to computer applications and it has as much to say about human interactions as it does about machine intelligence. Today's cybernetics is at the root of major revolutions in biology, artificial intelligence, neural modeling, psychology, education, and mathematics. At last there is a unifying framework that suspends long-held differences between science and art, and between external reality and internal belief." -- Paul Pangaro

He will give us a presentation from 7-8, and then we will have discussion from 8-8:45. Please see st.imul.us if you wish to join us from afar via Skype (or GTalk, we'll figure out which), and for information from past meetings.