" . . . we might devise superior methods of inquiry into both the brain, and the world outside it. As a consequence, we could expect to tighten the connectness between the events and laws of Nature, and the physical basis of human thought processes. Its glow will be caught in the elegance, beauty, and power of our shared ideas and, in the best spirit of philosophical pragmatism, the wisdom of our conduct " Edward O. Wilson
Contact Charles Ostman
> Nanotechnology, > NanoBiology, > Synthetic Sentience, > Artificial Lifeforms, > "GelWare" > "Agents, Avatars, Synthetic Societies" > "Internet as an Organism - Human / Internet Symbiosis" > "Transactional Process Brokeraging of Virtual Commodity Assets" > "Xenomorphic Entities" Evolvable Systems, Molecular Biobots . . . this is just the beginning
The Convergence Syndrome . . . a personal mission statement:
I must freely admit that the "worlds" I often exist in are quite different than the momentary slices of "alternative reality" represented by the worlds of which you may be familiar, but these worlds are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Often the worlds that I "see" are foreign even to me, and I am supposedly one who is practiced in the artform of exploring, if indeed flourishing in, such diverse environments. I have seen much in the world(s) I have been allowed access to, some of which are still being processed into a manifold of continuity by which the existence matrix of life of the near future may (hopefully) be extrapolated.
There comes a point, a certain juncture in such travels, when the "larger pattern" does indeed become apparent, or at least the potential recognition thereof. In such endeavors, there is no luxury of respite allowed from the realms of complexity, velocity, and evolutionary transitions which are so compellingly evident, yet difficult to convey in a tightly confined "capsule of conveyance". There is, without question, a transformative threshold which the human species is about to encounter, on a truly evolutionary scale. On the various pages connected to this site, singular example influence vectors which comprise this transitional threshold are cited, including various arenas of development with which I am directly engaged.
Knowledge itself is even being compressed into shorter useful lifetime cycle windows. Knowledge velocity, complexity, and scale are surpassing human decision rendering capacity, particularly under duress in ever shorter timescales. We are rapidly entering into a realm where decision rendering, as a mission critical process, will will literally exceed human capacity. The economic, societal, and cultural implications are as evolutionary as the current and future implied technologies themselves. My focus is to examine, in detail, a systematic metaview of the this next transformative age we are about to encounter, voluntarily, or otherwise.
Compression is now occurring, in both temporal and functional domains. The incremental partitioning of major transitional thresholds which may have at one point been measured in terms of millennia, then centuries, and more recently, in decades, is now compressing down time spans of a few years, and perhaps in the near term, increments of months and weeks.
Proportional with an acceleration of temporal compression is an acceleration of functional complexity, or what I refer to here as the "convergence syndrome". As a process, events, technologies, belief systems, cultural and societal paradigms, even the very definitions of life itself, are becoming ever more interconnected and interdependent on a global scale. In this newly emerging domain, nothing is isolated or autonomous.
As vector coordinates on an enormous existence matrix, in which all forms of life "here" (as it is currently interpreted to be), and in parallel domains, any perturbations within this matrix cause a wavefront to be propagated thoughout this matrix, eventually affecting all of the other nodes embedded within.
Mapped against this evolving existence manifold which we have so rapidly accelerated into its current state, is an operational ecology comprised of an integration of natural and synthetic entities and intelligences, on a global scale, and imbued with the most powerful "tools of conveyance" ever created in our known history.
My mission, and my hope, is to harness these tools, and apply them accordingly. I carry no delusions of assured success, or even a most minimal hope thereof . . . only a compelling passion to try.
The interstitial graticule spacing of this existence matrix, or what might be referred to here as mesh granularity, is compressing as well, in direct proportion with the temporal compression, and functional complexity factors. Indeed, this proportional increase in mesh granularity of the existence matrix can be visualized as an topological index of trend status, and plotted as such, as an artifact of this process.
The acceleration vectors indicated by this composite of interacting dynamic factors in this existence matrix may be in a state of flux as to the precise rate of increase inherent in these indicators, but the trend topologies to be recognized in this matrix, and their associated rates of acceleration, do tend to suggest a culmination into a vertical vector, a singularity "convergence point" threshold boundary, at which point the critical mass of existence as it is currently understood to be will be extruded through a series of evolutionary "test" increments, each one of which representing an increase of amplitude in functional complexity, and a compression in temporal partitioning, greater than the increment preceding it.
The outcome of this rapid succession of test increments, threshold boundaries to be encountered and negotiated, will determine whether we continue to the next great increment of evolutionary process, as an experiment on this particular world at this particular moment in time, or simply go into failure mode, perhaps to re-evolve to some new lifeform entity countless millennia from now.
What is most significant, however, is that from the perspective of being here on this world, at this moment, is that never before in the known history of this world and its current inhabitants have the threshold of transition by which the very future of this current world are about to be determined and measured within the reach of its current inhabitants.
What appears to be the future for many is already the past for some, who are now unfolding it into the present
For better or for worse, we will collectively know, well within our current lifetimes, and quite likely within a short handful of years, how we, as the human species on this world at this time, will negotiate the evolutionary tests about to be set before us.This is no easy, or trivial task. No greater burden has ever been placed upon a smaller portion of the population with a greater responsibility to implement such a manifestation of truth.
The concept of utilizing the fabric of the Internet as an experiencial conveyance engine is at the very heart of the existance matrix evolving in the near future. Bidirectional telepresense and tele-existance streaming are obvious functionalities embedded into this matrix. It is here, at this event horizon, where we acquiece to a realm where the interface boundary between the real and the virtual, the organic and the synthetic, become seamlessly infused into an irreversable, ever evolving symbiosis of our own creation, and what evolves henceforth. This is . . . virtual immortality
Venture into the History of the Future - a
singular example vector, NanobiologyCharles Ostman, "Strategic Synergist" - Research, trend analysis and forecasting, technology development, author, lecturer
Neural Prosthetics . . . Mind / Machine Interface
Listen to Discovery Channel Online interviews with the RealAudio audio-streaming player . . .
Synthetic Humans . . . Cybernetic Enhancements Visit the Discovery Online interviews, 21st Century Online "Inside" Magazine, the latest book releases, the CyberLife! book site, papers and presentations, video and audio stream sites . . . .
"Neurprosthetics are inevitable" says Charles Ostman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Futures, "Biochip implants may become part of a rote medical procedure . . . after that, interface with outside systems is a logical next step" from the article - Is Human Chip Implant Wave of the Future?
See the article by Sam Witt on CNN Interactive online
Interview by Peter Langeuin - Techno Marvels in the Making
Nanotechnology Links . . . Nanotechnology Industries - Medical Nanotechnology Nanotechnology in Medicine, Life Sciences http://ww2.broadcast.com/artbell/sept99.stm Program begins with Dr. Steven Greer, founder of CSETI - 2nd hour begins with Charles Ostman - 9/24/99 01:00:00 http://ww2.broadcast.com/artbell/aug97.stm Program begins with Leonard Nimoy 7/22/97 02:34:10 - Charles Ostman begins 2 1/2 hours into program http://ww2.broadcast.com/artbell/apr97.stm Entire program - start through finish with Charles Ostman 4/23/97 00:00:00 - Start of program http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/audiovideo-archive-topic-technology.html Art Bell nanotechnology interview - Charles Ostman - the Emergent History of the Future
Available audio files of current and previous appearances on the Art Bell program . . . . The RealAudio G2 audio/video streaming media player is free, and can be donwloaded directly from ArtBell.com, Download.com, or directly from RealAudio. It can run on Explorer or Navigator. When an audio stream is loaded, a numerical counter is visible in the lower right corner of the G2 Player window. An arrow / slider is available which allows the user to fast forward to the desired location in the streaming file - reference numbers are indicated for each indicated audio streaming file
The Institute for Global Futures
The Institute for Global Futures is a strategic technologies research group which engages in trend analysis, technology development stream topology identification, and complex forecasting which examines synergistic thread linkages between various technologies and socio-economic systems. The activities of the institute include consulting services, strategic planning, reports, analysis, media programs, conferences, and strategic alliance building for a variety of global clients.
Complex new technologies are rapidly transforming markets, economies, and industries. The Institute for Global Futures was founded to promote the productive, sustainable, and strategic use of advanced leading edge technologies.
Enter this world, and examine the contents of these renderings of nanoscale systems, intergrated circuitry combined with biomolecular components, and various bio-molecular "device" simulations which are being created as part of an ongoing project with the Institute for Global Futures, and other interested organizations. The very concept of what is currently referred to as "applied medicine" is on the verge of an extraordinary transformation. What is coming, for instance, are nanoscale molecular "devices" which are intended to enter living cells and facilitate their own ability modify and "repair" their internal physiological chemistries. And this is only the beginning . . . The newly emmerging frontier of Nanobiology represents the next great revolution in medicine
The world, as we currently know it to be, what it will become . . . the convergence, the "test", and beyond . . .Strategic Synergist - At the forefront of evolving technologies.
My ultimate focus is on the concept of nanotechnology representing the next great revolution, as an evolutionary threshold which will transform, but also test, the human civilization's capacity to adapt and evolve to this new realm. The substrate of socio-economic systems, valuation indices of commodities and currency systems, the status of industry base strata and their attendant distribution structures, which are already in a state of flux as this fabric is being drawn into the global connectivity grid, currently referred to as the internet, is only a precursory indicator of what the nanotechnology age is about to potentially create.
This entire genre' of development will evolve into an new socio-economic system substrate not conceivable by today's standards of reference. Various aspects of applied and theoretical nanotechnology, neural prosthesis and implantable interface devices, ubiquitous computing and process functionality domains as a virtual asset resource base accessible on the internet, the evolution of newly forming socio-economic substrate systems eminating from the "virtual terraform" . . . these are only a few of the key marker threshold points in an evolutionary event stream which are embedded into the existence matrices of the near future.
In my world, I am not merely an observer, who occasionally writes about such speculations, but rather, am a direct participant in some of the developmental processes which will make these very technologies and their eventual applications possible. It is my personal belief that a series of choices, decision boundaries to be negotiated, will soon become self apparent to the society at large.
The hope is that a process resembling "reasoned thought" may be collectively applied, by which the trajectory of such developments can be manifest in the most mutually beneficial and benign implementations possible. This is the test, the "rights of passage" into and beyond the event horizon of the Next Millennium
Read Charles Ostman's views, technical analysis, and perspectives of the nanoworld of the present and near future in the book CyberLife! - ISBN 0-672-30491-0 Nanotechnology, the next Revolution . . . the NanoFuture . . . of NanoComputing, Molecules, and Photons . . . Strange Molecules with Special Properties . . . MicroMachines, Nanotech, and Processes Available Today . . . Biomechanics in the Nanorealm . . . What are the Goals, and How do We Get There? additional info Nano
Visit 21st Century Online . . . where the future is being invented . . . Authors, scientists, technology developers, and various practitioners in the artform of forging the fabric of the future . . . come together here to explore and share their perspectives on the social, economic, and cultural aspects of how the future is being forged by those who are creating it now. Featured authors on the Inside Magazine homepage . . . Charles Ostman, Deepak Chopra, Andrew Tobias, Alvin Toffler, Roger Dawson, Brit Hume, James Canton . . . and many others
Excerpt from the newly
released book by Bruce Damer, "Avatars": ISBN
0-021-68840-9 Life
in Digital Space - Bots, Biota and Virtual Pets. The NanoWorlds
of Charles Ostman. Charles Ostman is a real wonder of a "Professional
Synergist" from Berkeley, California. Ostman brings his years of experience
in building successively smaller and more complex electronics at Lawrence
Berkeley labs and intense interest in Nanotechnology to bear through his organic
art vision. Ostman's works seek to give us a reflection from a future "virtual
terraform" inhabited by "synthetic sentients". Ostman sees
a time in the future when Nanotechnology (the ability to make things one atom at
a time) renders all current economic systems obsolete and transforms human
lifestyles and our very perception of reality Ostman is science editor for Mondo
2000 and a frequent guest on Art Bell's Coast to Coast all night radio show.
The basic inspirational building blocks of Ostman's art include molecular
machines, self assembling "nano lego" components, nanobots and
nanocritters, pseudo proteins, quasi viral components,"artificial"
organisms, and ubiquitous nano "foglettes". Visit the
NanoWorlds of Charles Ostman at Berkeley Designs' Web site on
Nanothinc
Excerpt from the newly released book by
Celia Pearce, "the Interactive Book": ISBN 1-57870-028-0 A-Life of
One's Own - V-Art
Another A-life alchemist is Charles Ostman. Ostman's interest lies in
the interface between nature and machine. His specialty is nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is a technique of manipulation at the molecular level that
enables you to do things such as create self-assembling materials,
micro-machines, and pseudo-viruses. Self-assembling materials-which at one time
were called "nano-leggos" until the name had to be changed due to
trademark disputes-consist of molecules that can manipulated through input (such
as heat or electrical charge). Pseudo-viruses, perhaps the most interesting of
the nano-technological applications, are "good" viruses designed to
use the viruses' own techniques to outsmart it. Pseudo-viruses, really
anti-viruses, do the same thing to the virus that the virus is attempting to do
to the host. It thus quickly elliminates the intrusive organism, letting the
healthy host cell return to its proper function.
Artificial
Life as a Mechanism for Modelling Sel Assembling, Self Organizing Nanaosystems
See the
Nanaotechnologyand
Nanaobiology pages for numerous published papers,
excerpts from his chapters in the book CyberLife, various 3D rndered graphics
and animations, and other related materials.
Send e-mail to Charles Ostman
Visit the far frontier . . . 
Get your own
Mondo 2000
Resources And Insight . . . 
. . . for the Entrpreneurial
Engineer
Midnight Engineering Example articles
from previous issues . . .
> Goals of Nanotechnology
> Enter the Next Revolution
> Shape Changing Alloys
Where Art and Technology Come Together
Fine art on various media,
virtual and real "entities", environments, custom applications and
technology development for the "discovery" of asthetic content . . .
Berkeley Designs
Artificial Life flourishing on the Virtual Terraform . . .
Enter online, see it "live"
at SigGraph 97!
Digital Biota Project
Contact . . . at the Contact Consortium 
Enter the portal to myriad
virtual terraforms, worlds, universes, and the technologies and people who make
them possible
Contact Consortium
Special thanks to Bruce Damer and DigitalSpace Corp.
Helping to pioneer the
exploration and development of life on the virtual terraform . . .
DigitalSpace
