T
TAZ/Temporary
Autonomous Zone: A mobile or transient location free of economic
and social interference by the state. [Hakim Bey]
TECHNOCYTE: A nanoscale artificial device
(especially a nanite) in the human bloodstream
used for repairs, cancer protection, as an artificial immune system
or for other uses. [A Sandberg 1995]
TECHNOCALYPS: The fusion of utopian
dreams and apocalyptic fears of the millennium [Michael Grosso]
TECHNOSPHERE:
An expanding sphere of civilization/technology, spreading outwards using
von Neumann Probes or simple
colonization. Judging from how most life behaves, it will gradually
restructure matter and energy inside itself in various ways. Due to
the finite speed of light it can only spread slo wer than lightspeed.
[Mitchell Porter].
TELEOLOGICAL THREAD: A sequence
of goals following each other. Refers to the possibility of strong morphological
freedom, where individuals can change all their properties and their
configuration; only the general goals may stay the same, and they may
drift forming a teleological thread. [Alexander Chislenko, Technology
as extension of human functional architecture]
TERRAFORM: To change the properties of
a planet to make it more earthlike, making it possible for humans or
other terrestrial organisms to live unaided on it, for example by changing
atmospheric composition, pressure, temperature or the climate and introducing
a sel f-sustaining ecosystem. This will most probably be a very long-term
project, probably requiring self-replicating technology and megascale
engineering. So far Venus and especially Mars looks as the most
promising candidates for terraforming in the solar system. See also
the Terraforming
and Ecopoesis page and topical
words: terraforming. [Jack Williamson 1938]
THEORETICAL
APPLIED SCIENCE: Theoretical applied science is the study of
technology that is based on conservative and contemporary scientific
knowledge, but have not yet been created. Especially it studies what
is possible and impossible according to known physical laws. [See Theoretical
Applied Science by Nick Szabo.]
TITHONUS SYNDROME: The consistently
negative portrayal of immortality in fantasy and science fiction. Based
on the Greek myth of Tithonus, who was granted eternal life but forgot
to ask for eternal youth [S.L. Rosen]
TIPLER CYLINDER: A theoretical
way of time-travel is using the spacetime warping around a very massive,
infinitely long cylinder rotating near the speed of light around its
axis. [Originally described by Frank Tipler in "Rotating Cylinders
and Global Causality Violation" Physical Review D9, 2203-2206
(1974)]
TIPLERITE: A person with religious faith
in Tipler's Omega Point Theory
(So far very rare, if any). ["The Tiplerite Church" was mentioned
briefly in The Nanotech Chronicles by Michael Flynn]
TRANSBIOMORPHOSIS
(TRANSBIOLOGICAL METAMORPHOSIS): The transformation of the human
body from a natural, biological organism into a superior, consciously
designed vehicle of personality. [Max More, August 1991]
TRANSCEND: v. To become vastly superhuman
and incomprehensible for unaugmented beings. [Vernor Vinge, A Fire
Upon the Deep]
TRANSCENSION: The transition between
humanity and posthumanity [Erik Moeller, June 1996]
TRANSCIENT: A very advanced and fast
being. [Tom Morrow, April 1996]
TRANSCLUSION:
A thing existing in more than one place at once; virtual copying of
information used in hypertext systems, such as Xanadu. [Ted Nelson,
Byte, September 1990]
TRANSHUMAN:
Someone actively preparing for becoming posthuman.
Someone who is informed enough to see radical future possibilities and
plans ahead for them, and who takes every current option for self-enhancement.
See also the Extropian
FAQ for their definition of Transhuman.
[Term: FM-2030, Are You A Transhuman? Def.: Max More (The word
was used earlier by Damien Broderick in The Judas Mandala 1982(of
which an excerpt called "Growing Up" was published in Galileo
1976), and in "Transhuman 2000" by FM-2030 in Woman in
the Year 2000 (Ed. Maggie Tripp) in the 60's or early 70's)]
TRANSHUMANISM:
Philosophies of life (such as extropian
perspectives) that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution
of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations
by means of science and technology, guided by life- promoting principles
and values. See the Transhuman
Principles, Definitions of Transhumanism
and the Extropian FAQ
for their definition of Transhumanism.
[Max More, 1990]
TRANSHUMANITIES:
Art, literature, and other aesthetic media for transhumans
(or transhumanists). [Mark Plus, 1990]
TRAPDOOR FUNCTION: A function
that is easily computable, but whose inverse is very hard to compute
unless an extra bit of information is provided. The term is used in
cryptography. See the Cryptography
FAQ.
TURING MACHINE: An idealized computer
consisting of an infinite tape and a read-write "head" which
moves back and forth on the tape, reading and writing, according to
a rule set that refers to i) what it sees on the tape ii) an internal
"memory" state.
TURING TEST: Turing's proposed test
for whether a machine is conscious (or intelligent, or aware): we communicate
via text with it and with a hidden human. If we can't tell which of
our partners in dialogue is the human, we say the computer is conscious.
Transhuman Page