Natasha Vita-More (born February 23, 1950) is a

strategic design Strategic design is the application of future-oriented design principles in order to increase an organization's innovative and competitive qualities. Its foundations lie in the analysis of external and internal trends and data, which enables design ...

er,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, speaker and

innovator Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

within the scientific and technological framework of human enhancement and

life extension Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled limit of 125 years. Several researchers in the area ...

. Her interests are located within the ethical uses of science and technology and socio-political implications of revolutionary advances impacting humanity's future.

Early life and education

Vita-More was born in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the Administ ...

. Vita-More studied at Accademia di Belle Arti in Ravenna, Italy (1977) after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art (1973). Returning to the United States, she started a commercial design firm in

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The firs ...

(1972-1980). She completed Paralegal Certification from Blackstone School of Law in 1992. She earned a Master of Science in Future Studies at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(2006) and a Master of Philosophy from

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, UK. Faculty of Technology, School of Computers, Communications and Electronics, School of Communications and Media Studies M.Phil., Thesis: "Designing Transitional Human Futures”. Vita-More received a Ph.D in Media Art and Design from the

Planetary Collegium The Planetary Collegium (a.k.a. CAiiA / Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts) is an international transcultural and transdisciplinary new media art educational research platform that promotes on the doctorate level the integration of a ...

, United Kingdom. Her Ph.D thesis focused on

human enhancement Human enhancement (HE) can be described as the natural, artificial, or technological alteration of the human body in order to enhance physical or mental capabilities. Technologies Existing technologies Three forms of human enhancement curre ...

and radical

Career

Vita-More is currently Executive Director of

Humanity+ Humanity most commonly refers to: * Humankind, the total population of humans * Humanity (virtue) Humanity may also refer to: Literature * ''Humanity'' (journal), an academic journal that focuses on human rights * ''Humanity: A Moral History of ...

Inc. From 2012 – 2014 she was a visiting Scholar,

21st Century Medicine 21st Century Medicine (21CM) is a California cryobiological research company which has as its primary focus the development of perfusates and protocols for viable long-term cryopreservation of human organs, tissues and cells at temperatures be ...

. Since 2012, she has been an instructor at the for-profit University of Advancing Technology and a former Chair of its Graduate Program. She is also a Fellow of the

Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is a technoprogressive think tank that seeks to "promote ideas about how technological progress can increase freedom, happiness, and human flourishing in democratic societies."Joseph R. ...

and on the Steering Committee of Coalition for Radical Life Extension. She has contributed the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debati ...

Immortality Debate of 2017. Vita-More has been an advisor to the

LifeBoat Foundation The Lifeboat Foundation is a nonprofit organization in Reno, Nevada, dedicated to the prevention of global catastrophic risk. Technology journalist Ashlee Vance describes Lifeboat as "a nonprofit that seeks to protect people from some seriously ca ...

, and an advisor to

Alcor Life Extension Foundation The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, most often referred to as Alcor, is an American nonprofit, federally tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization based in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Alcor advocates for, researches, and performs cryonics, t ...

. Between 1987 and 1993 she was a producer of Transcentury Update. Between 2001 and 2004, she was the president of the

Extropy Institute Extropianism, also referred to as the philosophy of extropy, is an "evolving framework of values and standards for continuously improving the human condition". Extropians believe that advances in science and technology will some day let people l ...

. Vita-More is also signed up for cryonic preservation. Moreover, Vita-More says, "Our bodies will be the next fashion statement; we will design them in all sorts of interesting combinations of texture, colors, tones, and luminosity."

Work

In 1982, Vita-More wrote the ''Transhumanist Manifesto'', which was on board the Cassini-Huygens Saturn mission. It discussed the possibility for overcoming disease and extending lifespans and later she founded an organization Transhumanist Arts and Culture. In 1997 she designed the first whole-body prosthetic, entitled ''Primo Posthuman'', which depicted how a human might look in the future with technological enhancements such as color-changing skin. "Posthumans", as written by Vita-More in one of her academic papers, "will be almost entirely augmented — human minds in artificial, eternally upgradable bodies". Her art has been exhibited at the

National Centre for Contemporary Arts The National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA) (russian: Государственный центр современного искусства) in Moscow, Russia, is a museum, exhibition and research organization which primarily aims its efforts ...

in Russia, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

. She authored ''Create / Recreate: the 3rd Millennial Culture'' on the emerging cybernetic culture and the future of humanism and the arts and sciences. She is also author of ''Transhumanism: What is it?'' concerning the basic questions of the Transhumanist philosophical, ethical and cultural worldview. She is the co-editor and contributing author of ''The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future.'' Her project "Primo 3M+ 2001" future physique 3D design for superlongevity in a tongue-in-cheek is based on

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal ...

and AI. In 2014 she was the entrepreneur and scientific Lead, together with Daniel Barranco from the Department of

Cryobiology Cryobiology is the branch of biology that studies the effects of low temperatures on living things within Earth's cryosphere or in science. The word cryobiology is derived from the Greek words κρῧος ryos "cold", βίος ios "life", and λ� ...

of the Spanish

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

, for the first time, proved that the use of cryonic technologies does not destroy the long-term memory of the simplest multi-cellular organisms. In 2019, Aging Analytics named Vita-More one of the Top-50 Women Longevity Leaders.

Personal life

Vita-More was born in

. , she lives in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nic ...

.http://www.natasha.cc/cv.pdf Her husband is philosopher and futurist

Max More Max More (born Max T. O'Connor, January 1964, with name legally changed in 1990) is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on advanced decision-making about emerging technologies. He is the current Ambassador and President E ...

References

External links