Mr. Stolyarov celebrates the May 22, 2012, launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule and responds to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's claims that private enterprise cannot make the biggest breakthroughs in science and exploration. On the contrary, Mr. Stolyarov identifies historical examples of just such privately driven breakthroughs and explains why private enterprise is more suited than a political structure for making radical improvements to human life. References - Launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 - Video from NASA - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=144249811 - Beautiful picture of SpaceX Falcon 9 flight - http://i.imgur.com/MTNgx.jpg - "Neil deGrasse Tyson: Bringing Commercial Space Fantasies Back to Earth" - Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQd7zqyd_EM - "Frontier-Making Private Initiatives: Examples from History" - Article by G. Stolyarov II - http://www.rationalargumentator.com/index/blog/2012/07/frontier-making-private-initiatives/ - "SpaceX rocket on its way to outer space" - Marcia Dunn - The Associated Press - May 22, 2012 - http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0522/SpaceX-rocket-on-its-way-to-outer-space - "SpaceX rocket launch hailed as 'a new era in space exploration'" - W. J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times - May 22, 2012 - http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/05/22/149778/spacex-rocket-launch-hailed-as.html - "Neil deGrasse Tyson" - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_degrasse_tyson - "SpaceX" - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacex ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcijEFDg9Zs

What are the key approaches and opportunities for restoring an optimistic view of technology, progress, and the future among the majority of people – and to counter apocalyptic, Malthusian, and neo-Luddite thinking?   On May 9, 2015, Mr. Stolyarov, author of "Death is Wrong" - http://www.rationalargumentator.com/index/death-is-wrong/ - the illustrated children's book on indefinite life extension - invited a panel of future-oriented thinkers to discuss this question.   Panelists   Demian Zivkovic is a student of artificial intelligence and philosophy, and founder and president of the Institute of Exponential Sciences – https://www.facebook.com/IEScience/ –  an international transhumanist think tank / education institute comprised of a group of transhumanism-oriented scientists, professionals, students, journalists and entrepreneurs interested in the interdisciplinary approach to advancing exponential technologies and promoting techno-positive thought. Demian and the IES have been involved in several endeavors, including interviewing professor Aubrey de Grey, organizing lectures on exponential sciences with guests including de Grey, and spreading “Death is Wrong” – Mr. Stolyarov’s illustrated children’s book on indefinite life extension – in The Netherlands. Demian Zivkovic is a strong proponent of transhumanism, hyperreality, and hypermodernism. He is currently working on his ambition of raising enough capital to make a real difference in life extension and transhumanist thought. Demian invites anybody who is interested in forwarding a technologically positive vision of the future to get involved with the Institute of Exponential Sciences via its Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/IEScience/. *** Philippe Castonguay is currently pursuing a B.Sc. in Psychology while doing research in computational neuroscience. His main research topics are the influence of noise on the stability of chaotic neural network models, mechanisms of recurrent neural integration on a network scale and high-dimensional data representations. Philippe is also an executive member of Bricobio, a DIY biohacking group in Montreal and co-founder of Montreal Futurists, a Montreal group that wants to promote transhumanist/futurist ideas and prepare the population for the integration of related technologies in the society. *** Sylvester Geldtmeijer is a Dutch citizen and sound designer. He has been interested in transhumanism, science, and technology since childhood, when he was fascinated with science fiction and imagining a highly advanced technological world where every problem can be solved with science. He emphasizes the ability of science to help people, especially through medical advancements, and considers Deep Brain Stimulation to be one of the ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3HpRN1fpkk