CenTexWFS Presents Max More & An Inconvenient Truth June 19, 2007

The next meeting of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society will be on Tuesday, June 19, 2007. Come join us to participate in our special program. We will show the video “An Inconvenient Truth” and then join in a discussion lead by Dr. Max More.

The program will be held at the meeting room of Marie Callender's, 9503 Research Blvd. # 400., Austin, TX 78759 (512.349.7151) at 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The video will begin promptly at 6:15 p.m.

Attendance fee is $20 per person, for members, $25 for nonmembers, cash or checks only at the door. (Make checks payable to CenTexWFS.) Credit card is accepted online. The fee includes a meal but is charged for attendance. The meeting room is at the back of the restaurant on the right.

Seating will be limited so please reserve your place and prepay at :

www.centexwfs.org/index_Register.htm

Max More
Dr. Max More is an internationally acclaimed strategic philosopher widely recognized for his thinking on the philosophical and cultural implications of emerging technologies. Max’s contributions include founding the philosophy of transhumanism, authoring the transhumanist philosophy of extropy, and co-founding Extropy Institute, an organization crucial in building the transhumanist movement since 1990.

Over the past two decades, Max has been concerned that our escalating technological capabilities are racing far ahead of our standard ways of thinking about future possibilities. Through a highly interdisciplinary approach drawing on philosophy, economics, cognitive and social psychology, and management theory, Max developed a distinctive approach known as the “Proactionary Principle”­a tool for making smarter decisions about advanced technologies by minimizing the dangers of progress and maximizing the benefits.

“We have a dreadful shortage of people who know so much, can both think so boldly and clearly, and can express themselves so articulately. Carl Sagan managed to capture the public eye but Sagan is gone and has not been replaced. I see Max as
my candidate for that post.” (Marvin Minsky)

An Inconvenient Truth
Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.

If that sounds like a recipe for serious gloom and doom -- think again. From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.

With 2005, the worst storm season ever experienced in America just behind us, it seems we may be reaching a tipping point - and Gore pulls no punches in explaining the dire situation. Interspersed with the bracing facts and future predictions is the story of Gore's personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective, to the man who almost became President but instead returned to the most important cause of his life - convinced that there is still time to make a difference.

With wit, smarts and hope, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.

Paramount Classics and Participant Productions present a film directed by Davis Guggenheim, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Featuring Al Gore, the film is produced by Laurie David, Lawrence Bender and Scott Z. Burns. Jeff Skoll and Davis Guggenheim are the executive producers and the co-producer is Leslie Chilcott.

For more information about the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society, visit www.CenTexWFS.org.

For more information about the World Future Society, visit www.wfs.org.

Paul Schumann
President

paul.schumann@centexwfs.org
512.302.1935

Official Website: http://www.centexwfs.org