Future Society Meets To Discuss Human Existence

Members of the Future Society discussed advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and the future of their group in the club’s first meeting of the school year on Friday.

Kevin V. Jain ’14, who founded the club two years ago as a freshman, said the club is currently grappling with its identity as it plans events and meetings for the coming semester.

In 2010, the Future Society helped to organize a Humanity+ Summit, which discusses the intersection of technology in advancing society and attracted more than 400 attendees and speakers from around the country. Since then, the club has had a smaller presence on campus—Friday’s meeting only drew eight students.

According to Jain, the goal of the club is to examine complicated questions about human existence moving forward, while also making the conversation “accessible” to those less well-versed in philosophy and the future of the universe.

During the meeting, Jain drew a diagram of the Six Epochs of Evolution—a progression that describes the world’s natural transition from unordered chaos to complex and orderly organizational structures. “We have to consider where we’re going to be in 10,000 years,” Jain said.

The members said that they plan to discuss questions of human advancement, transhumanism, and science in weekly or biweekly meetings, each with a specific focus.

—Staff writer Virginia R. Marshall can be reached at virginiarosemarshall@college.harvard.edu.