Zoltan Istvan

Early life and education

Istvan was born in Los Angeles in 1973 to his Hungarian immigrant parents Ilona and Steven Gyurko. He was a nationally ranked swimmer and waterpolo player in his youth. Istvan later graduated from Columbia University in New York City with a degree in Philosophy and Religion. During his freshman year, he was arrested by undercover cops for selling $80 worth of marijuana to fellow students. His arrest and subsequent felony conviction influenced how he views the US government's war on drugs.

Early career

Istvan was an online and on-camera reporter for the National Geographic Channel. His writings have appeared in a blog of the San Francisco Chronicle, Outside, and The Daily Caller. His work has been covered in publications such as The Huffington Post.

Istvan's coverage of the war in Kashmir was made into a documentary, Pawns of Paradise, distributed by Janson Media. Australia's The Age has acquired nonexclusive Australian rights to the show.

According to Istvan, he invented, pioneered, and popularized the extreme sport of volcano boarding.

Istvan is an entrepreneur who has made a minor fortune in real estate. He also owns a vineyard in Argentina.

Futurist career

After publishing The Transhumanist Wager, Istvan began actively promoting transhumanism and other futurist issues via speeches, media interviews, activism, and his writings.

Istvan's writings and ideas on transhumanism, philosophy, atheism, and futurist issues have been featured in Yahoo News, The Daily Telegraph, The Huffington Post UK, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, and other media sites. Istvan and his ideas have been featured on Fox News Channel's Stossel show, CNN's Inside Man, RT's television show Desde La Sombra, Ryan O'Shea's Future Grind podcast, and the Joe Rogan Experience. Istvan has also written for Gizmodo, New Scientist, Salon, TechCrunch, The Daily Dot, International Business Times Singularity University's Singularity Hub, Daily Mail, TechInsider, Newsweek, Futurism, and Slate.

Istvan is a member of the World Future Society, a volunteer Ambassador for The Seasteading Institute, an advisory board member of the India Future Society, a member of the Young Professionals, an advisory board member of A-Team for Wildlife, and is on the Futurist and Space Settlement boards of the Lifeboat Foundation.

He has regularly given talks on futurist and transhumanist topics, which include speeches at the World Bank, Moogfest, the World Future Society's annual conference, Transhuman Visions in San Francisco, Brighter Brain's Future of Emotional Health and Intelligence Conference at University of California, Berkeley, TEDxTransmedia in Geneva, Switzerland, and being the opening keynote speaker at the Financial Times Camp Alphaville conference.

2016 presidential campaign

In October 2014, Istvan announced that he was "in the very early stages of preparing a campaign to try to run" for U.S. President in 2016. He stated that his goals would be to support scientists in "overcoming human death and aging within 15-20 years", to encourage Americans to embrace "radical technology and science", and to set up safeguards against dangers including potential abuse of such technology.

In October/November 2014 interviews, he explained that he aimed to unify the transhumanist community which otherwise was splintered, and to establish a single voice. He said great changes in society could happen and that Transhumanism could provide ideas, safeguards and policies. He said the aim for a Transhumanist Party would be to get onto as many state ballots as possible.

In March 2015, Istvan reported progress in organizing a campaign, and explained his wish to get major candidates to address issues. He hoped to be included in some debates, at least with third parties. He himself had funded nearly all of his campaign's expenses to date, however, and he noted donations were needed.

Istvan helped to publicize his campaign in late 2015 by driving a bus shaped like a casket – the "Immortality Bus" – across the United States. Istvan planned the bus tour to raise awareness of life extension. At the end of the Immortality Bus tour, Istvan delivered a "Transhumanist Bill of Rights" to the US Capitol.

His 20-point platform includes a Universal Basic Income, increased funding for space travel, and taking money from the military and putting it into science and medicine.

In February 2016, it was reported that he was likely to vote Democrat, placing himself "somewhere between Bernie and Hillary in terms of political ideologies", but later in 2016 Istvan also wrote articles supporting Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. On October 15, 2016, Istvan stated on his social media accounts that he would be voting for himself.

As of June 2016, Istvan was not on the ballot in any state, though he claimed substantial potential write-in backers.

His presidential campaign was covered in several major media outlets.

2018 California Governor campaign

Istvan emphasizes science, technology, longevity, transhumanism, and Libertarian values in his California gubernatorial run, along with supporting basic income. Istvan suggests that basic income could be paid for without raising taxes through a "Federal Land Dividend". Under this program Istvan plans to allocate monthly payments to households by leasing out federal land. In his debut editorial for Reason Magazine, Istvan argued that reparations for harm caused to marijuana users during the Federal government's war on drugs may be appropriate. He suggested that reparations could be paid as tax credits or through the sale of Federal lands, so as not to put further burden associated with the drug war on taxpayers.

Philosophy

Istvan states that in the 21st Century, as modern man confronts the finitude of life, everyone faces a Transhumanist Wager, a concept which is explored in his science fiction novel of the same name. The Transhumanist Wager follows from a life philosophy Istvan calls Teleological Egocentric Functionalism (TEF). Istvan summarizes the Transhumanist Wager as follows:

"TEF is predicated on logic, a simple wager that every human faces:

If a reasoning human being loves and values life, they will want to live as long as possible—the desire to be immortal. Nevertheless, it's impossible to know if they're going to be immortal once they die. To do nothing doesn't help the odds of attaining immortality—since it seems evident that everyone will die someday and possibly cease to exist. To try to do something scientifically constructive towards ensuring immortality beforehand is the most logical conclusion."

Istvan is the creator of the concepts of Theistcideism, the AI Imperative, the Singularity Disparity, Speciation Syndrome, and Jethro's Window, a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox. Istvan is also a populizer of AI Day, the Jesus Singularity, cryothanasia, and a robot AI president.

Istvan authored an article entitled "Transhumanism and Theistcideism" for publication in Pandeism: An Anthology (2017).

Istvan has a chip implant in his hand and consulted for the US Navy on broad use of the implant in humans.

According to Istvan's novel, the three laws of Transhumanism are:

1. A transhumanist must safeguard one's own existence above all else.
2. A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible—so long as one's actions do not conflict with the First Law.
3. A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe—so long as one's actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.

Transhumanist community reaction

Within the transhumanist community, reactions to Istvan's US Transhumanist Party have ranged from the enthusiastic and supportive to sharply critical. Some transhumanist critics, such as Peter Rothman, have questioned whether the Transhumanist Party adds value to the overall goals of transhumanism.

Natasha Vita-More criticized Istvan, saying, "In that the transhumanist movement is global, diverse, and comprised of varied political and religious views that support and advocate the values and tenets of Transhumanist Thinking...There have been numerous persons over the decades who have entered the social network of transhumanism as uninformed. It is obvious when a person sincerely wants to be a part of the culture or showboating for effect. The issue is not that either behavior has or does not have high-level value or contributions to the core of Transhumanist Thinking, but these individuals *need something* from Transhumanist Thinking."

Personal life

Istvan resides in Mill Valley, California with his daughters and physician wife. He identifies as an atheist.

In February 2015, he helped launch BiZoHa, the world’s first ‘free-thinker’ orphanage, in Mukhoya, Kasese district, western Uganda. Istvan’s promotional article on the topic in Vice's Motherboard, helped a GoFundMe campaign to achieve success in raising $5,820 to provide funding for the orphanage.