Nothing says "We are high-status members of mainstream society and not just a bunch of out-of-touch geeks" like a Segway!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHYPf42GHw0&feature=colike Video of meeting with me - I speak about global risks from 4.30
OK, this gives a different impression than the photo/description in the post, which suggested a rather more passive event.
I'm not sure I understand the point of this sort of protest. Research is ongoing in medical fields. Lobbying to direct research funding from some areas to others might be helpful but I don't see what a general protest like this does.
Not only that, but to the uninitiated a protest against death looks as bizarre as a protest against the changing of the seasons. If you've never heard of transhumanism before, your reaction to something like this isn't going to be "Yes, let me rally behind this cause!", it's going to be "You're against what?"
"You're against what?"
To be fair it might lead the curious to asking more about what they are about.
"You're against what?"
"Well, you know how some people are activists against cancer, and raise money for cancer research and treatment? And some people are activists against Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's, or HIV/AIDS, or other things that kill people? And other people are against drunk driving or shaking babies or unsafe working conditions or other causes of death? Well, we don't discriminate — we're against all causes of death."
Getting broken up by the police would have given them public legitimacy as a practical cause. The police don't break up meetings of crackpots.
Taking the photo in front of inscription "proletarians of all countries, unite" was intentional?
The place of the meeting was suggested by authorities and was not intensional. But many jokes followed. The main point of the meeting was antiaging research - which is clearly underfunded.
Is this the official way to organise meetings in Moscow - you report that you are going to organise a manifestation and police / city council decide where you can have it? Or was it some informal advice, such as "police will likely not harass you if you meet at Teatralnaya ploshchad"?
The main point of the meeting was antiaging research - which is clearly underfunded.
Do you anticipate any change in the amount of antiaging research as a result of this event (or a policy of regularly organizing similar events)? I don't see a connection.
More photos here: http://ru-transhuman.livejournal.com/384043.html
This was first legally approved political action of Russian transhumanists. Symbolically it was near Karl Marx monument which is opposite to the Big theater.
Main slogans:
"Stop aging - it is main goal for the state".
"Live 150 years!"
"Immortality!"
"Right to live!"
"We are against death"
The main cognitive bias that played here was that we will be crashed by police. Nothing happened.