Barbara Sparks

Media liaison at TFOI

आनन्द

[Marcin Kowrygo @MKowrygo]

Thank you for the interview, @slatestarcodex! This is an excellent primer into many aspects of our exploratory work and the emerging suffering abolitionist ecosystem. https://t.co/h2mFUPGVNU

[Scar Free Foundation @scarfreeworld]

When it comes to scarring, our body’s priority is fast wound closure rather than restoring the injured area to how it was previously. This imperfect process results in the creation of scar. 🧬🧫

We are the only organisation in the world with a focus on #scarfree healing.

[Chris Said @Chris_Said]

I want to learn more about the Scottish woman whose genetic mutation makes her have no pain, fast wound-healing, a sunny disposition, a 0/29 on a Generalized Anxiety Disorder score, and a 0/29 on Depression. https://t.co/hEqHgzfQEj

[Marcin Kowrygo @MKowrygo]

There seems to be a deep synergy between the "midtermist" x-risk reduction and the exploratory research on adaptive suffering abolitionist interventions similar to ours. Numerous great non-x-risk EA(-adjacent) projects could benefit from it as well. Thank you, @daniel_271828!

[Daniel Eth (yes, Eth is my actual last name) @daniel_271828]

Hot take, but ~this should probably be like the second biggest EA cause area, after X-risk. The fact that things like this are approximately totally neglected by EA makes me think worse of the non-X-risk parts of EA.

[Grace @kindgracekind]

@QiaochuYuan

[Marcin Kowrygo @MKowrygo]

Far Out goes far out near @nearcyan. Thank you for the exposure! We started an FAQ section to answer common questions: https://t.co/jTzn7Cjw00

[Qualia Research Institute @QualiaRI]

Congratulations to The Far Out Initiative on receiving its first @slatestarcodex grant!

The initiative is heavily inspired by Jo Cameron, a woman born with a genetic condition resulting in immunity to physical and psychological pain (fear, anxiety, etc.). Unlike other forms of congenital pain insensitivity, her condition does not carry the same negative side effects. This discovery revealed a possible path to abolishing suffering — the path the initiative is pursuing from the following angles:

The Anandaimonia Project: Research into solving human suffering by targeting the genetic basis of pain, both physical and mental. This would involve genetic and pharmacological interventions.

The Ananda Lines: Creating lines of gene-edited livestock animals who possess the same resistance to physical and psychological pain. This aims to transform factory farming practices and reduce the vast suffering endured by these animals.

The Far Out Initiative's goals are heavily aligned with QRI's mission statement. We highly encourage everyone to check them out! @cease_suffering

[near @nearcyan]

possibly the best use of $50,000 I've seen in my life

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

They called it Medicine’s Best Kept Secret — at UCSF today.
You have probably seen ultrasound images of babies, but if you arrange an array of ultrasound transducers to focus to a point, they can manipulate cells and membranes like a magnifying glass focusing sunlight to a burning hot point. Focused ultrasound can burn tumor cells deep inside the body, without surgery. Or it can heat the cells enough to trigger the immune system. Or mechanically rend them apart. It can stimulate deep brain regions in a mm^3 voxel for a variety of mental health applications, like deep brain stimulation without the brain surgery. Or relax the blood-brain-barrier in a specific region. Or activate nanoparticle-conjugated-drugs to deliver psychedelic medicine to certain brain regions and not others to further elucidate their mechanism of action (e.g., can ketamine be therapeutic without disassociation?).

Most of the half million treatments so far have been for the removal of uterine fibroids, pancreatic cancer tumors and liver tumors — all without surgery and its collateral damage. It’s a bit like the Star Trek vision of medical care.

Here is an overview of the various applications and their state of development: https://t.co/7XVOBk1Rri

And here is a list of 25 different mechanisms of action: https://t.co/BQmldJZK2a

[Captain Pleasure, Andrés Gómez Emilsson @algekalipso]

I think it's important to emphasize just how lucky we are to have been born into a timeline with someone with Jo Cameron's condition and how insane we would be not to take this opportunity and run with it.

Reflexive and unreflective incredulity is the biggest problem that Suffering Abolitionism faces. How can something that has been plaguing life for billions of years be ended now with a simple genetic intervention? Well, we got lucky. Incredibly lucky. We could've spent centuries exploring the genome for a solution to suffering. Instead, we happened to discover someone with a naturally occurring genetic condition that eliminates physical and psychological suffering, which can be transferred to others using existing gene editing techniques. We would be mad not to seize this opportunity and run with it.

The Far Out Initiative is taking the lead on doing the foundational research required to create anti-suffering therapies for humans and human-exploited animals.

Find out more at: https://t.co/Y2DwbkANT3

- Michael Spark, founder of the initiative

Guys, please check them out! And donate if you can. They're one of the absolutely most promising ideas/and groups to radically reduce suffering worldwide.

[Zero Suffering @ZeroSuffering]

Inhibition of FAAH and activation of PPAR can produce potentially therapeutic effects, including enhancing certain forms of learning and relieving symptoms of withdrawal when suffering from addictions.

Life can be #sweetaschocolate

https://t.co/CgNZw6gODF

[Manu Herrán @mherran]

"After Winning Big on Crypto @zxocw Wants to Change the World". Interview by @webmasterdave now into portuguese by @BarbaraBelli__ from @ZeroSuffering "it’s possible to create technologies that keep us nimble, healthy, and mentally agile for much longer than we naturally would"

[Barbara Sparks @BarbaraBelli__]

@jordanbpeterson 2.