Vision for a Library Institute Retreat

The Foundation has been focused for some time on building a Library research facility that would focus on the moral and ethical use of technology to improve the human condition, to help humanity transcend our limitations and help raise the standard of civilization. This is the retreat, a center for research, the collection of knowledge and the Foundation library and archive. The location is open to all that share this goal in some way; whether living on site, contributing to the goal or visiting the Archive. We hope to help accomplish the aforementioned vision.

The Retreat is to provide a physical forum for various people in the trans-humanist community to come together and support various projects related to topics such as AI, sustainability, robotics, longevity and more. The initial development facility is located about 20 miles from Seattle, WA near the mountains with space for about 8 on site staff as well as room for various projects, living area, work areas and more. The location is near a number of major colleges (University of Washington, PLU) and several community colleges (Green River, Highline); as well as being between the 2 major cities (Seattle and Tacoma) in Washington State on the West coast of the United States.

Participants or staff members are expected to maintain a high moral and ethical standard, practice an open source approach to various research projects and be examples for what post humanity should be. To live on staff there is a 400 dollar a month fee to cover living costs (mortgage, utilities, food etc.) and each live in staff must additionally do the following:

• Adhere to a high moral and ethical standard

• Consider yourself a trans-humanist

• Be actively engaged in an approved research project (for the most part this means legal, related to our vision stated earlier)

• Or be an active fulltime student in a local educational institute, in a major that contributes to the above stated vision

• Write a trans-humanist related or research project related article or blog post to be published on the Retreat blog

• Obey the law It is important that the Retreat be able to function as a way of helping bring together knowledge and as a location to bring about further interaction within trans-humanists and trans-human groups. The location itself is about 10k square feet, with 2000 sq. feet of indoor living space including a common area, work room, bedrooms, bath rooms, etc. and another 1600 sq. feet of additional work area. High speed internet is onsite and the building is hardwired to run off main power or run entirely off grid. There are two gas fireplaces, central heating and air, a continuous hot water system run off natural gas and a full kitchen, as well as 4 shared bedrooms. While the address is kept private or unpublished, you can make an appointment, if you’re in the Seattle area, to tour the property after it opens.

Some projects, lab equipment and workshop equipment is already being installed from computers to electronics and sustainability related equipment. Additionally, the Foundation is starting a fund; to pay for or cover costs and pay for additional research.

If you’re interested in living on site, or have a project to sponsor on site or have other questions please contact the Foundation at pratoriate@hotmail.com