FM-2030: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Transhumanist philosopher and futurist (1930–2000)}}

| death_place  = New York City, New York, U.S.

He became notable as a transhumanist with the book ''Are You a Transhuman?: Monitoring and Stimulating Your Personal Rate of Growth in a Rapidly Changing World'', published in 1989. In addition, he wrote a number of works of fiction under his original name F. M. Esfandiary.

FM-2030 was born Fereydoon M. Esfandiary on October 15, 1930, in Belgium to Iranian diplomat Abdol-Hossein "A. H." Sadigh Esfandiary (1894–1986), who served from 1920 to 1960.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-01-10 |title=A. S. Esfandiary Dies at 91; A Longtime Iranian Diplomat |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/10/obituaries/a-s-esfandiary-dies-at-91-a-longtime-iranian-diplomat.html |access-date=2023-01-20 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617121350/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/10/obituaries/a-s-esfandiary-dies-at-91-a-longtime-iranian-diplomat.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He travelled widely as a child, having lived in 17 countries including Iran, India, and Afghanistan, by age 11.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bidoun.org/articles/the-future-takes-forever | title=The Future Takes Forever: Becoming FM-2030 | access-date=October 13, 2022 | archive-date=October 13, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013132412/https://www.bidoun.org/articles/the-future-takes-forever | url-status=live }}</ref> He [[Iran at the 1948 Summer Olympics#Basketball|represented Iran]] as a basketball player and wrestler at the [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948 Olympic Games]] in London. He attended primary school in Iran and England and completed his secondary education at [[Colleges Des Freres]], a Jesuit school in Jerusalem. By the time he was 18, aside from his native Persian,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.nypl.org/mss/4846#c257748|title=archives.nypl.org -- F. M. Esfandiary / FM-2030 papers|website=archives.nypl.org|access-date=November 2, 2022|archive-date=November 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102215745/https://archives.nypl.org/mss/4846#c257748|url-status=live}}</ref> he learned to speak 4 languages: Arabic, Hebrew, French and English.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hitt |first=Tarpley |date=2020-04-29 |title=The Strange Saga of FM-2030: A Futurist Genius Who Had Himself Frozen in Glass |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-strange-saga-of-fm-2030-a-futurist-genius-who-had-himself-frozen-in-glass |access-date=2023-01-20 |archive-date=November 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102212905/https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-strange-saga-of-fm-2030-a-futurist-genius-who-had-himself-frozen-in-glass |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/11/us/futurist-known-as-fm-2030-is-dead-at-69.html |title=Futurist Known as FM-2030 Is Dead at 69 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 11, 2000 |access-date=October 8, 2015 |archive-date=September 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930222700/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/11/us/futurist-known-as-fm-2030-is-dead-at-69.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He then started his college education at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], but later transferred to the [[University of California, Los Angeles]], where he graduated in 1952.<ref name="NYPL Biography"/> Afterwards, he served on the [[UNSCOP|United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine]] from 1952 to 1954.<ref name=nypl>{{cite web|url=http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/fm2030.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326114647/http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/fm2030.pdf|archive-date=2009-03-26|title=F. M. Esfandiary / FM-2030 Papers : 1943-2000|date=May 2007}}</ref>

In 1970, after publishing his book ''Optimism One'',<ref name=Vice>{{Cite web |title=The Frozen Father of Modern Transhumanism |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-frozen-father-of-moden-transhumanism/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=Vice |date=October 14, 2015 |language=en |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120132314/https://www.vice.com/en/article/4x3kjj/the-frozen-father-of-moden-transhumanism |url-status=live }}</ref> F. M. Esfandiary<ref name="nyt" /> started going by FM-2030 for two main reasons: firstly, to reflect the hope and belief that he would live to celebrate his 100th birthday in 2030; secondly, and more importantly, to break free of the widespread practice of [[naming conventions]] that he saw as rooted in a [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivist]] mentality, and existing only as a relic of humankind's tribalistic past. He formalized his name change in 1988. He viewed traditional names as almost always stamping a label of [[collective identity]] – varying from [[gender]] to nationality – on the individual, thereby existing as ''prima facie'' elements of thought processes in the human cultural fabric, that tended to degenerate into stereotyping, factionalism, and discrimination. In his own words, "Conventional names define a person's past: ancestry, ethnicity, nationality, religion. I am not who I was ten years ago and certainly not who I will be in twenty years. [...] The name 2030 reflects my conviction that the years around 2030 will be a magical time. In 2030 we will be ageless and everyone will have an excellent chance to live forever. 2030 is a dream and a goal."<ref name=npr>{{cite web |author=All Things Considered |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1076532 |title=Fm-2030 |publisher=NPR |date=2000-07-11 |access-date=2011-03-12 |archive-date=November 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116185111/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1076532 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a staunch anti-nationalist, he believed "There are no illegal immigrants, only irrelevant borders.".<ref name=tampabay>{{cite web|author=FM-2030|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/12/05/government-no-longer-shapes-future/|title=Government no longer shapes future|work=Tampa Bay Times|date=1994-12-05|access-date=2023-04-06|archive-date=April 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406141351/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1994/12/05/government-no-longer-shapes-future/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1973, he published a political manifesto ''Up-Wingers: A Futurist Manifesto'' in which he portrays both the [[Left-wing politics|ideological left]] and [[Right-wing politics|right]] as outdated, and in their place proposes a schema of Up-Wingers (those who look to the sky and the future) and Down-Wingers (those who look to the earth and the past).<ref name="Bellafiore">{{cite journal |last1=Bellafiore |first1=Robert |title=Accelerating to Where? |journal=The New Atlantis |date=Winter 2024 |number=75 |pages=75-85 |access-date=19 February 2025 |jstor=27283816 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27283816 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> FM-2030 identified with the former. He argued that the [[nuclear family]] structure and the idea of a city would disappear, being replaced by modular social communities he called ''mobilia'', powered by [[communitarianism]], which would persist and then disappear.<ref name=Vice />

In terms of civilization, he stated: "No civilization of the past was great. They were all primitive and persecutory, founded on mass subjugation and mass murder." In terms of identity, he stated "The young modern is not losing his identity. He is gladly disencumbering himself of it." He believed that eventually, nations would disappear, and that identities would shift from cultural to personal. In a 1972 op-Ed in ''[[The New York Times]]'', he wrote that the leadership in the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] had failed, and that the warring sides were "acting like adolescents, refuse to resolve their wasteful 25-year-old brawl", and he believed that the world was "irreversibly evolving beyond the concept of national homeland".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bidoun.org/articles/the-future-takes-forever |title=The Future Takes Forever: Becoming FM-2030 |website=bidoun.org |access-date=October 13, 2022 |archive-date=October 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013132412/https://www.bidoun.org/articles/the-future-takes-forever |url-status=live }}</ref>

FM-2030 was a lifelong vegetarian and said he would not eat anything that had a mother. He famously refused to answer any questions about his nationality, age and upbringing, claiming that such questions were irrelevant and that he was a "global person".<ref name="cryonics 2000">{{cite news |url=http://www.alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics2000-4.pdf |title=A Tribute to FM-2030 |access-date=2009-08-25 |last=Chamberlain |first=Fred |date=Winter 2000 |publisher=Alcor Life Extension Foundation |archive-date=November 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119134918/http://alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics2000-4.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> FM-2030 once said, "I am a 21st century person who was accidentally launched in the 20th. I have a deep nostalgia for the future."<ref>{{cite web|author=Greenwich Village Gazette (A New1.com Publication) |url=http://www.nycny.com/columns/nichols/nichols09-15-00.html |title=Greenwich Village Gazette: Columns: Gay Today: Jack Nichols |publisher=Nycny.com |access-date=2011-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714215926/http://www.nycny.com/columns/nichols/nichols09-15-00.html |archive-date=2011-07-14 }}</ref> As he spent much of his childhood in India, he was noted to have spoken English with a slight Indian accent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alcor.org/docs/alcor-patient-profile-FM-2030.pdf|title=A Tribute to FM-2030|date=Fall 2000|author=Fred Chamberlain|website=alcor.org|access-date=9 June 2023|archive-date=June 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606055946/https://www.alcor.org/docs/alcor-patient-profile-FM-2030.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> He taught at [[The New School]], [[University of California, Los Angeles]], and [[Florida International University]].<ref name="nytimes obituary"/> He worked as a corporate consultant for [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] and [[J. C. Penney]].<ref name="nytimes obituary"/> He was also an atheist.<ref>Esfandiary, F. M. Up-Wingers: A Futurist Manifesto. p. 185.</ref>

FM-2030 was, in his own words, a follower of "up-wing" politics (i.e. neither right-wing nor left-wing but something else), and by which he meant that he endorsed universal progress.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://aeon.co/essays/left-and-right-are-over-the-future-is-up-and-down| title = Ninety-degree revolution: Right and Left are fading away. The real question in politics will be: do you look to the earth or aspire to the skies?| access-date = December 24, 2018| archive-date = December 24, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181224220131/https://aeon.co/essays/left-and-right-are-over-the-future-is-up-and-down| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.foresightguide.com/empowerment-politics-left-right-and-up-wing| title = Empowerment Politics: Left Wing, Right Wing, and Up Wing| access-date = December 24, 2018| archive-date = December 24, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181224221333/http://www.foresightguide.com/empowerment-politics-left-right-and-up-wing| url-status = live}}</ref> He had been in a non-exclusive "friendship" (his preferred term for relationship) with Flora Schnall, a lawyer and fellow Harvard Law Class of 1959 graduate, from the 1960s until his death. FM-2030 and Schnall attended the same class as [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lithwick |first1=Dahlia |title=The Class of RBG |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/the-women-of-harvard-law-rbg-1959.html |access-date=1 January 2021 |work=Slate |agency=Slate Group |publisher=Graham Holding Company |date=21 July 2020 |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721180731/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/the-women-of-harvard-law-rbg-1959.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He resided in [[Westwood, Los Angeles]], as well as [[Miami]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-11-vw-191-story.html | title=Are You Ready? : The Future is Here, and This Author with a Strange Name Has a Test for Those Who Wonder if They'll Fit in | website=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=11 January 1989 | access-date=November 2, 2022 | archive-date=November 2, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102221101/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-11-vw-191-story.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

FM-2030 died on July 8, 2000, from [[pancreatic cancer]] at a friend's apartment in [[Manhattan]]. He was placed in [[cryonic suspension]] at the [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation]] in [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale]], Arizona, where his body remains today. He did not yet have remote standby arrangements, so no Alcor team member was present at his death, but FM-2030 was the first person to be [[Cryopreservation#Vitrification|vitrified]], rather than simply frozen as previous [[cryonics]] patients had been.<ref name="cryonics 2000"/> FM-2030 was survived by four sisters and one brother.<ref name="nyt" />

* [https://hpluspedia.org/wiki/Up-Wingers:_A_Futurist_Manifesto Up-Wingers page at hpluspedia]