Chile: VII Futures Congress

Going through immigration into England was amazing, relatively speaking. Absolutely speaking, it was like walking up to an electronic booth, putting my passport and face in front of different cameras, and then walking off. But compared to the usual experience entering America—well, it’s rare for anything to be that much better than expected.

Then I got to Chile, and the process was ‘sit in your own private room in a fancy armchair while someone else deals with immigration for you’.

Immigration in Santiago

Which wasn’t unqualifiedly better—there is something about handing your passport to a stranger, who doesn’t appear to work at the airport, because they told you to, five minutes after landing in South America for the first time (and being escorted into some back room by someone who doesn’t speak English or work at the airport) that rings some alarm bells. But it did turn out to be the VIP treatment, not the elaborate mugging treatment.

I was a speaker at Chile’s Congreso Futuro, a giant weeklong event in which intellectuals from around the world convene in Santiago to talk to each other and to the Chilean public about questions like whether plants are conscious, how to have basically correct factual views, how to make artificial glaciers, and whether artificial intelligence will soon eliminate the need for us to worry about any of these things. 

Me in a panel with Richard Fisher from the BBC, Nadia M. Thalmann who has a robot clone, and Zoltan Istvan, transhumanist politician (photo: elmostrador)

The Chilean senate organizes this, and everyone seemed to take it suitably seriously. The pope came to visit Santiago while it was running, and the roads all around our hotel were closed off for his visit. But our Congreso bus was the one vehicle allowed out, escorted by the police. Just so that we could all get to our speaker cocktail party, if I recall. Which in fairness was a pretty good cocktail party.

Pretty good giant columns at a pretty good cocktail party

They also organized for us to dine with the president. And apparently other speakers got a free trip to Antarctica or something. (I got some bottles of wine, which I probably prefer, aside from the relative gesturing.)

The president hosted dinner at Palacio de La Moneda or ‘Palace of the currency’, so named because it used to be a mint. (photo by Leopoard123)

There were about a hundred speakers, half of them Wikipedia notable, and yet apparently even I was on TV and the radio. 

People kept interviewing me. And they were never very clear about what they were planning to do with it, or even what they were recording exactly. Probably partly because we didn’t speak any overlapping languages, and also because they are used to people knowing that if they are called TrendTIC then they are a magazine. One time they wanted to interview me live on the radio. Which is usually a thing I would worry about for at least a week, and then be miserable about during and maybe after. But without any time for that I actually really enjoyed it. 

Each speaker had a attaché - usually an undergraduate student volunteer - who would check that we were happy and not lost, and tell us when journalists wanted to interview us, and in quiet moments approach us in large bands and ask for our autographs.

I suppose one goal of such an event is to raise the public standing of science. And while broadcasting interesting sciencey things helps with that, another thing that helps is treating scientists like rock stars.

Anyway, I had a good time. Maybe I should write a paper more often. 

Some other things in Santiago:

Santa Lucía Hill is very decorative. Not pictured: people kissing everywhere

Also everywhere: free dogs

Apparently locking your love to a bridge then throwing the key in a river is a wildly successful new custom. I don’t quite understand the mechanics, but I am more interested in the mechanics of wildly successful new custom initiation.

Australia day event held by the Australian Embassy in Chile. At first I was suspicious, because it was not Australia day, and the address was not that of the Australian Embassy. I was more suspicious when I arrived and zero people said ‘G’day mate, that’s Jezza, wanna beer?’ Or even seemed to speak Australian fluently. But then they ran a lottery, attempted to sing the relevant national anthems, had a long speech in Spanish by the purported ambassador, and presented a very loud BeeGee’s cover band, and I decided that this was just an innocently strange gathering of Chilean Australia enthusiasts.

Chile from the air over the sea, with plane wing.