# Max More **Domain:** Transhumanism / Human Enhancement / Longevity **Doc Type:** Person Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Max More** is a transhumanist writer and founder of the Extropy Institute. His “A Letter to Mother Nature: Amendments to the Human Constitution,” read at the EXTRO 4 conference at the University of California, Berkeley, on 8 August 1999, frames longevity, sensory expansion, neural augmentation and post-biological possibility as proposed amendments to human life. The letter is a declaration of aims, not an achieved technical result. ## Corpus Context Amendment No. 1 asserts that people should decide their own lifespan through biomedical intervention. [[articles/Uploading Is Imminent|Uploading Is Imminent]] follows the continuity aspiration, while [[articles/Who Pays for Your Heaven|Who Pays for Your Heaven]] asks what durable provision and custody would be required if survival depends on technology. ## Relationships - **Authored work:** “A Letter to Mother Nature: Amendments to the Human Constitution” (read at EXTRO 4 in 1999; republished by More in 2023). - **Institutional role:** Founder of the Extropy Institute. - **Conceptual routes:** [[wiki/Transhumanism|Transhumanism]] and [[wiki/Digital Afterlife|Digital Afterlife]]. - **Collection routes:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] and [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]]. - **Source articles:** [[articles/Uploading Is Imminent|Uploading Is Imminent]] and [[articles/Who Pays for Your Heaven|Who Pays for Your Heaven]]. - **Earlier talk:** [“Beyond the Machine: Technology and Posthuman Freedom”](https://maxmore.substack.com/p/beyond-the-machine-technology-and), delivered at Ars Electronica in 1997 and republished in 2023, relates technological self-creation to individual freedom and responsibility. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "We will no longer tolerate the tyranny of aging and death. Through genetic alterations, cellular manipulations, synthetic organs, and any necessary means, we will endow ourselves with enduring vitality and remove our expiration date. We will each decide for ourselves how long we shall live." > **— Max More**, *1999, “A Letter to Mother Nature,” Amendment No. 1* [[reminders/Preservation/Humans Should Decide How Long They Live by Max More|Humans Should Decide How Long They Live by Max More]] > “I look forward to it as the next phase of our development away from unconscious nature towards a posthuman condition of self-creation or automorphing.” > **— Max More**, *“Beyond the Machine: Technology and Posthuman Freedom”* [[reminders/Evolution/The Next Phase Is Posthuman Self-Creation by Max More|The Next Phase Is Posthuman Self-Creation by Max More]] ## Sources / Provenance - [Max More's republication and original conference context](https://maxmore.substack.com/p/letter-to-mother-nature-amendments). - [Max More, “Beyond the Machine: Technology and Posthuman Freedom”](https://maxmore.substack.com/p/beyond-the-machine-technology-and) — the cited self-creation passage and its responsibility context.