THE UPLIFT PROJECT

About the Book

In this book the author puts forward an agenda to enhance intelligence and longevity in humans, select animal species (including dogs, dolphins and elephants), and machines. This effort would extend over 1,000 years or 40 human generations. Enhancements of IQ and longevity in humans would involve both environmental and genetic improvements in membership IQ and longevity. The goal would be a mean IQ of 145 and an average longevity of 100 years in human Uplift Project members by the end of these 1,000 years. Given that Uplift Project members will probably at project outset have better than average IQ and life expectancy, this could involve as little as a two standard deviations increase in IQ (30 points) and one standard deviation increase in longevity (20 years) over these 1,000 years.The Uplift Project would also expand human, animal and machine membership not only across the planet, but to the moon, Mars, and space colonies.

About the Author

Robert Holson’s life can best be divided into four time periods, involving five countries (USA, England, India, Jordan and Mexico). Born to a professional soldier (Aden Allen Holson) who saw service along the Mexican border in search of Pancho Villa in the early 1900s, then in France in WWI and the Pacific in WWII, Robert was born on an army base in 1941, just prior to this country’s entry into WWII. Robert spent 3rd grade in the UK, where his father was stationed during the Berlin airlift, then lived in various parts of Southern California, where he graduated from High School in Barstow in 1959. He attended college at the University of California at Berkeley, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Asian history. Robert then joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in India, where he met his wife Andrea, also a Peace Corps volunteer. Thereafter Robert worked for CARE, supplying very large scale school lunch programs and food for work projects in the then Indian States of Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. Robert’s oldest son Seth was born in Patna, the then capital of Bihar. A second son, Ethan, was born stateside during this period. After 5 years in India, Robert went to Jordan with CARE for almost 3 years. As a consequence of the above, Holson is fluent in written and spoken Hindi, comfortable in scientific German and Spanish, and able to count to ten in Arabic, one of the world’s toughest languages! Robert then left CARE and returned to the US, where he obtained a PhD in psychology from the University of Washington in Seattle. Holson then conducted neuroscience research for some 13 years at the National Center for Scientific Research in Arkansas, followed by almost as many years as professor and researcher in the Department of Psychology at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro New Mexico, where he retired as departmental chair. During this second career Holson published over 80 scientific articles. After retirement he researched and wrote this book, while dividing his time between grandchildren in Seattle and homes in Socorro and the historic town of Alamos in Mexico.