Fabulous conversation! I loved Karl's statement that

"Science fiction isn't about predicting the future, it's about minimizing surprise."

Reminds me of Kary Mullis's shrewd remark that

"You're not supposed to be hard-headed in science; you're supposed to be ready for the things that you really believe in to turn out to not to be true, and you're supposed to ENJOY that."

I wrote a short article about this very thing that was posted in transhumanist magazine H+, in which I explored a few of the many ways science fiction has proposed a posthuman future:

realitysandwich.com/transhumanist_speculation

And the conversation they have toward the end about petitioning transcendent AI with prayer is connected intimately with the thinking of the so-called "psychedelic transhumanists" like Terence McKenna and Erik Davis, who show a much warmer view of this future than Charles has suggested:

realitysandwich.com/psychedelic_transhumanists

I'd love to discuss these themes with any interested parties...feel free to get in touch at michaelgarfield at gmail.

Thanks for posting this video!