‘Publish or Perish’ refers to the expectation from academics to regularly publish academic papers in order to keep their positions or advance within their field.

During the Renaissance, the Catholic Church was at the height of its political power in Europe. Funding, collecting and commissioning works of art served to bolster its influence in the political realm. Over many centuries, the Church’s art patronage has steadily declined as a result of a number of factors including the Church’s ability to raise funding, critique of this art following secularization and the rise of Protestantism, and the increasing dominance of the capitalist market.

A financial transaction tax is a tax on purchasing assets (e.g. stock sales, currencies, derivatives) for short term gains, which seeks to “throw sand in the wheels” of financial markets by reducing the use of financial resources for speculative use.

‘Intergenerational meritocracy’ is a national ethos adopted to differing extents in countries (for example, the ‘American Dream’ in the United States and ‘British Promise’ in the United Kingdom). It most commonly emphasises sacrifice, risk-taking and hard work, and the idea that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain upward mobility and their own version of success.

For the purpose of this debate, ‘Augmented Eternity’ refers to a technology which allows individuals to use data from their lifelong online presence to create a ‘digital mind’ that would continue to exist after their death. This digital being would be able to communicate based on predictions it can make from the data it was provided. The digital being is not 'sentient'.