To Be a Machine

To Be a Machine PDF Author: Mark O'Connell
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385540426
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
“This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians’ pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies—our capabilities, intelligence, and lifespans—in the hopes that, through technology, we can become something better than ourselves. It has found support among Silicon Valley billionaires and some of the world’s biggest businesses. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell explores the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries that present themselves when you of think of your body as a device. He visits the world's foremost cryonics facility to witness how some have chosen to forestall death. He discovers an underground collective of biohackers, implanting electronics under their skin to enhance their senses. He meets a team of scientists urgently investigating how to protect mankind from artificial superintelligence. Where is our obsession with technology leading us? What does the rise of AI mean not just for our offices and homes, but for our humanity? Could the technologies we create to help us eventually bring us to harm? Addressing these questions, O'Connell presents a profound, provocative, often laugh-out-loud-funny look at an influential movement. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising meditation on what it means to be human.

To Be a Machine

To Be a Machine PDF Author: Mark O'Connell
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385540426
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
“This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians’ pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies—our capabilities, intelligence, and lifespans—in the hopes that, through technology, we can become something better than ourselves. It has found support among Silicon Valley billionaires and some of the world’s biggest businesses. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell explores the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries that present themselves when you of think of your body as a device. He visits the world's foremost cryonics facility to witness how some have chosen to forestall death. He discovers an underground collective of biohackers, implanting electronics under their skin to enhance their senses. He meets a team of scientists urgently investigating how to protect mankind from artificial superintelligence. Where is our obsession with technology leading us? What does the rise of AI mean not just for our offices and homes, but for our humanity? Could the technologies we create to help us eventually bring us to harm? Addressing these questions, O'Connell presents a profound, provocative, often laugh-out-loud-funny look at an influential movement. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising meditation on what it means to be human.

Black Bodies and Transhuman Realities

Black Bodies and Transhuman Realities PDF Author: Melvin G. Hill
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498583814
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This collection explores the Black body in the context of transhuman realities from a variety of literary and artistic perspectives. Contributing to broader thought about Black transcendence of subjectivity in a posthuman framework, the chapters explore interpretations of the “old” and visions of the “new” human.

Transhumanism and the Body

Transhumanism and the Body PDF Author: C. Mercer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137342765
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
This collection of original articles, a sequel of sorts to the 2009 Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension (Palgrave Macmillan), is the first sustained reflection, by scholars with expertise in the faith traditions, on how the transhumanist agenda might impact the body.

Transhumanism and Society

Transhumanism and Society PDF Author: Stephen Lilley
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400749813
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
This book provides an introductory overview to the social debate over enhancement technologies with an overview of the transhumanists' call to bypass human nature and conservationists' argument in defense of it. The author present this controversy as it unfolds in the contest between transhumanists proponents and conservationists, who push back with an argument to conserve human nature and to ban enhancement technologies. This book provides an overview of the key contested points and present the debate in an orderly, constructive fashion. Readers are informed about the discussion over humanism, the tension between science and religion, and the interpretation of socio-technological revolutions; and are invited to make up their own mind about one of the most challenging topics concerning the social and ethical implications of technological advancements.

Transhumanism: A Realistic Future?

Transhumanism: A Realistic Future? PDF Author: Jean-pierre Fillard
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 981121140X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
Transhuman, or trans-human, is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. These abilities might include improved intelligence, awareness, strength, or durability. Transhumans sometimes appear in science-fiction as cyborgs or genetically-enhanced humans.This book will look into the question 'Can machines think?' followed by 'Can humans extend their lifespan and keep up with machines?' In other words, do we (humans) have to modify ourselves to be bionic humans, to co-exist and make the most of machines in future?

Transhumanism and the Image of God

Transhumanism and the Image of God PDF Author: Jacob Shatzer
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830865780
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Examining the transhumanist movement, biblical ethicist Jacob Shatzer grapples with the potential for technology to transform the way we think about what it means to be human. Exploring the doctrine of incarnation and topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics, medical technology, and communications tools, he guides us into careful consideration of the future of Christian discipleship in a disruptive technological environment.

The Transhumanist Movement

The Transhumanist Movement PDF Author: Francesco Paolo Adorno
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030824233
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
The book is published as part of the "PRIN 2017 The Dark side of the Law". This volume analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of the academic transhumanism movement, beginning with the relationship between anthropology and technique. The author focuses on the question of immortality, which can be considered the core of transhumanism. The true depth of immortality will be discussed, through which and how many transformations could be produced in order to change our society, which is basically shaped by and for human mortal beings, in a society composed by immortal persons. Some writers have written about what a future populated with immortals might look like, which is far removed from both the bright future painted by transhumanists and from the disappearance of humanity feared by bioconservatives.

The Transhumanist Reader

The Transhumanist Reader PDF Author: Max More
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118555996
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
The first authoritative and comprehensive survey of the origins and current state of transhumanist thinking The rapid pace of emerging technologies is playing an increasingly important role in overcoming fundamental human limitations. Featuring core writings by seminal thinkers in the speculative possibilities of the posthuman condition, essays address key philosophical arguments for and against human enhancement, explore the inevitability of life extension, and consider possible solutions to the growing issues of social and ethical implications and concerns. Edited by the internationally acclaimed founders of the philosophy and social movement of transhumanism, The Transhumanist Reader is an indispensable guide to our current state of knowledge of the quest to expand the frontiers of human nature.

Transhumanism: Entering an Era of Bodyhacking and Radical Human Modification

Transhumanism: Entering an Era of Bodyhacking and Radical Human Modification PDF Author: Emma Tumilty
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031143280
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This book surveys the distinctions that underlie the unbound potential and existential risks of life expansion and radical modifications posed by a transhuman world. Humanness is in flux as human bodies are being hacked and altered in their quest for super wellness, super intelligence and super longevity. Now is the time to discuss how best to think about dealing with bodies that have been hacked to exceed natural physical limits or more technically, species typical functioning. Enter the advent of transhumanism to take uncertainty by the horns. According to transhumanists, death is unnecessary and medical conventions undermine the possibility to radically evolve. To biohackers, there is no need to wait to explore the risks that conventional medicine dares not. This book is of interest to anyone interested in tapping into this growing movement of modifying the human body as it is right now.

Transhumanism - Engineering the Human Condition

Transhumanism - Engineering the Human Condition PDF Author: Roberto Manzocco
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030049582
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
This book is designed to offer a comprehensive high-level introduction to transhumanism, an international political and cultural movement that aims to produce a “paradigm shift” in our ethical and political understanding of human evolution. Transhumanist thinkers want the human species to take the course of evolution into its own hands, using advanced technologies currently under development – such as robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cognitive neurosciences, and nanotechnology – to overcome our present physical and mental limitations, improve our intelligence beyond the current maximum achievable level, acquire skills that are currently the preserve of other species, abolish involuntary aging and death, and ultimately achieve a post-human level of existence. The book covers transhumanism from a historical, philosophical, and scientific viewpoint, tracing its cultural roots, discussing the main philosophical, epistemological, and ethical issues, and reviewing the state of the art in scientific research on the topics of most interest to transhumanists. The writing style is clear and accessible for the general reader, but the book will also appeal to graduate and undergraduate students.