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Digital technologies are rewriting our history, our society, our future and certainly one day they will rewrite life. A life that finds its way without too many constraints in the two worlds (digital and organic) with such ease and speed that it seemed important to me to trace, at least partially, its path, its impact. As I walked through the two spaces and species of progress, I was surprised, amazed and worried. Life is digitalized, like the Caenorhabditis Elegans: a small worm whose neural network’s complexity (the connectome) is now totally under control, and which can be fully simulated on a computer. From neural activation to behavior, we know almost everything about this tiny life form of just over a millimeter. The organic connects to the digital with or without wires, but always by opening new avenues. Men control insects with electrical impulses to make them run in the direction men wish. Men rewrite the genetic codes of life to simplify, arrange or synthesize it. Others are working to create a general artificial intelligence capable, at least, of equaling us.
We are currently living in an age of scientific humanism. Cyborgs, robots, avatars, and bio-technologically created beings are new entities that exist alongside biological human beings. As with many emerging technologies, many people will find the concept foreign and frightening. There is a strong possibility that these entities will be mistreated. Philosophical Issues of Human Cyborgization and the Necessity of Prolegomena on Cyborg Ethics discusses the ethics of human cyborgization as well as emerging technologies of robots and avatars that exhibit human-like qualities. The chapters build a strong case for the necessity of cyborg ethics and protocols for preserving the vitality of life within an ever-advancing technological society. Covering topics such as cyborg hacking, historical reality, and naturalism, this book is a dynamic resource for scientists, ethicists, cyber behavior professionals, students and professors of both technological and philosophical studies, faculty of higher education, philosophers, AI engineers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and academicians.
Winner of the Gradiva® Best Book Award 2022, and the Courage to Dream Book Prize 2023 from the Academy of the American Psychoanalytic Association! This book is a psychoanalytic and philosophical exploration of how the digital is transforming our perception of the world and our understanding of ourselves. Drawing on examples from everyday life, myth, and popular culture, this book argues that virtual reality is only the latest instantiation of the phenomenon of the virtual, which is intrinsic to human being. It illuminates what is at stake in our understanding of the relationship between the virtual and the real, showing how our present technologies both enhance and diminish our psychological lives. The authors claim that technology is a pharmakon - at the same time both a remedy and a poison - and in their writing exemplify a method that overcomes the polarization that compels us to regard it either as a liberating force or a dangerous threat in human life. The digital revolution challenges us to reckon with the implications of what is being called our posthuman condition, leaving behind our modern conception of the world as constituted by atemporal essences and reconceiving it instead as one of processes and change. The book’s postscript considers the sudden plunge into the virtual effected by the 2020 global pandemic. Accessible and wide-reaching, this book will appeal not only to psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and philosophers, but anyone interested in the ways virtuality and the digital are transforming our contemporary lives.
Dive into the pages of 'Post-Human Evolution: Merging with Technology for Enhanced Consciousness'—an exploration that transcends the boundaries of conventional thought. This groundbreaking book navigates the uncharted waters of post-humanism, unraveling the intricacies of merging human consciousness with cutting-edge technologies. From the dawn of post-human evolution to the speculative landscapes of the future, this narrative delves into the controversial and transformative journey that could redefine what it means to be human. In twenty compelling chapters, the reader is guided through a labyrinth of ideas, from the ethical considerations of technological enhancement to the development of neurointerfaces and the integration of augmented reality into our everyday lives. The rise of cyborgs, the implications of genetic modification, and the quest for immortality are dissected with both empathy and scrutiny. The book contemplates the impact on societal structures, family dynamics, and the emergence of post-human subcultures, painting a vivid picture of a world where humanity is on the brink of profound change. The narrative extends beyond Earth, speculating on the potential cosmic exploration by post-humans and the ethical considerations that accompany such endeavors. This isn't just a book; it's a journey—an intellectual and emotional exploration into the possibilities and dilemmas that arise when humanity merges with technology. As the reader turns each page, they are invited to reflect on their own beliefs, fears, and aspirations for a future where the boundaries between human and machine blur. 'Post-Human Evolution' isn't just about the future; it's about the present and the choices we make today that will shape the trajectory of our species. It's a tapestry woven with philosophical depth, ethical inquiry, and a compassionate understanding of the human experience. Join us on this thought-provoking voyage, where the pages of the book are a gateway to a future that beckons us all.
Feminist Posthumanism in Contemporary Science Fiction Film and Media: From Annihilation to High Life and Beyond places posthumanism and feminist theory into dialogue with contemporary science fiction film and media. This essay collection is intimately invested in the debates around the posthuman and the critical posthumanities within a feminist critical-theoretical framework. In this posthumanist light, science fiction as a genre allows for new imaginings of human-technological relations, while it can also be the site of a critique of human exceptionalism and essentialism. In this way, science fiction affords unique opportunities for the scholarly investigation of the relevance and relative applicability of specific posthumanist themes and questions in a particularly rich and wide-ranging popular cultural field of production. One of the reasons for this suitability is the genre's historically longstanding relationship with the critical investigation of gender, specifically the position and relative empowerment of women. The original analyses presented here pay close attention to audiovisual style (including game mechanics), facilitating the critical interrogation of the issues and questions around posthumanism. Where typically the mention of SF in the posthumanist context calls to mind a whole set of (often clichéd) tropes-the cyborg, technologically augmented bodies, AI subjectivities, etc.-this volume's thirteen chapters analyze specific examples of contemporary SF cinema that engage in meaningful ways with the burgeoning field of critical posthumanism, and that utilize such films to interrogate posthumanist and feminist as well as humanistic ideas.
With the rise of far-reaching technological innovation, from artificial intelligence to Big Data, human life is increasingly unfolding in digital lifeworlds. While such developments have made unprecedented changes to the ways we live, our political practices have failed to evolve at pace with these profound changes. In this path-breaking work, Mathias Risse establishes a foundation for the philosophy of technology, allowing us to investigate how the digital century might alter our most basic political practices and ideas. Risse engages major concepts in political philosophy and extends them to account for problems that arise in digital lifeworlds including AI and democracy, synthetic media and surveillance capitalism and how AI might alter our thinking about the meaning of life. Proactive and profound, Political Theory of the Digital Age offers a systemic way of evaluating the effect of AI, allowing us to anticipate and understand how technological developments impact our political lives – before it's too late.
In public debates over biotechnology, theologians, philosophers, and political theorists have proposed that biotechnology could have significant implications for human nature. They argue that ethical evaluations of biotechnologies that might affect human nature must take these implications into account. In this book, Gerald McKenny examines these important yet controversial arguments, which have in turn been criticized by many moral philosophers and professional bioethicists. He argues that Christian ethics is, in principle, committed to some version of the claim that human nature has normative status in relation to biotechnology. Showing how both criticisms and defences of this claim have often been facile, he identifies, develops, and critically evaluates three versions of the claim, and contributes a fourth, distinctively Christian version to the debate. Focusing on Christian ethics in conversation with secular ethics, McKenny's book is the first thorough analysis of a controversial contemporary issue.
In From Online Platforms to Digital Monopolies: Technology, Information and Power, Jonas C L Valente discusses the rise of platforms as key players in deferments social activities, from economy to culture and politics and how they are becoming digital monopolies.
This highly interdisciplinary book discusses the phenomenon of life, including its origin and evolution, against the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory. Among the central themes is the seeming contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and the high degree of order and complexity produced by living systems. As the author shows, this paradox has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy that enters the biosphere from outside sources. Another focus of the book is the role of information in human cultural evolution, which is also discussed with the origin of human linguistic abilities. One of the final chapters addresses the merging of information technology and biotechnology into a new discipline — bioinformation technology.This third edition has been updated to reflect the latest scientific and technological advances. Professor Avery makes use of the perspectives of famous scholars such as Professor Noam Chomsky and Nobel Laureates John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edward Moser to cast light on the evolution of human languages. The mechanism of cell differentiation, and the rapid acceleration of information technology in the 21st century are also discussed.With various research disciplines becoming increasingly interrelated today, Information Theory and Evolution provides nuance to the conversation between bioinformatics, information technology, and pertinent social-political issues. This book is a welcome voice in working on the future challenges that humanity will face as a result of scientific and technological progress.
Bringing together the latest scientific advances and some of the most enduring subtle philosophical puzzles and problems, this book collects original historical and contemporary sources to explore the wide range of issues surrounding the nature of life. Selections ranging from Aristotle and Descartes to Sagan and Dawkins are organised around four broad themes covering classical discussions of life, the origins and extent of natural life, contemporary artificial life creations and the definition and meaning of 'life' in its most general form. Each section is preceded by an extensive introduction connecting the various ideas discussed in individual chapters and providing helpful background material for understanding them. With its interdisciplinary perspective, this fascinating collection is essential reading for scientists and philosophers interested in astrobiology, synthetic biology and the philosophy of life.