| Description |
241 pages ; 20 cm |
| Summary |
What is trans-humanism? Simply put, it is a movement whose aim is to use technology to fundamentally change the human condition, to improve our bodies and minds to the point where we become something other, and better, than the animals we are. It's a philosophy that, depending on how you look at it, can seem hopeful, or terrifying, or absurd. In To Be a Machine, Mark O'Connell presents us with the first full-length exploration of transhumanism: its philosophical and scientific roots, its key players and possible futures. To Be a Machine paints a vivid portrait of an international movement driven by strange and frequently disturbing ideas and practices, but whose obsession with transcending human limitations can be seen as a kind of cultural microcosm, a radical intensification of our broader faith in the power of technology as an engine of human progress. It is a character study of human eccentricity, and a meditation on the immemorial desire to transcend the basic facts of our animal existence - a desire as primal as the oldest religions, a story as old as the earliest literary texts |
| Notes |
First published in 2017 |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-241) |
| Subject |
Human evolution -- Technological innovations.
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Human-computer interaction.
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Human-machine systems.
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Cyborgs.
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| Genre/Form |
Reading nook.
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| ISBN |
9781783781980 (paperback) |
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