The Reality of Radical Life Extension
In case this blog is seeming a bit too frivolous lately, here's a short quote from Simon Critchley's brilliant Book of Dead Philosophers, from his entry on Lucretius. (Something for Aubrey de Grey, Ray...
View ArticleBruce Sterling on the idea of Google as a collective intelligence
This is not an especially new thought, but Sterling does have a way with words (correction: see link below for his actual words): The original sin of geekdom is to think that just because you can think...
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Book Notes
It's been a while since I did a book post here. Here are a few newish books I think are worth your time. My pick for best book of 2008 is Maggie Jackson's Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the...
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Polity’s Digital Media and Society Series
I'd seen a couple of these books before but didn't realize they were part of a series. All 8 books sound excellent. Here is the blurb for the recently published Search Engine Society by Alexander...
View ArticleChris Hedges on Atheism, Science, and Moral Progress
Chris Hedges's When Atheism Becomes Religion* might be of interest to readers of this blog for its critique of the scientistic thinking underlying recent books about atheism by the likes of Sam Harris,...
View ArticleRevisiting Snow’s Two Cultures
New Scientist asked several prominent people for an update on C.P. Snow's Two Cultures: Science and Art: Still Two Cultures Divided? I finally got around to reading Two Cultures a few months ago. What...
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Galileo Goes To Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion
Interesting new book edited by historian Ronald L. Numbers: Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion. From the publisher's page: If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in...
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New Books
Some recent books I've bought or spotted: Hal Niedzviecki's The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors looks at oversharing in the digital age. Naturally he has a...
View ArticleMichael Sandel on Genetics and Morality
"It is tempting to think that bioengineering our children and ourselves for success in a competitive society is an exercise of freedom. But changing our nature to fit the world, rather than the other...
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Mechanization Takes Command
A classic book that is often cited in studies of the history and social impact of technology is Sigfried Giedion's 1948 Mechanization Takes Command. Lucky for us the always-excellent New York Review...
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