Talking Back to the Machine

Abstract

Focusing on the impact of computers on humans, this book features brilliant essays on how computers will affect the ways we live, learn, teach, communicate, and relate to each other in the coming decades. How can we reconcile Shakespeare's account of human behavior and that of modern brain science? That's the central question addressed by the noted Glasgow chemist A.G. Cairns-Smith in this provocative, witty, and highly accessible discussion of conscious awareness, free will, and science. From one of the editors of the renowned book Beyond Calculation, acclaimed by The New York Times for its "astonishing intellectual reach", comes a new collection of equal brilliance. Focusing on the impact of computers on humans, Talking to the Machine features essays on how computers will affect the ways we live, learn, teach, communicate, and relate to each other in the coming decades. Outstanding contemporary thinkers, representing the best of many fields, include: * Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann, on the quality of information * Secretary of DefenseWilliam Perry, on how computers will affect warfare * Eliot Soloway, on the impact of computers on education Other contributors include Robert Metcalfe, James Burke, Bruce Sterling, plus many other pioneers. They describe the myriad ways, both good and bad, in which our lives will be altered by information technology, and what we can do to influence these changes. Providing a detailed look at the likely futures of computing, computers, and how they will influence our lives, Talking Back to the Machine is a must-read for anyone who is interested in technology and society.