Michael Chorost

It was okay, really 2 and a three quarter stars; a geeky technophilic codex on the coming singularity. Depending on one's worldview, this could be the blueprint--instructions for the mark of the beast (ha!) OR simply scientific fictions quickly becoming scientific fact. I'm still left with the question of how exactly consciousness fits into the merging of humanity and machine. I'm not convinced science can even pin down exactly what is consciousness. Even if this would be possible do we really want to have real-time access to a world wide mind? Having the internet itself, Facebook, and Twitter is one thing, but to literally be able to tune in to someone's thoughts instantly--doesn't sound like much fun at all. What about computer viruses and biological viruses; worms and Trojan horses competing with real tapeworms and retroviruses. If this will be the next stage in human evolution than security issues and matters of consciousness will be this stage's missing link.… (mer)

Short. A little superficial. The technical & medical parts were a bit over my head (or beyond my patience?) at times. The 'more human' parts were mostly focused on dating, less on friendship, hardly at all on his r'ships with his parents or colleagues. However, there was a lot that was very interesting and I was sufficiently immersed to finish in one night.

One thing a reader will learn from this is how the debate about Deaf (signing) Culture is changing, now that cochlear implants are becoming so effective they can be implanted in toddlers, and those children are then almost 'fixed.' (My oversimplification; not his.)

Another recurrent theme is the exact definition of cyborg, vs robot or Star Trek's Borg or Steve Mann's mediated reality. I'll let you read for details, but it pretty much comes down to Chorost saying that he's a cyborg because his prosthetic is not only implanted and part of him, but it's *controlling* him - it's changing the wiring of his brain.

There's some interesting philosophy, too:

A perspective that sorts everything in the world into good and evil is itself the greatest possible evil because it blinds the storyteller to the complexity and multidimensionality of the world."

When faced with such complexity, with the contradictions and paradoxes of the world and of human nature:

"One can go mad.... One can withdraw from the search for knowledge into the false safety of dogma. Or one can choose to see the multivalence of the universe as an invitation to explore and play."

ETA: For a kid's perspective of the topic, check out the graphic memoir [b:El Deafo|20701984|El Deafo|Cece Bell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408469577s/20701984.jpg|40021855]. Great book; almost made me sniffle it was so heartwarming, funny, True, etc.
"… (mer)

WORLD WIDE WEB diventa WORLD WIDE MIND
Tutti sappiamo che cos'è Internet. Sta per "International Network". Alla stessa maniera conosciamo il significato di WWW - "World Wide Web" acronimo per "Grande Rete Mondiale". L'autore di questo importante libro avanza una prospettiva che può fare paura oppure entusiasmare. Quella di una rete che ha per acronimo WWM - "World Wide Mind". Come dire la "Grande Mente Mondiale", l'integrazione tra umanità, macchine e Internet. L'autore esplora le conseguenze che possono sorgere dal contatto non più tra siti ed indirizzi dai quali la Rete è formata, bensì tra "menti" diverse e distanti tra di loro. Il libro esplora la possibilità di una tecnologia che possa mettere in collegamento i nostri corpi e le nostre menti in modo da acquisire una coscienza collettiva. La WWM - "World Wide Mind" potrebbe essere la prossima rivoluzione del genere umano. Fantasia? Utopia? Provocazione? Non tanto, se si pensa che l'autore Michael Chorost ha dei computer nella sua testa, due trapianti cocleari. Non sapete cosa sono? Allora non siete pronti per essere collegati alla futura rete della mente universale. Quando avrò letto bene il libro ne parlerò più a lungo. Accontentatevi di questo per il momento. Oppure comprate il libro.… (mer)

This is the treadmill book (like Petra X's handbag book).

Michael Chorost, already partially deaf, suddenly went completely deaf. More than just a memoir of this experience of deafness and acquiring a cochlear implant, Rebuilt's narrative is intertwined with Chorost's thoughts and speculations about becoming a cyborg (that is, a human with "software that makes if-then-else decisions and acts on the body to carry them out" (p. 40). This is a good book to read with Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto," which Chorost references extensively, and Myron Uhlberg's [b:Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love|3899622|Hands of My Father A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love|Myron Uhlberg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223317522s/3899622.jpg|3944930].

Chorost's musings can sometimes be tiring. Put the book down and return to it later--it's worth following him through the whole thought, but sometimes his style can be wearing as he delves into semiotics and representation.

Note to Houghton Mifflin: What's wrong with this statement? "...I would find an oak seed in the yard, break its green whirlybird wings in half, and paste the sap-sticky center on my nose...." (p. 32). Clearly, copy editing is a lost art.… (mer)