Bryan Appleyard

In lots of ways this is an interesting book, as it looks at the links between art, culture, artificial intelligence, humanity and the power of the mind.

In a series of chapters Appleyard looks at the promises of advertising that offer a solution to your complicated life. To see how his brain works he undergoes a fMRI scan and analysis by the doctors,, he speaks to doctors who look at people with brain damage to see how they relate to normal people. He meets with a series of influential people; Bill Gates, James Lovelock and Eric Schmidt all with the aim of finding out their view on where humanity is heading and how we interact in the modern world.

All interesting stuff; but my main feeling was that the book didn’t hang together as a complete work. Maybe it would have worked better to have it split into sections and into separate essays.
… (mer)