To Be a Machine

To Be a Machine Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death

Meet the visionaries, billionaires, professors, and programmers who are using groundbreaking technology to push the limits of the human body--our senses, intelligence, and our lifespans Once relegated to the fringes of society, transhumanism (the use of technology to enhance human intellectual and physical capability) is now poised to enter our cultural mainstream. It has found adherents in Silicon Valley billionaires Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. Google has entered the picture, establishing a bio-tech subsidiary aimed at solving the problem of aging. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell takes a headlong dive into this burgeoning movement. He travels to the laboratories, conferences, and basements of today's foremost transhumanists, where he's presented with the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries of new technologies like mind uploading, artificial superintelligence, cryonics, and device implants. A contributor to Slate, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine, O'Connell serves as a sharp and lively guide to the outer limits of technology in the twenty first century. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising, singular meditation on what it means to be human.
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Reviews

Photo of Ryan LaFerney
Ryan LaFerney@ryantlaferney
4 stars
Dec 15, 2022
Photo of Lynn
Lynn@lynncornelissen
4 stars
Oct 26, 2021
Photo of Toby Fehily
Toby Fehily@tobyfehily
5 stars
Sep 24, 2022
Photo of Molly Bridge
Molly Bridge@mollyb
5 stars
Aug 12, 2022
Photo of Sebastian Stockmarr
Sebastian Stockmarr@stockmarr
4 stars
Nov 18, 2021
Photo of Ricardo López
Ricardo López@rirsc
3 stars
Sep 19, 2021
Photo of Teshia Treuhaft
Teshia Treuhaft@teshia
5 stars
Aug 12, 2021

Highlights

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