Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit
As Toynbee once wrote, “Man achieves civilization … as a response to a challenge in a situation of special difficulty which rouses him to make a hitherto unprecedented effort.”
Richard Powers • The Overstory: Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Engineering desires in robots or in humans raises serious questions about humanity’s future. Historian Yuval Noah Harari ends his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind with these words: “But since we might soon be able to engineer our desires, too, the real question facing us is not ‘What do we want to become?,’ but ‘What do we want to want?’
... See moreLuke Burgis • Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
The key factor was that the plant-seeking botanist and the colony-seeking naval officer shared a similar mindset. Both scientist and conqueror began by admitting ignorance – they both said, ‘I don’t know what’s out there.’ They both felt compelled to go out and make new discoveries. And they both hoped the new knowledge thus acquired would make the
... See moreYuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
