Bøger af Scott Robinson

The Midwestern master of randomness returns with this fourth volume of intellectual potpourri, swerving thru chaotic topical traffic - intellectual capitalism, recreational outrage, the origins of morality, and the survival value of authenticity. He toys with us here and there (The Double Negative Police, Don't Talk About Your Genitals!) and goes half-serious at times (Why Couples Fondle, Why Couples Fight) and parades the usual self-indulgent long-form (A Conversation with Hofstadter's Brain). Sure to confound, provoke and irritate, this latest entry in the This Is What I'm Saying series might also entertain...

When Gene Roddenberry conceived Star Trek, he imagined a future very different from what was typically put forth in science fiction - a future where humanity has overcome greed, bigotry, misogyny, materialism, conflict and war. Star Trek's fans embraced that vision. But many consider it unattainable, if admirable, even those who wrote and produced Star Trek after Roddenberry. Is Star Trek's vision of the human future achievable? Can humanity overcome its darkest impulses and attain a new level of social cooperation and progress? The answer, per "Chasing the Enterprise", is Yes - we can do it, because the evidence of our Paleolithic past says we already have...

Smart people love Star Trek. And smart people love thought experiments. It seems a pretty natural thing, then, to bring the two together. Trek offers up a number of thought-provoking problems all its own, from the questions of identity emanating from the Transporter to the question of Data's sentience; but thought experiments emanating from classical philosophy also resonate in Trek, from the causality issues of time travel to the timeless tension between reason and emotion. Along the way, a few more modern problems emerge, including the possibility that we are living in a computer simulation - which naturally brings holodecks to mind. Here, then, is a collection of 22 puzzles that will hopefully be both entertaining and thought-provoking for the dedicated philosophical Trekker: Can History Be Changed? * Are We Alone in the Universe? * Does the Transporter Kill You? * The Fate of Dr. Moriarty *Stretching Time * The Bootstrap Paradox * Can Time Travel Not Change History? * Can a Machine Be Conscious? * Can a Mind Move Between Bodies? * Can a Mind Download Into a Computer? * The Needs of the Many * Alien Rights * Interstellar Justice * Are We Better Off Without Emotions? * Is Perfect Happiness Possible? * and more!

This third entry in a series of what can only be called an asteroid belt of topical commentaries wobbles as wildly as its predecessors, careening from artificial intelligence to the joy of libraries to brain chemistry to sex robots to entropy and the origins of life. As usual, the author eschews all traces of continuity and theme in favor of spontaneity, stream of consciousness and whatever sense of wonder can persist in minds five decades old. Sure to annoy, irritate and polarize, this latest volume is an oversized bag of intellectual Halloween candy, with one or two of Charlie Brown's rocks thrown in for good measure...

Millions of people around the world imagine a humanist future - an era when humanity achieves full maturity, eschewing inequality, racism, misogyny, and war, in favor of cooperation and empathy and justice for all.Is such a destiny possible? Some believe that our violent and selfish impulses are built into our genes, and will always be with us - that a humanist destiny is not only unlikely but impossible.The thesis of this book is that a humanist future is not only possible but inevitable, that we can know with confidence that we have the potential to overcome our current dysfunction, because we've already achieved it - in our distant past...

John Locke's influence on American political culture has been largely misunderstood by his commentators. Though often regarded as the architect of a rationally ordered and civilized liberalism, John Locke and the Uncivilized Society demonstrates that Locke's thought is culpable for the rather uncivilized expressions of political engagement seen recently in America. By relying upon Eric Voegelin's concept of pneumopathology, Locke is shown to be subtly constructing a liberal ideology and thereby individuals who approach liberalism as closed-minded ideologues, not as deeply responsible and mature citizens. Because Locke's citizens will be slogan chanters instead of deep thinkers, Locke's work does not create a liberalism that provides the best possible regime for humans, but a mere shadow of the best possible regime.