The Evolution of Wired Life: From the Alphabet to the Soul-Catcher Chip—How Information Technologies Change Our...

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
• Published by: Wiley August 30, 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471357596
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471357599
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Review
This is hardly the first book that promises to answer the question of how digital technologies are changing the nature of human reality. What's surprising is its answer: not much. In The Evolution of Wired Life: From the Alphabet to the Soul-Catcher Chip--How Information Technologies Change Our World, Charles Jonscher argues lucidly against the oft-heard proposition that computers are here to revolutionize, or even replace, the workings of our minds and societies. Drawing partly on the long prehistory of today's information technologies--reaching back all the way to the invention of alphabetic writing in the ancient Middle East--he makes a strong case for the contrary view: that human thoughts and interactions have always had, and always will have, more importance than the tools used to convey them.

Jonscher's no Luddite, though. A London investment banker and information-policy expert, he began his career as a programmer in the '70s, and he has retained an admiration for and deep understanding of computers. In fact, anyone looking for an inspired and intelligent introduction to the nature of digital technology--how it works, how it came to be, how it both resembles and differs from such intimately human mechanisms as the brain and the genome--need look no further. Jonscher doesn't dispute that computers are a fascinating philosophical conundrum, or that the question of "who we are in the digital age," as he puts it, isn't an interesting one. What he resists, compellingly, "is the claim that by deciding we're computers, we've cracked the mystery of human life." --Julian Dibbell

Product Description
"Thoughtful and erudite Intelligent and readableWill appeal to people who enjoyed Longitude by Dava Sobel or Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh." -The San Diego Union Tribune

"Most engaging."-The Boston Globe

"An optimistic and reassuring assertion that no matter what wonders we invent, human beings . . . remain infinitely more complex and interesting."-The Economist

A lively, informative examination of the computer revolution-and why the top-performing information-processing device is still the human brain

If we believe the forecasts of many computer enthusiasts, a wave of amazing devices will soon fundamentally change our lives, and the "thinking machine" is just around the corner. In this authoritative and entertaining book, critically acclaimed author Charles Jonscher presents the other side of the argument: while communication developments have changed society, they also have their limits. He shows us that in order to understand the true transformative powers of the new technologies, we must know about the long history of their development-and why no calculating machine can match the creative power of the human mind. Rich in insights from literature, philosophy, and history, The Evolution of Wired Life offers a fascinating look at the development of the digital era, from the invention of the first alphabetic language to the printing press to the World Wide Web.

Reader Reviews
This is an enormously engrossing study of the nature and evolution of the brain and of today's digital technology revolution. In examining the brain and its silicon creations, the workings, potential and uniqueness of BOTH are explored in detail, along with the challenge that computers can reach mind-like thinking with artificial intelligence, neural computing and fuzzy logic. With clarity and brilliant insights, Jonscher shows the limits of technology's reach toward mind-like thinking, making a compelling argument that no machine can ever rival the complexities and subtleties of the brain; that no digital device will ever answer a question that lies outside of the 'computable' category. Thinking is not purely mechanical, the author concludes, and the brain is something which cannot be fully understood, let alone replicated, by applying its own capacities. But this book does more than take on the Big Question -will computers ever think like people?; it opens the reader's mind to the realities of THINKING, within the dynamic context of four billion years of evolution and our evolving Knowledge Society. This is an enlightening, entertaining, and very accessible work. A powerful book that deftly handles ideas and issues of mind-challenging proportions. Very highly recommended. Reviewed by Gerry Stern and Yvette Borcia, editors of Stern's Management Review, founders, Stern & Associates and the HR Knowledge Network, authors of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.