Two noted professors on opposite sides of the cultural wars come together and engage in “cooperative argumentation.” One, a “Jewish, atheist libertarian” and the other a “mixed blood American Indian” bring to the table two radically different worldviews to bear on the role of colleges and universities in studying social and ecological justice. The result is an entertaining and enlightening journey that reveals surprising connections and previously misunderstood rationales that may be at the root of a world too polarized to function sanely.
In this Future Shock for the new millennium, de Rosnay, director for strategy for the Science and Industry Complex in Paris, predicts the coming of what he calls the “Cybiont”: a global “macroorganism” that encompasses humanity, the environment and technology. The culmination of de Rosnay's earlier work (The Macroscope; The Paths of Life; The Planetary Brain), this book became a bestseller upon its initial publication in France in 1995. The author regards the computer as a “macroscope,” an instrument that lets humans view larger trends and that will eventually take on a life of its own; he quotes Stephen Hawking's view that computer viruses and other electronic “intelligence” may actually be developing into forms of life. For mankind to survive, we must establish close symbiotic relationships with our technology and its emerging self-generated intelligence and with nature, he says. Unfortunately, de Rosnay fails to consider very deeply what constitutes consciousness, a subject many other scientists have investigated, or artificial intelligence. He also seems to overestimate humans' willingness to sacrifice their private interests to achieve long-term, communal goals. De Rosnay does, however, present many provocative ideas like “fractal time” and “time bubbles,” and he discusses interesting and thus far fairly esoteric advances in technological sensory perception and even brain-computer connections. This book doesn't come together as a convincing vision of the future, but it certainly provides readers with many challenging ideas to mull over, and it may encourage them to consider their individual roles in the greater scheme of things.
Amazon Page (English)
The Macroscope; The Paths of Life; The Planetary Brain
in US: The macroscope: A new world scientific system
Project Syndicate provides the world’s foremost newspapers with exclusive commentaries by prominent leaders and opinion makers. It currently offers 39 monthly series and one weekly series of columns on topics ranging from economics to international affairs to science and philosophy.
Project Syndicate is committed to maintaining the broad intellectual scope and global reach that readers need to understand the issues and choices shaping their lives. As a result, Project Syndicate's commentators reflect the world in all its variety of professions, national and cultural backgrounds, and political perspectives. Past and current contributors include:
This article is the fifth installment in series to be written by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, authors of the newly released book Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World. Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike calls it “A masterpiece. An iconic and defining book for our times.” The Economist says it's a Schumpeterian story of creative Destruction.”
The book argues that many of the institutions of the industrial age have finally come to the end of their lifecycle, and are now being reinvented around a new set of principles and a networked model.
Today's blog looks this new age of WikiLeaks and hyper-transparency
****
The arrest of Julian Assange doesn't change the new reality faced by governments and corporations that have always craved secrecy. Even if Assange is put behind bars for an extended period, others will be happy to take his place. Think of the whack-a-mole game at the arcade. Hit one on the head and another will pop up.
The WikiLeaks episode is just a hint of the world to come. We are entering an era of hyper-transparency. Courtesy of the Internet, people everywhere have at their fingertips the most powerful tool ever for finding out what's really going and informing others. They are gaining unprecedented access to all sorts of information about governments, corporations and other organizations in society.
