Transhumanism Follow-up

Greetings everyone,

I just want to again say thank you to everyone for coming to the Transhumanism meet-up and for your support and kind words. The whole experience reinforced my desire to teach and provided fresh motivation to keep working toward that goal.

Some of you expressed an interest in the books mentioned during the presentation, so I wanted to list a few of the more influential titles (at least for me). If you read these and want to dialogue about them, look me up or post on this discussion. Also, this is not a complete list, so feel free to add. I'd love to hear about some new books on the topic I may not have read.

Thanks,
Will L.

Godel, Escher & Bach - Douglas Hofstadter = Hofstadter's best-known work. An exploration of self-reference and meaning in math, art, and music with some fun puzzles mixed in.

The Mind's I - Douglas Hofstadter & Daniel Dennett = A collection of essays and excerpts with commentary from Dennett and Hofstadter. Some of the technology referenced is pretty outdated, but there is still some great food for thought.

I am A Strange Loop - Douglas Hofstadter = Hofstadter's most recent work. His thought is more developed and this one is more autobiographical in nature.

The Singularity is Near - Ray Kurzweil = Kurzweil's most recent technology-focused work. Be prepared for some bold predictions.

Are We Spiritual Machines? Ray Kurzweil vs. The Critics of Strong A.I. = Ray Kurzweil debates some of his most outspoken critics.

On Intelligence - Jeff Hawkins = A balanced perspective on the nature of intelligence and why our current technological path isn't necessary leading to strong A.I. despite faster chips and more memory.

Emergence - Steven Johnson = A book about the developing science of complexity written for a popular audience. I found it very interesting.