- Signed
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Dave Wilhelm Books, Evanston, IL, U.S.A.Dave Wilhelm Books
AbeBooks seller since March 19, 2001
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 26.67
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Seller Inventory # 004103
- Title
- The Future Does Not Compute
- Author
- Talbott, Stephen
- Publisher
- O'Reilly
- Publication year
- 1995
- Condition
- Very Good
- Dust jacket
- Very Good
- Signed
- ISigned by Author
- Binding
- Hard Cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1565920856
- ISBN 13
- 9781565920859
- Item weight
- 29 ounces
Talbott awakens us to these influences by conducting a wide-ranging tour:
Why do we hail the birth of the electronic global village just as villagers around the world are killing each other? Is the Net an instrument for social dissolution?Do the Renaissance origins of virtual reality throw light on our world-creating and world-destroying choices today? Does reality have a future?Were the barriers to creation of thinking machines clarified by a little-known philologist investigating the mythic consciousness of the ancients?Does the computer centralize or decentralize structures of power? Or does this question miss the point, because intelligent machines that run by themselves are creating a new global totalitarianism *without a despotic center*?Is the frantic urging to put schoolchildren on the Internet any more reasoned than the seventies' fad for programmed instruction, or the eighties' fad for computer literacy?Does an unrecognized law link the public face and the dark underside of the Net? If so, can we expect flame wars, weird impersonations, pornographic commerce, and Net psychoses to grow increasingly pronounced and erratic, while at the same time the reasonedmechanisms for filtering "strict business" from the chaos steadily gain in effectiveness?Is artificial intelligence raising machines to a human level, or are we descending to the machine's level?
After reading "The Future Does Not Compute, you will never again be able to sit in front of your computer with quite the same glazed stare.
(BACKCOVER COPY) The technological Djinn, now loosened from all restraints, tempts us with visions of a surreal future. It is a future with robots who surpass their masters in dexterity and wit; intelligent agents who roam the Net on our behalf, seeking the informational elixir that will make us whole; new communities inhabiting the clean, infinite reaches of cyberspace, freed from war and conflict; and lending libraries of "virtually real" experiences that seem more sensational than the real thing.
Not all of this is idle or fantastic speculation -- even if it *is* the rather standard gush about our computerized future. Few observers can see any clear limits to what the networked computer might eventually accomplish. It is this stunning, wide-open potential that leads one to wonder what the Djinn will ask of us in return for the gift. After all, any potential so dramatic, so diverse, so *universal*, can be taken in many directions. That is its very nature. Who will choose the direction -- we, or the Djinn?
The intelligent machine receives a shadow of our own intelligence. This shadow consists of all the collective, automatic, sleepwalking, deterministic processes we have yielded to. That is, it consists of our own willingness to become machines. The crucial question today is whether we can wake up in time. Only in wakefulness can we distinguishourselves from the automatisms around us. Where we remain asleep -- where we live in our own shadow -- we are the Djinn.
The Net is the most powerful invitation to remain asleep we have ever faced. Contrary to the usual view, it dwarfs television in its power to induce passivity, to scatter our minds, to destroy our imaginations, and to make us forget our humanity.
And yet -- for these very reasons -- the Net may also be an opportunity to enter into our fullest humanity with a self-awareness never yet achieved. But few even seem aware of the challenge, and without awareness we will certainly fail.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Dave Wilhelm Books
Evanston, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 19, 2001
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 4.07 | £ 10.36 |
Payment methods
Specialty
Chess, Modern Fiction, History, Literary Criticism, Psychology, Music, Film, Art, Photography, ScienceSeller's business information
Dave Wilhelm Books
IL, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
Shipping charges are Media Mail $5.00 for first book. Larger orders, heavier books, and Priority Mail may require additional postage. For International Mail, actual postage will be charged. Returns accepted, within 10 days, if condition not as described, or for other acceptable reasons. Our e-mail: tdavebooks@sbcglobal.net. Name of owner: Dave Wilhelm.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Dave Wilhelm Books, Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. If a book is smaller, the postage may be reduced.