Our May book selected by moderator Jolene Redvale is God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O'Gieblyn
Brief Description:
A strikingly original exploration of what it might mean to be authentically human in the age of artificial intelligence, from the author of the critically-acclaimed Interior States.
For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes's division of mind from world made materialism our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness--i.e., souls--might be illusions. Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence--identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself--urgently require rethinking.
Meghan O'Gieblyn tackles this challenge with philosophical rigor, intellectual reach, essayistic verve, refreshing originality, and an ironic sense of contradiction. She draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.
Biographical Note:
MEGHAN O'GIEBLYN is the author of the essay collection Interior States, which was published to wide acclaim and won the Believer Book Award for Nonfiction. Her writing has received three Pushcart Prizes and appeared in The Best American Essays anthology. She writes essays and features for Harper's Magazine, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Wired, The New York Times, and elsewhere. She lives with her husband in Madison, Wisconsin.
You can order online from us below or pick up a copy in-store. We offer a 10% discunt on book group titles - simply put a note in your order that it's for the book group and we will adjust your order before processing payment.
We hope you'll join us for our next discussion!
Event date:
Thursday, May 26, 2022 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Event address:
9 N. 6th Street
Redlands, CA 92373-5258
$28.00
Email or call for price.
Email or call for price.
ISBN: 9780385543828
Published: Doubleday - August 24th, 2021