The Prophecy Machine

The Prophecy Machine

Author: Neal Barrett, Jr.

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Published: 2016-06-11

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13:

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Hooters, Hatters, and menacing evil Even in a mystical world where centuries ago animals were magically changed into humans, the land of Makasar us considered strange. Its two major religions are Hatters and Hooters. During the day, Hatters, wearing hats of course, wander about jabbing pointy sticks into bystanders. The night is ruled by the Hooters, who hoot and set fire to people and things. Hospitality is considered a capital crime. And Newlies, the humanize animals, are treated lower than scum. So when Finn, the Master Lizard Maker, finds himself stranded in Makasar-along with his lover, an attractive Newlies named Letitia, and the grandest, most magical creation of his illustrious career, a talking, thinking, rather cantankerous mechanical lizard named Julia Jessica Slagg-his first thought is a quick exit. But the Nuccis-strongman son, mad father, and ever madder grandfather-have other plans for Finn and his loyal companions. There's an odd machine in their basement that needs fixing, and who better to do it than a Master Lizard Maker? There's more here than meets the eye, however, and Finn soon realizes that the future he faces could be very dark indeed.


The Omen Machine

The Omen Machine

Author: Terry Goodkind

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: 2011-11-15

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 1429965010

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In The Omen Machine, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world. Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room. Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn't actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens. The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


God, Human, Animal, Machine

God, Human, Animal, Machine

Author: Meghan O'Gieblyn

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0525562710

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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. • "At times personal, at times philosophical, with a bracing mixture of openness and skepticism, it speaks thoughtfully and articulately to the most crucial issues awaiting our future." —Phillip Lopate “[A] truly fantastic book.”—Ezra Klein 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.


Prophecy

Prophecy

Author: Conrad Riker

Publisher: Conrad Riker

Published: 101-01-01

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13:

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Have you ever wondered about the role of prophecy in shaping human history and society? Are you curious about the science behind prophecy and its impact on politics, religion, and culture? "Prophecy: A Deep Dive into History, Science, and Impact" offers an unflinching look at the world of prophecy, exploring its roots in ancient civilizations, its role in major world religions, and its impact on political decision-making. It also delves into the modern prophecy industry, examining the businesses that profit from prophesies and the psychology of believing in them. - Explores prophecy's role in ancient civilizations and its impact on decision-making. - Examines the psychological, neurological, and sociological aspects of prophecy. - Analyzes the use of prophecy in various religious contexts. - Critiques infamous false prophesies and their societal effects. - Discusses prophecy's influence on politics and its historical impact. - Investigates the modern businesses profiting from prophecy. - Compares prophecy with predictive models in fields like economics and disease control. - Explores prophecy as a tool and theme in fiction. - Discusses the psychological factors behind belief in prophecy. - Speculates on the future of prophecy in the digital age. - Explores the role of A.I. and machine learning in prophecy and prediction. If you want to understand the world of prophecy from a rational, scientific perspective, this book is for you. Buy it today and immerse yourself in a world of prediction, prophecy, and power.


On the path to AI

On the path to AI

Author: Thomas D. Grant

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-06-02

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 3030435822

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This open access book explores machine learning and its impact on how we make sense of the world. It does so by bringing together two ‘revolutions’ in a surprising analogy: the revolution of machine learning, which has placed computing on the path to artificial intelligence, and the revolution in thinking about the law that was spurred by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr in the last two decades of the 19th century. Holmes reconceived law as prophecy based on experience, prefiguring the buzzwords of the machine learning age—prediction based on datasets. On the path to AI introduces readers to the key concepts of machine learning, discusses the potential applications and limitations of predictions generated by machines using data, and informs current debates amongst scholars, lawyers and policy makers on how it should be used and regulated wisely. Technologists will also find useful lessons learned from the last 120 years of legal grappling with accountability, explainability, and biased data.


Mythogeography

Mythogeography

Author: Phil Smith

Publisher: Triarchy Press

Published: 2010-05-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1911193252

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This is the gloriously funny and endlessly fascinating account of the author's recent journey on foot across the north of England in the footsteps of a man who made the same journey 100 years ago with a dog trouve called Pontiflunk.


Radical Coherency

Radical Coherency

Author: David Antin

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-03-15

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0226020975

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“We got to talking”—so David Antin begins the introduction to Radical Coherency, embarking on the pursuit that has marked much of his breathless, brilliantly conversational work. For the past forty years, whether spoken under the guise of performance artist or poet, cultural explorer or literary critic, Antin’s innovative observations have helped us to better understand everything from Pop to Postmodernism. Intimately wedded to the worlds of conceptual art and poetics, Radical Coherency collects Antin’s influential critical essays and spontaneous, performed lectures (or “talk pieces”) for the very first time, capturing one of the most distinctive perspectives in contemporary literature. The essays presented here range from the first serious assessment of Andy Warhol published in a major art journal, as well as Antin’s provocative take on Clement Greenberg’s theory of Modernism, to frontline interventions in present debates on poetics and fugitive pieces from the ’60s and ’70s that still sparkle today—and represent a gold mine for art historians of the period. From John Cage to Allan Kaprow, Mark Rothko to Ludwig Wittgenstein, Antin takes the reader on an idiosyncratic, personal journey through twentieth-century culture with his trademark antiformalist panache—one thatwill be welcomed by any fan of this consummate trailblazer.


Prophecy in the New Millennium

Prophecy in the New Millennium

Author: Suzanne Newcombe

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1317074599

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Secular and spiritual prophets of doom abound in the information-rich twenty-first century - as they have for millennia. But there has yet to be worldwide floods, meteor impact, global computer failure, obvious alien contact, or direct intervention from God to end the world as we know it. Considering the frequency with which prophecy apparently fails, why do prophecies continue to be made, and what social functions do they serve? This volume gives a concise, but comprehensive, overview of the rich diversity of prophecy, its role in major world religions as well as in new religions and alternative spiritualties, its social dynamics and its impact on individuals’ lives. Academic analyses are complimented with contextualized primary source testimonies of those who live and have lived within a prophetic framework. The book argues that the key to understanding the more dramatic, apocalyptic and millenarian aspects of prophecy is in appreciating prophecy’s more mundane manifestations and its role in providing meaning and motivation in everyday life.