A lost, shining example of 70's socio-futurist wondering, Upwingers is a stirring manifesto. Real proclamations are hard to find in this day and age of sound bites and half-hearted cynicism. See why the Village Voice called F.M. Esfandiary a man so rational, so articulately confident, that he emanates a kind of ultimate optimism--the triumph over alienation and irrationality. He deals in possibilities; he makes the unknown his favorite subject and with Upwingers, he makes the future a revolutionary rendezvous.
Discover the surprising case for how conservatism can help us achieve the epic sci-fi future we were promised. America was once the world’s dream factory. We turned imagination into reality, from curing polio to landing on the Moon to creating the internet. And we were confident that more wonders lay just over the horizon: clean and infinite energy, a cure for cancer, computers and robots as humanity’s great helpers, and space colonies. (Also, of course, flying cars.) Science fiction, from The Jetsons to Star Trek, would become fact. But as we moved into the late 20th century, we grew cautious, even cynical, about what the future held and our ability to shape it. Too many of us saw only the threats from rapid change. The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Great Downshift in technological progress and economic growth, followed by decades of economic stagnation, downsized dreams, and a popular culture fixated on catastrophe: AI that will take all our jobs if it doesn’t kill us first, nuclear war, climate chaos, plague and the zombie apocalypse. We are now at risk of another half-century of making the same mistakes and pushing a pro-progress future into the realm of impossibility. But American Enterprise Institute (AEI) economic policy expert and long-time CNBC contributor James Pethokoukis argues that there’s still hope. We can absolutely turn things around—if we the people choose to dream and act. How dare we delay or fail to deliver for ourselves and our children. With groundbreaking ideas and sharp analysis, Pethokoukis provides a detailed roadmap to a fantastic future filled with incredible progress and prosperity that is both optimistic and realistic. Through an exploration of culture, economics, and history, The Conservative Futurist tells the fascinating story of what went wrong in the past and what we need to do today to finally get it right. Using the latest economic research and policy analysis, as well as insights from top economists, historians, and technologists, Pethokoukis reveals that the failed futuristic visions of the past were totally possible. And they still are. If America is to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, take full advantage of emerging tech from generative AI to CRISPR to reusable rockets, and launch itself into a shining tomorrow, it must again become a fully risk-taking, future-oriented society. It’s time for America to embrace the future confidently, act boldly, and take that giant leap forward.
The Sacred Revival is a thought-provoking examination of the social, cultural, and personal development that is part of a new and unfolding era in our history. Its central thesis is that a new form of energy has entered our post-industrial (post-mechanical) epoch, and that this energy will be more conducive to a respect for feminine attributes and organization and our inward “interior search and gaze.” The author predicts there will be a healing of life on the planet from an emerging new planetary ecosystem that will be physical-digital-biological and a greater drive toward a coherent cosmic consciousness. He explains that one of our greatest needs is for a connection with the transcendent.
What every parent needs to know about negotiating, incentives, outsourcing, and other strategies to solve the economic management problem that is parenting. Like any new parent, Joshua Gans felt joy mixed with anxiety upon the birth of his first child. Who was this blanket-swaddled small person and what did she want? Unlike most parents, however, Gans is an economist, and he began to apply the tools of his trade to raising his children. He saw his new life as one big economic management problem—and if economics helped him think about parenting, parenting illuminated certain economic principles. Parentonomics is the entertaining, enlightening, and often hilarious fruit of his “research.” Incentives, Gans shows us, are as risky in parenting as in business. An older sister who is recruited to help toilet train her younger brother for a share in the reward given for each successful visit to the bathroom, for example, could give the trainee drinks of water to make the rewards more frequent. (Economics later offered another, better toilet training solution: outsourcing. For their third child, Gans and his wife put it in the hands of professionals—the day care providers.) Gans gives us the parentonomic view of delivery (if the mother shares her pain by yelling at the father, doesn't it really create more aggregate pain?), sleep (the screams of a baby are like an offer: “I'll stop screaming if you give me attention”), food (a question of marketing), travel (“the best thing you can say about traveling with children is that they are worse than baggage”), punishment (and threat credibility), birthday party time management, and more. Parents: if you're reading Parentonomics in the presence of other people, you'll be unable to keep yourself from reading the funny parts out loud. And if you're reading it late at night and wake a child with your laughter—well, you'll have some guidelines for negotiating a return to bed.
Modern humanity with some 5,000 years of recorded history has been experiencing growing pains, with no end in sight. It is high time for humanity to grow up and to transcend itself by embracing transhumanism. Transhumanism offers the most inclusive ideology for all ethnicities and races, the religious and the atheists, conservatives and liberals, the young and the old regardless of socioeconomic status, gender identity, or any other individual qualities. This book expounds on contemporary views and practical advice from more than 70 transhumanists. Astronaut Neil Armstrong said on the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Transhumanism is the next logical step in the evolution of humankind, and it is the existential solution to the long-term survival of the human race.
Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence Transhumanism is a philosophy which advocates for the use of technology to radically enhance human capacities. This book interrogates the promises of transhumanism, arguing that it is deeply entwined with capitalist ideology. In an era of escalating crisis and soaring inequality, it casts doubt on a utopian techno-capitalist narrative of unending progress. In critiquing the transhumanist project, the book offers an alternative ethical framework for the future of life on the planet. As the debates around the advancement of AI and corporate-led digital technologies intensify, this is an important read for academics as well as policy makers .
Discover the future of cybersecurity through the eyes of the world's first augmented ethical hacker In Human Hacked: My Life and Lessons as the World's First Augmented Ethical Hacker by Len Noe, a pioneering cyborg with ten microchips implanted in his body, you'll find a startlingly insightful take on the fusion of biology and technology. The author provides a groundbreaking discussion of bio-implants, cybersecurity threats, and defenses. Human Hacked offers a comprehensive guide to understanding an existing threat that is virtually unknown. How to implement personal and enterprise cybersecurity measures in an age where technology transcends human limits and any person you meet might be augmented. The book provides: Exposure of a subculture of augmented humans hiding in plain sight Explorations of the frontier of bio-Implants, showing you the latest advancements in the tech and how it paves the way for access to highly restricted technology areas Discussions of cybersecurity tactics, allowing you to gain in-depth knowledge of phishing, social engineering, MDM restrictions, endpoint management, and more to shield yourself and your organization from unseen threats A deep understanding of the legal and ethical landscape of bio-implants as it dives into the complexities of protections for augmented humans and the ethics of employing such technologies in the corporate and government sectors Whether you're a security professional in the private or government sector, or simply fascinated by the intertwining of biology and technology, Human Hacked is an indispensable resource. This book stands alone in its category, providing not just a glimpse into the life of the world's first augmented ethical hacker, but also offering actionable insights and lessons on navigating the evolving landscape of cybersecurity. Don't miss this essential read on the cutting edge of technology and security.
Ideas that are employed to legitimize and make us consent to authority and its hierarchies also disempower us, leaving us anxious, depressed, and discontent. They are constantly hammered into us by the media, by our friends and family, and by institutions. They also come to us by way of films, motivational speakers, business gurus, as well as in the actions we take in our everyday lives and in the experiences of who we are. In The Ruling Ideas: How They Ruin Society and Make You Miserable, Ari Ofengenden examines many of these ideas, such as the entrepreneurial-self, the utility-oriented economic man, technological progress, virtues and values, as well as family values, God, nation and race. Ofengenden provides a deft analysis, on the one hand, of the beliefs we hold, the ideas behind them that make us consent to the social order, and how we often fool ourselves into believing these ideas; on the other hand, the author proffers a way to combat these ideas, to live without them and develop alternatives.
