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.

One day a highly advanced space ship shaped like a huge egg lands in Doug Rink's backyard. Doug soon learns that the entire universe folds in on itself every 13 billion years and time's UP! The good news is; There's a way out, but only if we can merge the human genome with the ship's alien genome. There's a catch-22. Before we can merge genetically and escape the folding, Doug must use the ship to cleanse the human genome of its highly violent tendencies and that means he must rid the world of all its weapons of mass destruction and make it so they never terrorize us again. Luckily, he gains the support of the President of the United States. The Mind Machine will guide you through the part of human evolution and history that is taking place today. Your own genetic makeup is valuable to us. Therefore, you need to get on board!

"God from the machine" (deus ex machina) refers to an ancient dramatic device where a god was mechanically brought onto the stage to save the hero from a difficult situation. But here, William Sims Bainbridge uses the term in a strikingly different way. Instead of looking to a machine to deliver an already known god, he asks what a computing machine and its simulations might teach us about how religion and religious beliefs come to being. Bainbridge posits the virtual town of Cyburg, population 44,100. Then, using rules for individual and social behavior taken from the social sciences, he models a complex community where residents form groups, learn to trust or distrust each other, and develop religious faith. Bainbridge's straightforward arguments point to many more applications of computer simulation in the study of religion. God from the Machine will serve as an important text in any class with a social scientific approach to religion.

Are humans just complex biochemical machines, mere physical parts of a causally closed materialist universe? Are we approaching the so-called 'Singularity', when human consciousness can (and will) be downloaded into computers? Or is there more to the human person - something that might be known as 'soul' or 'spirit'? As this book makes clear, the answers to these questions have profound implications to topics such as heroism, creativity, ecology, and the possibility of reason and science. In exploring this important topic, Dickerson engages the ideas of some well-known twentieth- and twentyfirst-century espousers of physicalism, including the philosopher Daniel Dennett, the biologist Richard Dawkins, the futurist-engineer Raymond Kurzweil,the psychologist B.F. Skinner, and the mathematician-philosopher Bertrand Russell. Through a careful reading of their works, Dickerson not only provides a fivefold critique of physicalism but also offers a Christian alternative in the form of 'integrative dualism', which affirms the existence of both a physical and a spiritual reality without diminishing the goodness or importance of either, and acknowledges that humans are spiritual as well as bodily persons.

A thought-provoking analysis of the theological implications of artificial intelligence addresses important--and controversial--questions raised by robotics about the definition of humanity, what it means to have a soul, and what robots can teach us about our relationship with God.

Poised to enter a new and unexplored section of the galaxy, the Space Star Silver Streak is intercepted by a massive alien starship. A mysterious being known as Starjudge demands that Captain Richard Cameron surrender himself. The Hyron commander Mordrax, still in hot pursuit of his old enemy Cameron, is similarly arrested in space, and presently the two foes are face-to-face with a giant, centipede-like alien who places them on trial--with their identities at stake! As Cameron and Mordrax battle for their individuality, Science Officer Philippe Stargazer finds himself awkwardly attracted to his daughter Servanne--this as she prepares to become engaged to the handsome young hero Trevor Lansdowne. Personalities clash and deep secrets are revealed in the most stunning and intimate Voyage Into the Unknown adventure of them all!