Overall, this is an excellent book (I'd rate it as 9 out of 10). Kelly is a broad and original thinker. And those of us that enjoy original thinking will be stimulated by this book.
However, prior to reading Kelly's book, I encourage you to read the first chapter, at least, of Ray Kurzweil's book The Singularity is Near. I'll explain why shortly.
Kelly writes: "Scientists had come to a startling realization: however you define life, its essence does not reside in material forms like DNA, tissue, or flesh, but in the intangible organization of the energy and information contained in those material forms. And as technology was unveiled from its shroud of atoms, we could see that at its core, it, too, is about ideas and information. Both life and technology seem to be based on immaterial flows of information." So far, so good. But then Kelly goes on to say that while it was clear to him "that technology was an extension of natural life" he proceeds to ask "in what ways was it [technology] different from nature?" Ultimarely Kelly finds 'technology' is too constrained a term, so he coins the term 'technium', which he defines as "the greater, global, massively interconnected system of technology all around us." I think, unfortunately, that the introduction of this term actually dilutes the clarity of Kelly's message.
And this is where Ray Kurzweil's book The Singulariy is Near comes in. Kurzweil makes a much clearer and compelling argument about the inherent trajectory of order in the universe. For those of you that are data oriented, one need not look beyond Kurzweil's logarithmic plot of "Canonical Milestones" presented in Chapter 1 of The Singularity is Near: there isn't much arguing that for the last ten plus billion years, biology/technology has evolved/increased at an exponential rate. Over the long-haul of cosmological time, nothing - not an asteroid collision with earth, not an ice age, not the black plague, not a world war - has derailed this exponential increase in order. Kelly attempts at length to build such a case, but the case he makes is a bit muddled. It is actually much easier to digest and accept Kelly's thesis (that technology has an inherent and inevitable direction) after reading Kurzweil's book.
With that said, Kelly succeeds brilliantly in weaving a narrative that brings to life various aspects of biological and technological evolution. This is a well researched book with hundreds of citations. Kelly clearly started his conceptual investigations with technology in mind, but he successfully traces technology's roots to biology. My educational background is in genetics, and I was surprised and pleased to find a very thoughtful discussion, in chapter 6, of biological evolution. Kelly traces the origin of life, making a compelling argument that physics and chemistry dictate the path of biological evolution. For example, the structure of carbon - that can simultaneously bind four other elements, such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, or another carbon atom - results in it being extraordinarily likely that higher ordered chemical structures would be carbon-based, ultimately culminating in DNA, biology's self-replicating machinery. Indeed, evolution, biological and technological, is probably much more constrained (as in it follows a fairly narrow and predictable path) than current popular orthodoxy suggests.
In chapter 7 Kelly speaks brilliantly of technological convergence, dispelling the notion that technological advancements are the brainchild of the individual scientist, but rather that inventions result from a synthesis of knowledge that is readily available to multiple fertile minds (and not simply the result of the thinking of one lone archetype genius).
Kelly's unique perspective shines through in Part 3 of his book, where he discusses the Unabomber and the Amish (yes, the Unabomber and the Amish!). What I personally very much like and admire about Kelly is his humanity. He very much considers the utility function of technology, and readily admits that certain technologies, or certain aspects of technology, can be stifling or dehumanizing. But after all is said and done, he returns to the premise that the exponential growth of technology is inevitable, and that it is up to each individual human to choose how to maximize the utility function of technology in his or her life.
Unfortunately Kelly drags out the book unnecessarily as the final two (long) chapters are long on words and short on conceptual impact.
My conclusion: physics dictates the order observed in the universe, and physics dictates that the observed order increases. Kelly's book does make me rethink my concept of free-will on a macro scale. On a micro (individual human) scale clearly there are many choices, some that increase overall fitness and some that decrease it . . . but on a macro scale, it appears that we collectively have less choice, or at least less control, than I'd previously imagined. That is the overall value of this book: juxtaposing human choice with the inevitable consequences of exponential growth of ordered information (or of the technium, to use Kelly's terminology).
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2011
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Top reviews from other countries
- MOReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2019
A valuable speculation on the evolution of systems
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NataliaReviewed in Italy on October 4, 2018
Libro interessante ma rovinato
odio quando i libri sono rovinati. Questo è arrivato con la copertina rotta come si vede in foto.NataliaLibro interessante ma rovinato
Reviewed in Italy on October 4, 2018
Contenuto interessante e non c’è nulla da ridire
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Stefan FritzReviewed in Germany on March 22, 2015
Die Zukunft hängt von Optimisten ab
