Books like To Be a Machine by Mark O'Connell

"A loose coalition of groups - including religious conservatives, disability rights advocates, and environmental activists - has emerged to oppose the use of genetics to enhance human beings. And with the appointment of conservative philosopher Leon Kass (an opponent of invitro fertilization, stem cell research, and life extension) to head the President's Council on Bioethics, and with the recent high-profile writings by authors like Francis Fukuyama and Bill McKibben, this stance has become more visible - and more infamous - than ever before." "In the opposite corner, a loose transhumanist coalition is mobilizing in defense of human enhancement, embracing the ideological diversity of their intellectual forebears in the democratic and humanist movements. Transhumanists argue that human beings should be guaranteed freedom to control their own bodies and brains, and to use technology to transcend human limitations." "Identifying the groups, thinkers, and arguments in each corner of this debate, bioethicist and futurist James Hughes argues for a third way, which he calls democratic transhumanism. This approach argues that we will achieve the best possible posthuman future when we ensure tech nologies are safe, make them available to everyone, and respect the right of individuals to control their own bodies." "Hughes offers fresh and controversial answers for many other pressing biopolitical issues including cloning, genetic patents, human genetic engineering, sex selection, drugs, and assisted suicide - and concludes with a concrete political agenda for protechnology progressives, including expanding and deepening human rights, reforming genetic patent laws, and providing everyone with healthcare and a basic guaranteed income."--BOOK JACKET.

The Man Who Quit Money follows Daniel Suelo, who deposited all his wealth in a phone booth and has lived without money ever since, illustrating a radical but possible path to self‑reliant living.

Sometime in the future the intelligence of machines will exceed that of human brain power. So are we on the edge of an AI-pocalypse, with superintelligent devices superseding humanity, as predicted by Stephen Hawking? Or will this herald a kind of Utopia, with machines doing a far better job at complex tasks than us? You might not realise it, but you interact with AIs every day. They route your phone calls, approve your credit card transactions and help your doctor interpret results. Driverless cars will soon be on the roads with a decision-making computer in charge. But how do machines actually think and learn? In Machines That Think , AI experts and New Scientist explore how artificial intelligence helps us understand human intelligence, machines that compose music and write stories - and ask if AI is really a threat.

Terry Golway reexamines Tammany Hall, showing how its controversial machine provided essential social services, labor reforms, and progressive legislation to New York’s Irish immigrant community in the late nineteenth century.