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When simplicity outsmarts complexity
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UNSPECIFIED (2005) When simplicity outsmarts complexity. FUTURES, 37 (4). pp. 333-336. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2004.07.007
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2004.07.007
Abstract
Although there has been a marked increase in the academic study of the "posthuman" it has had a tendency to be polarized: on the one hand, certain elements of academia are mirroring popular culture in a prophetic examination of social nihilism and unfettered technological advance, culminating in the marriage of human and computer. On the other hand, some academics treat the topic as fanciful, part of a general degradation of modem culture, which in turn, leads them to ignore and sometimes even ridicule research done in the name of the posthuman.
Unfortunately - and possibly as a result of this ridicule - those who are willing to write from the former, seem to have an overarching desire to do it from a scientific realist standpoint; as if it was the only legitimate position to take. The result of this has been a number of in-depth articles on the computer dynamics necessary - and the vast scientific and technological advances needed - to achieve computational parity with human neurology. But although it follows that there would be limited desire to "upgrade" the human by plugging it into something deemed "inferior"; the scientific realist perspective has resulted in the timeframe for fundamental posthuman change being one of centuries, rather than decades.
In opposing the scientific realist position I will argue - using Bostrom's example of the human computer simulation - that from a more "sceptical" philosophical position, such a device may in fact be practically on our doorstep, rather than light-years away. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Journal Item | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor |
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| Journal or Publication Title: | FUTURES | ||||
| Publisher: | ELSEVIER SCI LTD | ||||
| ISSN: | 0016-3287 | ||||
| Official Date: | May 2005 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 37 | ||||
| Number: | 4 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 4 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 333-336 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.futures.2004.07.007 | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published |
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