Robert Ettinger - The Prospect of Immortality (1964) 

 

Book Description 

 

In the 1960s Robert Ettinger founded the cryonics (cryonic hibernation) movement and authored 'The Prospect Of Immortality'. (And in the 1970s Ettinger would help initiate the transhumanist revolution with his 'Man Into Superman'.) Ettinger sees "discontinuity in history, with mortality and humanity on one side -- on the other immortality and transhumanity." 

 

 

Chapters

 

Chapter 1. Frozen Death, Frozen Sleep, and Some Consequences
Suspended Life and Suspended Death
Future and Present Options
After a Moment of Sleep
Problems and Side Effects

Chapter II. The Effects of Freezing and Cooling
Long-term Storage
Successes in Freezing Animals and Tissues
The Mechanism of Freezing Damage
Frostbite
The Action of Protective Agents
The Persistence of Memory after Freezing
The Extent of Freezing Damage
Rapid Freezing and Perfusion Possibilities
The Limits of Delay in Treatment
The Limits of Delay in Cooling and Freezing
Maximum and Optimum Storage Temperature
Radiation Hazard

Chapter III. Repair and Rejuvenation
Revival after Clinical Death
Mechanical Aids and Prostheses
Transplants
Organ Culture and Regeneration
Curing Old Age

Chapter IV. Today's Choices
The Outer Limits of Optimism
Preserving Samples of Ourselves
Preserving the Information
Organization and Organizations
Emergency and Austerity Freezing
Freezing with Medical Cooperation
Individual Responsibility: Dying Children
Husbands and Wives, Aged Parents and Grandparents

Chapter V. Freezers and Religion
Revival of the Dead: Not a New Problem
The Question of God's Intentions
The Riddle of Soul
Suicide Is a Sin
God's Image and Religious Adaptability
Added Time for Growth and Redemption
Conflict with Revelation
The Threat of Materialism
Perspective

Chapter VI. Freezers and the Law
Freezers and Public Decency
Definitions of Death; Rights and Obligations of the Frozen
Life Insurance and Suicide
Mercy Killings
Murder
Widows, Widowers, and Multiple Marriages
Cadavers as Citizens
Potter's Freezer and Umbrellas

Chapter VII. The Economics of Immortality
The Solid Gold Computer
The View from Olympus: How Rich Can We Get?
The View from Olympus: How Fast Can We Spawn?
The Cost of Commercial Freezers
The Cost of Emergency Storage
Trust Funds and Security
World Relations

Chapter VIII. The Problem of Identity

Chapter IX. The Uses of Immortality
You, Better than New
The Purpose of Life

Chapter X. Manners, Modes, and Morals of Tomorrow
Beyond Beowulf
Stability and the Golden Rule
Possibilities of Stagnation and Decadence
An Eye for an Eye
Sex Morals and Family Life
The Question of Non-human Intelligent Entities
Some Near-term Developments

Chapter XI. The Freezer-Centered Society
Inevitability of a Freezer Program
No Generation of Martyrs
The Long View as Panacea
Time to Go Sane
Fools, Madmen, and Heroes
The Fallacy of Just-Freeze-the-Elite
Beginning of the Freezer Era - 1964?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Ettinger - Man into Superman: The Startling Potential of Human Evolution -- And How To Be Part of It (1972)

 

Book Description 

 

In the 1960s Ettinger founded the cryonics (cryonic hibernation) movement and authored 'The Prospect of Immortality'. In the 1970s Ettinger helped initiate the transhumanist revolution with his 'Man Into Superman'. Ettinger sees "discontinuity in history, with mortality and humanity on one side -- on the other immortality and transhumanity." > Cryonic hibernation (experimental long-term suspended animation) of humans may provide a "door into summer" unlike any season previously known. Such patients (individuals and families in cryonic hibernation) may yet experience the transhuman condition. Ettinger argues for his belief in "the possibility of limitless life for our generation." We should become aware of the incorrect, distorted, and oversimplified ideas presented in the popular media about cryonics and transhumanism. Ettinger believes that the cool logic and scientific evidence he presents should lead us to forget the horror movies and urban legends and embrace great expectations. 

 

 

Chapters 

 

1989 PREFACE

PREFACE

The Sculptor Sculpted

The Deficiencies of Natural Man

From Gilgamesh to Olaf Stapledon

Changes in the Chassis

Transsex and Supersex

Growing Pains

Morality for Immortals

The Penultimate Trump

Tuesday in Eternity

Copouts and Dropouts: The Threat of Immortality

Cryonics and the New Meliorism

Appendix

References and Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zbigniew Brzezinski - Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power (2012)

Book Description

 

By 1991, following the disintegration first of the Soviet bloc and then of the Soviet Union itself, the United States was left standing tall as the only global super-power. Not only the 20th but even the 21st century seemed destined to be the American centuries. But that super-optimism did not last long. During the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, the stock market bubble and the costly foreign unilateralism of the younger Bush presidency, as well as the financial catastrophe of 2008 jolted America – and much of the West – into a sudden recognition of its systemic vulnerability to unregulated greed. Moreover, the East was demonstrating a surprising capacity for economic growth and technological innovation. That prompted new anxiety about the future, including even about America’s status as the leading world power. This book is a response to a challenge. It argues that without an America that is economically vital, socially appealing, responsibly powerful, and capable of sustaining an intelligent foreign engagement, the geopolitical prospects for the West could become increasingly grave. The ongoing changes in the distribution of global power and mounting global strife make it all the more essential that America does not retreat into an ignorant garrison-state mentality or wallow in cultural hedonism but rather becomes more strategically deliberate and historically enlightened in its global engagement with the new East. This book seeks to answer four major questions:

1. What are the implications of the changing distribution of global power from West to East, and how is it being affected by the new reality of a politically awakened humanity?

2. Why is America’s global appeal waning, how ominous are the symptoms of America’s domestic and international decline, and how did America waste the unique global opportunity offered by the peaceful end of the Cold War?

3. What would be the likely geopolitical consequences if America did decline by 2025, and could China then assume America’s central role in world affairs?

4. What ought to be a resurgent America’s major long-term geopolitical goals in order to shape a more vital and larger West and to engage cooperatively the emerging and dynamic new East?

America, Brzezinski argues, must define and pursue a comprehensive and long-term a geopolitical vision, a vision that is responsive to the challenges of the changing historical context. This book seeks to provide the strategic blueprint for that vision.

 

 

Chapters 

 

Introduction

- PART 1 - - THE RECEDING WEST
1: THE EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL POWER
2: THE RISE OF ASIA AND THE DISPERSAL OF GLOBAL POWER
3: THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING

- PART 2 - - THE WANING OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
1: THE SHARED AMERICAN DREAM
2: BEYOND SELF-DELUSION
3: AMERICA’S RESIDUAL STRENGTHS
4: AMERICA’S LONG IMPERIAL WAR

- PART 3 - - THE WORLD AFTER AMERICA: BY 2025, NOT
CHINESE BUT CHAOTIC
1: THE POST-AMERICA SCRAMBLE
2: THE GEOPOLITICALLY MOST ENDANGERED STATES
3: THE END OF A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD
4: THE UNCOMMON GLOBAL COMMONS

- PART 4 - - BEYOND 2025: A NEW GEOPOLITICAL BALANCE
1: EURASIA’S GEOPOLITICAL VOLATILITY
2: A LARGER AND VITAL WEST
3: A STABLE AND COOPERATIVE NEW EAST
- CONCLUSION -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Commission on Environment and Development - Our Common Future (1983)

 

Book Description 

In 1983, the U.N. General Assembly created the World Commission on Environment and Development, an independent committee of twenty-two members, headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Prime Minister of Norway. Designed to examine global environment and development to the year 2000 and beyond, the commission seeks to reassess critical problems, to formulate realistic proposals for solving them, and to raise the level of understanding and commitment to the issues of environment and development.

Rather than presenting a gloom and doom report about the destruction of natural resources, Our Common Future offers an agenda advocating the growth of economies based on policies that do not harm, and can even enhance, the environment. The commission recognizes that the time has come for a marriage of economy and ecology, in order to ensure the growth of human progress through development without bankrupting the resources of future generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unesco (Julian Huxley) - It's purpose and philosophy (1946)

Book Description

 

UNESCO was created "to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science, and culture." No one spoke with greater authority about the plan for UNESCO than Julian Huxley. As Executive Secretary of its Preparatory Commission and first Director General, he was a major influence the organization's original vision. This facsimile edition provides both the English and French editions of Huxley's visionary policy document, first published in 1946 during preparatory negotiations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus Schwab - Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2018)

 

 

 

Book Description 

 

World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab offers a practical companion and field guide to his previous book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Today, technology is changing everything--how we relate to one another, the way we work, how our economies and goverments function, and even what it means to be human.

One need not look hard to see how the incredible advances in artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, biotechnologies, and the internet of things are transforming society in unprecedented ways. But the Fourth Industrial Revolution is just beginning, says Schwab. And at a time of such tremendous uncertainty and such rapid change, he argues it's our actions as individuals and leaders that will determine the trajectory our future will take. We all have a responsibility - as citizens, businesses, and institutions - to work with the current of progress, not against it, to build a future that is ethical, inclusive, sustainable and prosperous.

Drawing on contributions from 200 top experts in fields ranging from machine learning to geoengineering to nanotechnology, to data ethics, Schwab equips readers with the practical tools to leverage the technologies of the future to leave the world better, safer, and more resilient than we found it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus Schwab & Malleret Thierry - The Great Narrative (2022)

 

Book Description 

 

The Great Narrative is a guide for anyone seeking to better understand how the world has evolved since the pandemic started and what solutions can make us more resilient, equitable and sustainable.

The book recognizes that the problems for which we collectively must find solutions are both major and manifold. Vital issues abound: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological. But solutions do exist and are within our grasp. The Great Narrative proposes some hopeful and inspiring narratives around them. In that sense, it is an optimistic book that categorically rejects the negativity that permeates too many doomsday narratives ready to consign us to a future of oblivion. It asserts that human creativity, ingenuity and innate sociality will prevail, and it offers a comprehensive framework to explain why.

Professor Klaus Schwab is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. He is a life-long advocate of “stakeholder capitalism”, the author of various books, including The Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the co-author (with Thierry Malleret) of the international best-seller COVID-19: The Great Reset. Thierry Malleret is the Managing Partner of The Monthly Barometer, a succinct predictive newsletter that also provides tailor-made research to its subscribers. He has written several business and academic books and published four thrillers.

The Great Narrative is a guide for anyone seeking to better understand how the world has evolved since the pandemic started and what solutions can make us more resilient, equitable and sustainable.
The book recognizes that the problems for which we collectively must find solutions are both major and manifold. Vital issues abound: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological. But solutions do exist and are within our grasp. The Great Narrative proposes some hopeful and inspiring narratives around them. In that sense, it is an optimistic book that categorically rejects the negativity that permeates too many doomsday narratives ready to consign us to a future of oblivion. It asserts that human creativity, ingenuity and innate sociality will prevail, and it offers a comprehensive framework to explain why.

Professor Klaus Schwab is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. He is a life-long advocate of “stakeholder capitalism”, the author of various books, including The Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the co-author (with Thierry Malleret) of the international best-seller COVID-19: The Great Reset. Thierry Malleret is the Managing Partner of The Monthly Barometer, a succinct predictive newsletter that also provides tailor-made research to its subscribers. He has written several business and academic books and published four thrillers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rudolf Steiner - Theosophy : An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos (1904)

 

Book Description

 

Theosophy is a key work for gaining a solid footing in spiritual reality as described by Rudolf Steiner. It is organized into four parts. First, Steiner builds a comprehensive understanding of human nature: physical bodily nature; soul qualities; spirit being, or “I”-being; and the higher spiritual aspects. This leads us to Steiner’s description of the human being as sevenfold:

• Material, physical body
• Ether body, or body of life forces
• Sentient soul body
• Mind soul
• Spirit-filled consciousness soul
• Life spirit
• Spirit body

In the next section, Steiner offers an extraordinary overview of the laws of reincarnation and the principles of karma, as we pass from one life to the next. This prepares us for the third section, in which he shows the various ways in which we live―during life on earth and after death and in the three worlds of body, soul, and spirit.

Finally, we are given a succinct description of the path of knowledge, along which each person can begin to understand the marvelous and harmonious complexity of the psycho-spiritual worlds in their fullness. 

CONTENTS:

Foreword by Michael Holdrege
Prefaces by Rudolf Steiner

Chapter 1: The Essential Nature of the Human Being:

1. The Bodily Nature of the Human Being
2. The Soul Nature of the Human Being
3. The Spirit Nature of the Human Being
4. Body, Soul, and Spirit

Chapter 2: Destiny & the Reincarnation of the Spirit

Chapter 3: The Three Worlds:

1. The Soul World
2. The Soul in the Soul World after Death
3. The Country of Spirit Beings
4. The Spirit in Spirit Country after Death
5. The Physical World and Its Connection to the Worlds of Souls and Spirits
6. Thought Forms and the Human Aura

Chapter 4: The Path to Knowledge

Related Reading
Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert J. Shapiro - Futurecast: How Superpowers, Populations, and Globalization Will Change the Way You Live and Work (2008)

 

Book Description

 

What will life be like in America, Europe, Japan or China in the year 2020? 

As everyone’s lives across the world are become increasingly interconnected by globalization and new technologies quicken the pace of everything, the answer to that question depends on the fate and paths of the world’s major nations.   In Futurecast, Robert Shapiro, former U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce and Chairman/Co-founder of Sonecon, looks into the future to tell us what our world will over the next dozen years.  Though that time span seems brief, Shapiro foresees monumental changes caused by three historic new forces—globalization, the aging of societies, and the rise of America as a sole superpower with no near peer— will determine the paths of nations and the lives of countless millions. What jobs will there be for you and your children?  What will happen to your health care? How safe will you be at home or abroad?  Answers to these questions will depend, even more than today, on where you live in the world:

• Even as China expands its military and its economy, America will be the world’s sole superpower for at least the next generation, and continue to lead efforts to preserve global security and stability. 

• The U.S. and China will be the world’s two indispensable economies, dominating the course of globalization. 

• Globalization will continue to shift most heavy manufacturing and millions of high-end service jobs from advanced countries like the US, to China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania, Turkey and other developing nations.

• Europe’s major nations and Japan will face the prospect of genuine economic decline and critical problems in their retirement pension systems, moving further towards the periphery of global economic and geopolitical power.

• Every major country—the U.S., Europe, Japan, China—will face critical problems with their health care systems, and the entire world will face a crisis over energy and climate change.  

If one adds the wildcard of possible, catastrophic terrorist attacks to this mix, the period between now and 2020 will be as challenging as any in modern times. Taking these deep global developments into account when planning for the future isa necessity.  Robert Shapiro’s clear-eyed Futurecast is the knowledge portfolio you need to prepare for the years to come. 

 

 

Chapters 

 

CHAPTER ONE
The Global Blueprint
CHAPTER TWO
The Demographic Earthquake
CHAPTER THREE
The Primacy of Globalization
CHAPTER FOUR
The Two Poles of Globalization: China and the United States
CHAPTER FIVE
The New Economics of Decline for Europe and Japan
CHAPTER SIX
The New Geopolitics of the Sole Superpower: The Players
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Coming Crises in Health Care, Energy, and the Global Environment
CHAPTER EIGHT
History's Wild Cards: Catastrophic Terrorism and Technological Breakthrough

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Hoagland - Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA (2007)

 

Book Description 

 

For most Americans, the word NASA suggests a squeaky-clean image of technological infallibility.

Yet the truth is that NASA was born in a lie, and has concealed the truths about its occult origins. Dark Mission documents this seemingly wild assertion.

Why is the Bush administration intent on returning to the moon as quickly as possible? What are the reasons for the current “space race” with China, Russia, and India? Remarkable images reproduced within this book provided to author Richard C. Hoagland by disaffected NASA employees provide clues why, including information about suppressed lunar discoveries.

Mystical organizations quietly dominate NASA, carrying out their own secret agendas behind the scenes. This is the story of men at the very fringes of rational thought and conventional wisdom, operating at the highest levels of our country. Their policies are far more aligned with ancient religions and secret mystery schools than the facade of rational science NASA has successfully promoted to the world for almost fifty years.

Dark Mission is proof of the secret history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the astonishing, seminal discoveries it has repeatedly suppressed for decades.

Richard C. Hoagland is the former science advisor to CBS News, author of The Monuments of Mars, and a frequent guest on the popular radio programs Coast To Coast and The Art Bell Show.

Mike Bara is a consulting engineer for Boeing aircraft. This is his first book.

 

Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui - Unrestricted Warfare: Two Air Force Senior Colonels on Scenarios for War and the Operational Art in an Era of Globalization (1999)

 

Book Description 

 

A sobering and fascinating study on war in the modern era, "Unrestricted Warfare" carefully explores strategies that militarily and politically disadvantaged nations might take in order to successfully attack a geopolitical super-power like the United States. American military doctrine is typically led by technology; a new class of weapon or vehicle is developed, which allows or encourages an adjustment in strategy. Military strategists Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui argue that this dynamic is a crucial weakness in the American military, and that this blind spot with regard to alternative forms warfare could be effectively exploited by enemies. "Unrestricted Warfare" concerns the many ways in which this might occur, and, in turn, suggests what the United States might do to defend itself. The traditional mentality that offensive action is limited to military action is no longer adequate given the range of contemporary threats and the rising costs-both in dollars and lives lost-of traditional warfare. Instead, Liang and Xiangsui suggest the significance of alternatives to direct military confrontation, including international policy, economic warfare, attacks on digital infrastructure and networks, and terrorism. Even a relatively insignificant state can incapacitate a far more powerful enemy by applying pressure to their economic and political systems. Exploring each of these considerations with remarkable insight and clarity, "Unrestricted Warfare" is an engaging evaluation of our geopolitical future.

 

 

Chapters

 

Part One: On New Warfare
Chapter 1: The Weapons Revolution Which Invariably Comes First
Chapter 2: The War God's Face Has Become Indistinct
Chapter 3: A Classic That Deviates From the Classics
Chapter 4: What Do Americans Gain By Touching the Elephant?
 

Part Two: A Discussion of New Methods of Operation
Chapter 5: New Methodology of War Games
Chapter 6: Seeking Rules of Victory: The Force Moves Away From the Point of the Enemy's Attack
Chapter 7: Ten Thousand Methods Combined as One: Combinations That Transcend Boundaries
Chapter 8: Essential Principles
Conclusion
Afterword
Author’s Background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitirim A. Sorokin - The Crisis of Our Age (1941)

Book Description

 

This is an analysis of the nature, causes and consequences of the crisis of modern society. Professor Sorokin asserts that the whole of modern culture is undergoing a period of transition brought on by the struggle between the forces of the largely outworn materialistic order and the emerging, creative forces of a new idealistic order. On the outcome of this struggle, the author contends, rests the progress and survival of mankind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - The Future of Man (1946)

Book Description

  

The Future of Man is a magnificent introduction to the thoughts and writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, one of the few figures in the history of the Catholic Church to achieve renown as both a scientist and a theologian. Trained as a paleontologist and ordained as a Jesuit priest, Teilhard de Chardin devoted himself to establishing the intimate, interdependent connection between science—particularly the theory of evolution—and the basic tenets of the Christian faith. At the center of his philosophy was the belief that the human species is evolving spiritually, progressing from a simple faith to higher and higher forms of consciousness, including a consciousness of God, and culminating in the ultimate understanding of humankind’s place and purpose in the universe. The Church, which would not condone his philosophical writings, refused to allow their publication during his lifetime. Written over a period of thirty years and presented here in chronological order, the essays cover the wide-ranging interests and inquiries that engaged Teilhard de Chardin throughout his life: intellectual and social evolution; the coming of ultra-humanity; the integral place of faith in God in the advancement of science; and the impact of scientific discoveries on traditional religious dogma. Less formal than The Phenomenon of Man and The Divine Milieu, Teilhard de Chardin’s most renowned works, The Future of Man offers a complete, fully accessible look at the genesis of ideas that continue to reverberate in both the scientific and the religious communities.

 

Chapters

 

1. A Note on Progress

2. Social Heredity and Progress

3. The Grand Option

4. Some Reflections on Progress

5. The New Spirit

6. Life and the Planets

7. A Great Event Foreshadowed: The Planetization of Mankind

8. Some Reflections on the Spiritual Repercussions of the Atom Bomb

9. Faith in Peace

10. The Formation of the Noosphere

11. Faith in Man

12. Some Reflections on the Rights of Man

13. The Human Rebound of Evolution and Its Consequences

14. Turmoil or Genesis?

15. The Directions and Conditions of the Future

16. The Essence of the Democratic Idea

17. Does Mankind Move Biologically upon Itself?

18. The Heart of the Problem

19. On the Probable Existence Ahead of Us of an "Ultra-Human"

20. How May We Conceive and Hope That Human Unanimization Will Be Realized on Earth?

21. From the Pre-Human to the Ultra-Human: the Phases of a Living Planet

22. The End of the Species

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Scharre - Army of None (2018)

Book Description

 

A Bill Gates Top Five Book of 2018

A Pentagon defense expert and former U.S. Army Ranger explores what it would mean to give machines authority over the ultimate decision of life or death.

What happens when a Predator drone has as much autonomy as a Google car? Or when a weapon that can hunt its own targets is hacked? Although it sounds like science fiction, the technology already exists to create weapons that can attack targets without human input. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in emerging weapons technologies, draws on deep research and firsthand experience to explore how these next-generation weapons are changing warfare.

Scharre’s far-ranging investigation examines the emergence of autonomous weapons, the movement to ban them, and the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. He spotlights artificial intelligence in military technology, spanning decades of innovation from German noise-seeking Wren torpedoes in World War II―antecedents of today’s homing missiles―to autonomous cyber weapons, submarine-hunting robot ships, and robot tank armies. Through interviews with defense experts, ethicists, psychologists, and activists, Scharre surveys what challenges might face "centaur warfighters" on future battlefields, which will combine human and machine cognition. We’ve made tremendous technological progress in the past few decades, but we have also glimpsed the terrifying mishaps that can result from complex automated systems―such as when advanced F-22 fighter jets experienced a computer meltdown the first time they flew over the International Date Line.

At least thirty countries already have defensive autonomous weapons that operate under human supervision. Around the globe, militaries are racing to build robotic weapons with increasing autonomy. The ethical questions within this book grow more pressing each day. To what extent should such technologies be advanced? And if responsible democracies ban them, would that stop rogue regimes from taking advantage? At the forefront of a game-changing debate, Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to argue that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but without surrendering human judgment. When the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.

Chapters

INTRODUCTION
The Power Over Life and Death

PART I / ROBOPOCALYPSE NOW

THE COMING SWARM
The Military Robotics Revolution

THE TERMINATOR AND THE ROOMBA
What Is Autonomy?

MACHINES THAT KILL
What Is an Autonomous Weapon?

PART II / BUILDING THE TERMINATOR

THE FUTURE BEING BUILT TODAY
Autonomous Missiles, Drones, and Robot Swarms

INSIDE THE PUZZLE PALACE
Is the Pentagon Building Autonomous Weapons?

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

Approving Autonomous Weapons

WORLD WAR R
Robotic Weapons around the World

GARAGE BOTS
DIY Killer Robots
 

PART III / RUNAWAY GUN
 

ROBOTS RUN AMOK
Failure in Autonomous Systems
 

COMMAND AND DECISION
Can Autonomous Weapons Be Used Safely?
 

BLACK BOX
The Weird, Alien World of Deep Neural Networks

FAILING DEADLY
The Risk of Autonomous Weapons
 

PART IV / FLASH WAR
 

BOT VS. BOT
An Arms Race in Speed
 

THE INVISIBLE WAR
Autonomy in Cyberspace
 

“SUMMONING THE DEMON”
The Rise of Intelligent Machines
 

PART V / THE FIGHT TO BAN AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS
 

ROBOTS ON TRIAL
Autonomous Weapons and the Laws of War

SOULLESS KILLERS

The Morality of Autonomous Weapons

PLAYING WITH FIRE
Autonomous Weapons and Stability
 

PART VI / AVERTING ARMAGEDDON: THE WEAPON OF POLICY
 

CENTAUR WARFIGHTERS
Humans + Machines
 

THE POPE AND THE CROSSBOW
The Mixed History of Arms Control
 

ARE AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS INEVITABLE?
The Search for Lethal Laws of Robotics

CONCLUSION
No Fate but What We Make

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operations Research - Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars (1986)

 

Book Description

 

This is the top secret manual said to be found by accident in 1986 by an employee of Boeing Aircraft. He bought a surplus IBM copier for scrap parts at a government sale and found the manual inside. The manual outlines a plan to control the masses through manipulation of industry, education and politics, and to divert the public's attention from what is really going on. Surprisingly, it is claimed that much of what is outlined has come to pass, and makes interesting reading for those exploring the deeper levels of our social structure and how it may be controlled or influenced. This Book Tree edition includes all of the important charts and diagrams not seen in other versions. It is an exact replica of the original, aside from some minor alterations to correct print quality. Found in this edition only is a new, four-page Introduction. It explains why we may never be certain of the true origin of this document, despite the fact that someone has stepped forward and claimed that they assembled it from multiple sources.

 

(speculative document)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norbert Wiener - Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948)

Book Description

 

Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine is a book written by Norbert Wiener and published in 1948. It is the first public usage of the term "cybernetics" to refer to self-regulating mechanisms. The book laid the theoretical foundation for servomechanisms (whether electrical, mechanical or hydraulic), automatic navigation, analog computing, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and reliable communications. 

 

Content 

 

Introduction

1. Newtonian and Bergsonian Time

2. Groups and Statistical Mechanics

3. Time Series, Information, and Communication

4. Feedback and Oscillation

5. Computing Machines and the Nervous System

6. Gestalt and Universals

7. Cybernetics and Psychopathology

8. Information, Language, and Society

Supplementary chapters in the second edition

9. On Learning and Self-Reproducing Machines

10. Brain Waves and Self-Organising Systems 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man and his Future (1963, Ciba Foundation)

 

Book Description 

 

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. 

 

With contributions from: Julian Huxley, Donald M. MacKay, Colin Clark, Joshua Lederberg, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus Schwab & Thierry Malleret - The Great Reset (2020)

 

Book Description

 

"COVID-19: The Great Reset" is a guide for anyone who wants to understand how COVID-19 disrupted our social and economic systems, and what changes will be needed to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable world going forward. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Thierry Malleret, founder of the Monthly Barometer, explore what the root causes of these crisis were, and why they lead to a need for a Great Reset.Theirs is a worrying, yet hopeful analysis. COVID-19 has created a great disruptive reset of our global social, economic, and political systems. But the power of human beings lies in being foresighted and having the ingenuity, at least to a certain extent, to take their destiny into their hands and to plan for a better future. This is the purpose of this book: to shake up and to show the deficiencies which were manifest in our global system, even before COVID broke out."Erudite, thought-provoking and plausible" -- Hans van Leeuwen, Australian Financial Review (Australia)"The book looks ahead to what the post-coronavirus world could look like barely four months after the outbreak was first declared a pandemic" -- Sam Meredith, CNBC (USA) "The message that the pandemic is not only a crisis of enormous proportions, but that it also provides an opportunity for humanity to reflect on how it can do things differently, is important and merits reflection"-- Ricardo Avila, Portafolio (Colombia) "A call for political change in the post-pandemic world"-- Ivonne Martinez, La Razon (Mexico)"History has shown, the book argues, that pandemics are a force for radical and lasting change"

 

-- Mustafa Alrawi, The National (UAE)

 

 

Chapters 

 

1. MACRO RESET
1.1. Conceptual framework – Three defining characteristics of today’s world
1.1.1. Interdependence
1.1.2. Velocity
1.1.3. Complexity
1.2. Economic reset
1.2.1. The economics of COVID-19
1.2.1.1. Uncertainty
1.2.1.2. The economic fallacy of sacrificing a few lives to save growth
1.2.2. Growth and employment
1.2.2.1. Economic growth
1.2.2.2. Employment
1.2.2.3. What future growth could look like
1.2.3. Fiscal and monetary policies
1.2.3.1. Deflation or inflation?
1.2.3.2. The fate of the US dollar
1.3. Societal reset
1.3.1. Inequalities
1.3.2. Social unrest
1.3.3. The return of “big” government
1.3.4. The social contract
1.4. Geopolitical reset
1.4.1. Globalization and nationalism
1.4.2. Global governance
1.4.3. The growing rivalry between China and the US
1.4.4. Fragile and failing states
1.5. Environmental reset
1.5.1. Coronavirus and the environment
1.5.1.1. Nature and zoonotic diseases
1.5.1.2. Air pollution and pandemic risk
1.5.1.3. Lockdown and carbon emissions
1.5.2. Impact of the pandemic on climate change and other environmental policies
1.6. Technological reset
1.6.1. Accelerating the digital transformation
1.6.1.1. The consumer
1.6.1.2. The regulator
1.6.1.3. The firm
1.6.2. Contact tracing, contact tracking and surveillance
1.6.3. The risk of dystopia

2. MICRO RESET (INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS)
2.1. Micro trends
2.1.1. Acceleration of digitization
2.1.2. Resilient supply chains
2.1.3. Governments and business
2.1.4. Stakeholder capitalism and ESG
2.2. Industry reset

2.2.1. Social interaction and de-densification
2.2.2. Behavioural changes – permanent vs transient
2.2.3. Resilience

3. INDIVIDUAL RESET
3.1. Redefining our humanness
3.1.1. The better angels in our nature… or not
3.1.2. Moral choices
3.2. Mental health and well-being
3.3. Changing priorities
3.3.1. Creativity
3.3.2. Time
3.3.3. Consumption
3.3.4. Nature and well-being

CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ENDNOTES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus Schwab - The Fourth Industrial Revolution (2017)

Book Description

 

The founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum on how the impending technological revolution will change our lives.
 

We are on the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And this one will be unlike any other in human history.

Characterized by new technologies fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will impact all disciplines, economies and industries - and it will do so at an unprecedented rate. World Economic Forum data predicts that by 2025 we will see: commercial use of nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than human hair; the first transplant of a 3D-printed liver; 10% of all cars on US roads being driverless; and much more besides.
 

In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Schwab outlines the key technologies driving this revolution, discusses the major impacts on governments, businesses, civil society and individuals, and offers bold ideas for what can be done to shape a better future for all.

 

Chapters 

 

Introduction

1. The Fourth Industrial Revolution
1.1 Historical Context
1.2 Profound and Systemic Change
2. Drivers
2.1 Megatrends
2.1.1 Physical
2.1.2 Digital
2.1.3 Biological
2.2 Tipping Points
3. Impact
3.1 Economy
3.1.1 Growth
3.1.2 Employment
3.1.3 The Nature of Work
3.2 Business
3.2.1 Consumer Expectations
3.2.2 Data-Enhanced Products
3.2.3 Collaborative Innovation
3.2.4 New Operating Models
3.3 National and Global
3.3.1 Governments
3.3.2 Countries, Regions and Cities

3.3.3 International Security
3.4 Society
3.4.1 Inequality and the Middle Class
3.4.2 Community
3.5 The Individual
3.5.1 Identity, Morality and Ethics
3.5.2 Human Connection
3.5.3 Managing Public and Private Information
 

The Way Forward
Acknowledgements
Appendix: Deep Shift

1. Implantable Technologies
2. Our Digital Presence
3. Vision as the New Interface
4. Wearable Internet
5. Ubiquitous Computing
6. A Supercomputer in Your Pocket
7. Storage for All
8. The Internet of and for Things
9. The Connected Home
10. Smart Cities
11. Big Data for Decisions
12. Driverless Cars
13. Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making
14. AI and White-Collar Jobs
15. Robotics and Services
16. Bitcoin and the Blockchain
17. The Sharing Economy
18. Governments and the Blockchain
19. 3D Printing and Manufacturing
20. 3D Printing and Human Health
21. 3D Printing and Consumer Products

22. Designer Beings
23. Neurotechnologies