Book Review - A Cosmist Manifesto: Practical Philosophy for the Posthuman Age, by Ben Goertzel

A Cosmist Manifesto: Practical Philosophy for the Posthuman Age, by Ben Goertzel, published by Humanity+ Press, is now available on Amazon.

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Posted by Typographist  on  07/26  at  10:36 AM

Nice book, but next time use a standard layout, please; I printed out the thing at 9 pt and it's 96 pages.

Posted by Giulio Prisco  on  07/27  at  01:06 AM

I have lost the habit of printing stuff on dead trees, I prefer to read electronic texts on screen. Tablet devices will, I hope, permit advancing toward the paperless society.

I have bought the printed version of this book on Amazon though, because it deserves a place on my (soon obsolete) bookshelf. Perhaps it has been the last printed book that I have bought.

Posted by postfuturist  on  07/29  at  10:15 PM

Wonder & hope, yes. But as for meaning and happiness? no way of knowing what beings will be like, or what meaning will mean-- if anything.

Posted by Giulio Prisco  on  07/31  at  01:07 AM

@postfuturist - future beings will find their own sources of meaning and happiness, but presently the important thing is what works for us, here and now. For me, wonder and hope create happiness, and wonder and happiness create meaning.

Posted by prefuturist  on  07/31  at  06:11 AM

We haven't stopped discovering new and often totally unexpected things. Hope is with us as long as discovery is with us. Discovery is inherently meaningful, and a source of true wonder and happiness, the highest possible joy, in fact:

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.” -Nikola Tesla

Posted by postfuturist  on  07/31  at  03:26 PM

"future beings will find their own sources of meaning and happiness"

But Giulio, point is: meaning & happiness are human terms, not posthuman. It is like saying "Italy in the year 2525...", when Italy might very well might not be Italy in 2525.

Posted by Giulio Prisco  on  08/01  at  12:41 AM

@postfuturist: meaning and happiness are terms which can be applied to any thinking and feeling sentient being, be it biologically human or not.

Italy in 2525 is an interesting analogy. The political entity called Italy today may not exist anymore, but the geographical territory may still exist in a recognizable form. Or, the geographical entity may have changed beyond recognition (think of geo-engineering, land reclamation for the sea...) but the political entity may still exist, or Italians may be scattered in a diaspora of persons who consider themselves Italian and speak the language. The last scenarios are good illustrations of the preservation of important patterns in different substrates,

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