OUR WORLD
REVIEW
Transcendence:
The Disinformation Encyclopedia of
Transhumanism and the Singularity
by R.U. Sirius and Jay Cornell
T
This book is fascinating, witty, intelligent, informative,
disturbingly visionary, and
alternately funny and scary
as hell.
T
he authors, R.U. Sirius (no, not
his real name) and Jay Cornell
have put together a guide to
terms most people haven’t heard
about, or only vaguely recognize,
that describe scientific and technological developments already
well advanced and that will inevitably change
modern life as we know it. You know those science
fiction movies like 2001, Terminator, and the Matrix? Their respective premises are no longer far
out nor far away.
The book revolves around the concepts of trans-humanism and the singularity. Trans-humanism relates to radical technological alteration of the human body – mind, including genetic manipulation
and biomechanical and electronic implants. The
singularity refers to the crossover point when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than human
beings. Probably the most high profile proponent
of this is Ray Kurzweil, who predicts the singularity
to occur in 2045.
The book combines history, science, and technology with a good dollop of philosophy and humor.
It makes great reading for trivia addicts, but also
raises profound questions and issues that any reflective individual should be aware of. Dorothy,
59 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
we are not in Kansas anymore and there’s no going back, so we had better start thinking about the
moral, ethical and survival issues related to going
forward with little or no oversight or restraint. This
book provides the signposts to this new Land of
Oz, and describes the major players – in front of
and behind the curtains. It is a book to be carefully
contemplated.
Reviewed by Miriam Knight