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giantarms's review against another edition
I did the readings in this for a class I took as an undergrad. I remember nothing about it. I'm not even sure if was the class was the one taught by the extremely hot* man or some other class. I nearly got rid of it, but I think I saw it on the shelf of another teacher I had a crush on** and so I looked at the book again and none of the words made any sense. But now I'm out of school and married to a man who looked inside this and said, "Yeah, this guy wants to be Alan Watts" and closed it again.
I tried to read Alan Watts once. So, the only reasonable place for this book is in the donation box at work. So long, book! I'm glad I didn't marry an academic!
* Hot in both senses. Very handsome and constantly sweating.
** As God is my witness, there were only two. Why they should converge on this book is a mystery, SURELY.
I tried to read Alan Watts once. So, the only reasonable place for this book is in the donation box at work. So long, book! I'm glad I didn't marry an academic!
* Hot in both senses. Very handsome and constantly sweating.
** As God is my witness, there were only two. Why they should converge on this book is a mystery, SURELY.
valdelane's review against another edition
5.0
Cogscigasm! This book might be even _more_ relevant now than when it was published 14 years ago, given how the border is blurring between our carbon-based brains and silicon-based exocortex. Sure, the interface is still a bit clumsy, but really--would you let anyone take away your smartphone other than prying it from your cold, dead fingers? Although Clark makes it clear that intelligence extends into the environment, he also argues quite convincingly that our physical bodies are intrinsic to the process of learning and thinking--which implies that full consciousness upload to silicon (the Rapture of the Nerds) may be impractical, or at least require that a body be part of the model.
bibliocyclist's review
4.0
"Language is the ultimate artifact."
"What is displayed is just a specially tailored summary of the results of certain episodes of internal activity."
"The 'good ideas' emerged as the fruits of these repeated little interactions between me and various external media."
"I am not one inner voice but many."
"I consist of multiple mindless streams of highly parallel and often relatively independent computational processes."
"My single voice is no more than a literary conceit."
"What is displayed is just a specially tailored summary of the results of certain episodes of internal activity."
"The 'good ideas' emerged as the fruits of these repeated little interactions between me and various external media."
"I am not one inner voice but many."
"I consist of multiple mindless streams of highly parallel and often relatively independent computational processes."
"My single voice is no more than a literary conceit."
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