| Description |
1 online resource (325 pages) : illustrations |
| Physical Medium |
monochrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-311) and index. |
| Summary |
Human obsolescence is imminent. The factories of the future will be dark, staffed by armies of tireless robots. The hospitals of the future will have fewer doctors, depending instead on cloud-based AI to diagnose patients and recommend treatments. The homes of the future will anticipate our wants and needs and provide all the entertainment, food, and distraction we could ever desire. To many, this is a depressing prognosis, an image of civilization replaced by its machines. But what if an automated future is something to be welcomed rather than feared? Work is a source of misery and oppression for most people, so shouldn't we do what we can to hasten its demise? Automation and Utopia makes the case for a world in which, free from need or want, we can spend our time inventing and playing games and exploring virtual realities that are more deeply engaging and absorbing than any we have experienced before, allowing us to achieve idealized forms of human flourishing. The idea that we should "give up" and retreat to the virtual may seem shocking, even distasteful. But John Danaher urges us to embrace the possibilities of this new existence. The rise of automating technologies presents a utopian moment for humankind, providing both the motive and the means to build a better future.-- Provided by publisher |
| Contents |
1. Autumn of humanity -- Part I. Automation -- 2. Case for technological unemployment -- 3. Why you should hate your job -- 4. Giving techno-pessimism its due -- Part II. Utopia -- 5. In search of utopia -- 6. Cyborg utopia -- 7. Virtual utopia -- Epilogue: Unending quest. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Utopias.
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Utopias. |
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Technological unemployment.
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Technological unemployment. |
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Quality of life.
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Quality of life. |
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Human security.
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Human security. |
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Forecasting.
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Human-robot interaction.
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Forecasting. |
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quality of life. |
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Human-robot interaction. |
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PHILOSOPHY -- Social. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Danaher, John. Automation and utopia. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019 9780674984240 (DLC) 2019010210 (OCoLC)1090007013 |
| ISBN |
9780674242203 (electronic book ; PDF) |
|
0674242203 (electronic book ; PDF) |
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9780674242210 (electronic book ; MOBI) |
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0674242211 (electronic book ; MOBI) |
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9780674983403 (electronic book ; EPUB) |
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0674983408 (electronic book ; EPUB) |
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9780674984240 (hardcover) |
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0674984242 (hardcover) |
|
