The idea that we might be robots is no longer the stuff of science
fiction; decades of research in evolutionary biology and cognitive
science have led many esteemed scientists to the conclusion that,
according to the precepts of universal Darwinism, humans are merely
the hosts for two replicators (genes and memes) that have no interest
in us except as conduits for replication. Richard Dawkins, for
example, jolted us into realizing that we are just survival mechanisms
for our own genes, sophisticated robots in service of huge colonies of
replicators to whom concepts of rationality, intelligence, agency, and
even the human soul are irrelevant. Accepting and now forcefully
responding to this decentering and disturbing idea, Keith Stanovich
here provides the tools for the "robot's rebellion," a program of
cognitive reform necessary to advance human interests over the limited
interest of the replicators and define our own autonomous goals as
individual human beings. He shows how concepts of rational thinking
from cognitive science interact with the logic of evolution to create
opportunities for humans to structure their behavior to serve their
own ends. These evaluative activities of the brain, he argues, fulfill
the need that we have to ascribe significance to human life. We may
well be robots, but we are the only robots who have discovered that
fact. Only by recognizing ourselves as such, argues Stanovich, can we
begin to construct a concept of self based on what is truly singular
about humans: that they gain control of their lives in a way unique
among life forms on Earth—through rational self-determination.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226771199
Publisert
2018
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter