by Kate Devlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 18, 2018
An immensely absorbing and provocative book on the past, present, and future of robosexuality.
A curiously fascinating study on the evolution of personal-use robotics in contemporary society.
A researcher in human-computer interactions, Devlin’s (Computing/Goldsmiths, Univ. of London) interest in sex robots began after socially interacting with the innovative wizards behind their automation. She taps into the many conversations she’s had with fellow “robosexologists” and confirms that robotic intelligence is increasingly becoming “integrated into our everyday lives.” The author discusses the popularity of virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri and humorously surmises that for every command to play music, there is someone barking sexually lewd orders just to see what happens. “If it exists,” she writes, “people will try to corrupt it.” Though the closest commercially available product to real-life sex robots is the RealDoll, Devlin believes the future possibilities are as endless as the ethical complications they inspire. Meanwhile, readers will enjoy the history of artificial sexual stimulation, courtesy of the author’s brisk histories of early string and lever versions of robotic mechanisms seen in ancient Rome and Egypt, the origins of the female vibrator, and a humanoid prototype named Pepper among other thinking and teaching machines made for human companionship and development. Chronicling her interviews with a generous sampling of sex experts, Devlin also explores the titillating world of “teledildonics” (internet-synced smart sex toys) and techno-enhanced pleasure bots, and she works to debunk the industry’s myths and correct misconceptions. Throughout, she presents her material with intelligence, a clever wit, and a charming sense of humor. Her thoughts on traditional attitudes toward sex, emotional attachment, and misappropriation add clarity and perspective to a narrative that reads as more than a simple discourse on bridging robotic automation and artificial intelligence with adult novelty. Her visit to a sex doll factory provides a future-forward glance at the race to capitalize on this fascinating (and lucrative) niche market, which technologically and erotically bridges the gap between the artificial and the biological.
An immensely absorbing and provocative book on the past, present, and future of robosexuality.Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4729-5089-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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by Paul Kalanithi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 19, 2016
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
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A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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