Novacene

L'età dell'iperintelligenza

Paperback, 123 pages

Published by Bollati Boringhieri.

ISBN:
978-88-339-3356-6
Copied ISBN!
(7 reviews)

Quando nel 1979 scrisse il suo primo libro su «Gaia» – la Terra interpretata come un organismo vivente in grado di autoregolarsi – James Lovelock approdò sulle pagine dei giornali di tutto il mondo. L’ipotesi, così radicale e dirompente, sembrò a molti un’idea assurda e ben poco scientifica ma, dopo decenni di accesissime discussioni, è diventata ormai un concetto saldamente attestato, sia nell’ambiente scientifico sia nel pensiero comune. Oggi James Lovelock festeggia un secolo di vita e sembra tutt’altro che rassegnato a farsi da parte. In Novacene affronta infatti due dei temi più attuali, inquietanti e complessi della contemporaneità: il nostro rapporto con le macchine intelligenti e il destino della Terra. Secondo Lovelock, l’Antropocene – l’era geologica in cui la nostra specie si è dimostrata un fattore critico per l’intero pianeta – farà presto spazio all’età successiva, il «Novacene», quella della collaborazione tra l’uomo e le macchine. Nuovi esseri prenderanno …

7 editions

The two faces of James Lovelock

I have always had a hard time making up my mind about James Lovelock. On the one hand, his Gaia hypothesis has really changed the way I (and many others) think about the remarkable equilibria we are born into. On the other hand, the way his ego and his (self-acclaimed?) engineering credentials have consistently manifested in confused appeals to technocracy - "it may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while" - has been misguided and dangerous.

In that sense, his last book "Novacene" has generally met my expectations. On the one hand, the book is full of strange and surprising scientific claims and detours that made me question and review what I know about the Earth Sciences. On the other hand, the book's call to accept the impending end of "organic life", and to celebrate the inevitable take-over of Gaia by electronic machines can only be …

Notes on the ‘Novacene’ by James Lovelock

Listening to a recent podcast on the topic of Posthumanism, I was made aware of the documentary Symbiotic Earth. This film describes the life and work of scientific rebel, Lynn Margulis, whose life was committed to revolutionary work on evolutionary biology. One of many fascinating scholars featured in the film was James Lovelock. Lovelock described how he refined and developed his Gaia hypothesis while working with Margulis. I marvelled at Lovelock being ninety years old at the time of the documentary being made. Looking up the series of books he wrote on his Gaia hypothesis, I marvelled even more when I discovered the most recent instalment, Novacene, was published in 2019, the year he turned one hundred years old. I have just completed reading Novacene and wanted to capture and consider some of the book’s key points. Validating some references, it was saddening to learn that Lovelock passed away last …

avatar for lorenzuru

rated it

avatar for philiporange

rated it

avatar for psykon

rated it

avatar for hyrrokkin

rated it

Subjects

  • Gaia hypothesis
  • Technology, philosophy
  • Artificial intelligence