[NFBMT] Change is coming, big change

[Rik James]

Hey there, fellow earthling beings in my circle of friends and colleagues,
I thought you might wish to read this Synopsis of a new book in the
Bookshare collection.
It was newly added, thanks to the generous personal purchase, scan, and
submission by one of my colleagues in the Bookshare Volunteer group, Evan.
He said he felt strongly about its importance, and it was looking like it
would not be supplied by the publisher, so he did it himself.
I am going to read it. As soon as I get my all things science thinking cap.
And find a good Halloween pumpkin for the porch.
I will enjoy seeing some of you in Missoula, at the state convention. I will
be the one wearing a big bib with pockets. I hear the barbecue is so good,
and I want to be ready.
Rik James

Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence
By James Lovelock

Synopsis

James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis and the greatest
environmental thinker of our time, has produced an astounding new theory
about the future of life on Earth. He argues that the Anthropocene--the age
in which humans acquired planetary-scale technologies--is, after 300 years,
coming to an end. A new age--the Novacene--has already begun. In the
Novacene, new beings will emerge from existing artificial intelligence
systems. They will think 10,000 times faster than we do and they will regard
us as we now regard plants. But this will not be the cruel, violent machine
takeover of the planet imagined by science fiction. These hyperintelligent
beings will be as dependent on the health of the planet as we are. They will
need the planetary cooling system of Gaia to defend them from the increasing
heat of the sun as much as we do. And Gaia depends on organic life. We will
be partners in this project. It is crucial, Lovelock argues, that the
intelligence of Earth survives and prospers. He does not think there are
intelligent aliens, so we are the only beings capable of understanding the
cosmos. Perhaps, he speculates, the Novacene could even be the beginning of
a process that will finally lead to intelligence suffusing the entire
cosmos. At the age of 100, James Lovelock has produced the most important
and compelling work of his life. James Lovelock is the originator of the
Gaia hypothesis (now Gaia theory). His many books on the subject include
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, The Revenge of Gaia, The Vanishing Face
of Gaia, and A Rough Ride to the Future. The author of more than 200
scientific papers, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974."
Copyright: 2019
Publisher: The MIT Press

LINK:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/2851986