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World Wide Mind

The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet Beyond Boundaries
Chorost, Michael. World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet. Free Pr: S. & S. 2011. c.256p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781439119143. $26. . Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines—and How It Will Change Our Lives. Times Bks: Holt. Mar. 2011. c.320p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780805090529. $28. SCI
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These two new books both predict neurologically enhanced humans as a possible next evolutionary stage. Chorost (Rebuilt: My Journey Back to the Hearing World) himself is already neurologically enhanced; he is a deaf man who hears through a cochlear implant. His new book conveys a vivid sense of what it would be like to perceive one's mental world through a computer-facilitated filter. He examines the physics of the brain and how its neurological signals result in action potentials, which can be identified and transmitted from one brain to another. Networking minds may function as more than the sum of many individuals, perhaps leading to "hyperconsciousness." Still, Chorost is a storyteller, and readers will likely identify with his myriad experiences. By contrast, Nicolelis, founder of Duke University's Center for Neuroengineering, reports from the international laboratories where this research is conducted. In current neurological theory, there are those who subscribe to the classic view that brain events are localized and those, like Nicolelis, who contend that they are the result of dynamic interactions of distributed neurons. To prove this, he conducted experiments on animals, including a monkey who could control a robotic arm with its mind.
VERDICT Both books give views on future networked brains. Chorost's empathetic account of how that is possible and what it would feel like is highly recommended. Nicolelis's expert study is a slog in places and the content is technical. However, it does give an insider's view from a lab. Both are recommended for students and motivated readers.
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