The Nature of Reality

Cyberspace: First Steps

by Michael Benedikt

Cyberspace, a term first coined by the writer William Gibson in his award-winning 1984 novel "Neuromancer", has been described as "an infinite artificial world where humans navigate in information-based space" and as "the ultimate computer-human interface". However one defines it, the "virtual reality" known as cyberspace is one of the most radically innovative of computer developments. These original contributions by leading thinkers in computer science, architecture, the visual arts, philosophy, anthropology, and industry, provide an insider's view of this new technology. "Cyberspace - First Steps" focuses on the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in the design, use, and effects of virtual environments, offering fictions, predictions, and proposals, forming a collective search for appropriate metaphors and possible structures that might provide the basis for future virtual worlds. Contributions discuss the philosophical basis for cyberspace in ancient thought, the relevance of the body in virtual realities, basic communications principles for cyberspace, the coming dematerialization of architecture, the logic of graphic representation into the third dimension, the design of a noncentralized system for multiparticipant cyberspaces and the ramifications of cybespace for future workplaces. The contributors to this volume are: Michael Benedikt; William Gibson, writer; David Tomas, University of Toronto; Nicole Stenger, MIT; Michael Heim; California State University, Long Beach; Allucquere Rosanne Stone, University of California, Santa Cruz and San Diego; Marcos Novak, Univesity of Texas and UCLA; Alan Wexelblat, Bull Worldwide Information Systems; Chip Morningstar, F.Randall Farmer, Lucasfilm Ltd; Carl Tollander; Autodesk, Inc; Tim McFadden, Altos Computer Systems; Meredith Bricken, University of Washington; Steve Pruitt, Tom Barrett, Texas Instruments and Electronic Data Systems; Wendy A. Kellog, John M. Carroll, John T. Richards, IBM.

Publisher: MIT Press (MA) | More reviews: amazon.com

Second Lives

by Tim Guest

Every day, millions of people abandon reality for virtual worlds — building houses, making and selling works of art, getting married. On ebay, people sell virtual clothes and rent virtual cars. Tim Guest takes us into the bizarre culture of virtual lives.

Publisher: Arrow | More reviews: amazon.com

Mystery of Being (CPS Publications in Philosophy of Science)

by Gabriel Marcel

Average Rating:

"There was a time in my life when I read and reread this work. This does not mean that I understood it fully. But the idea of 'intersubjectivity' and that it is through being with and understanding others that we become most truly human is one which had great influence on me. It took me away as I was looking to be taken away from a kind of philosophical solipsism a kind of sense that all should rest only in 'I' and 'I' that would prove upon reflection 'unstable as water'. Marcel is a humane thinker, one who tries to take us from the celebration of Nothingness and Death to the celebration of life in community with others. I doubt that he is read much today in the English- language world, but to my mind he is a very valuable and helpful thinker . A mensch of philosophy. "

Publisher: Univ Pr of Amer | More reviews: amazon.com

Knight's Honor (Cyberquest , No 2)

by Sigmund Brouwer

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Following the Great Water Wars, the Earth is a hostile place and Christianity is outlawed. Two classed of people have emerged--wealthy Technocrats and poverty-stricken Welfaros. The World Government intends to destroy the Welfaros, but a secret community of twelve has a plan to stop the slaughter and bring hope to the world. All they need is a hero. So far, none of their candidates have survived. Mok is their last hope. And time is running out.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc | More reviews: amazon.com

The Model Mind: How the Mind Moves Matter

by Peter Bros

HOW DO WE RECALL AN IMAGE OF A TREE WHEN THERE IS NO TREE PRESENT? WHY DO WE RECALL A TREE WHEN WE SEE A TREE? WHAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO CREATE A TREE THAT HAS NEVER EXISTED BEFORE? These questions of memory, perception and creativity are just a part of The Model Mind, the first explanation of how the mind forms images, how it stores and recalls those images, and why those images, non-material in and of themselves, can drive the body, tormenting it with guilt, destroying it with anger and elevating it to create cities in the sky. THE MODEL MIND TAKES CHAPTER SIXTEEN, "THE MECHANICAL MIND" FROM THE AUTHOR'S ATOMS, STARS AND MINDS: SYNTHESIZING AN ELEMENTARY PARTICLE THAT COMPREHENDS ITSELF, AND SHOWS THE PHYSICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MIND AND OUR ACTIONS.

Publisher: Financial Book Partners | More reviews: amazon.com

Science and Religion: One World - Changing Perspectives on Reality

Publisher: Springer | More reviews: amazon.com

Globalized E-learning Cultural Challenges

"Globalized e-Learning Cultural Challenges" explores the issues educators, administrators, and instructional designers face when transferring knowledge and skills to other cultures through e-learning. Most e-learning courses have been designed in Western cultures, but the largest and fastest-growing consumer groups live in Eastern cultures. "Globalized e-Learning Cultural Challenges" presents a broad perspective of culture and e-learning issues, relevant research, implications of cultural differences in online education, and the anticipated challenges to implementing e-learning in other countries. It also explores theoretical philosophies of education, and examines issues related to language. "Globalized e-Learning Cultural Challenges" gives researchers, educators, and administrators several practical approaches to analyzing and adapting e-learning for other cultures.

Publisher: Information Science Publishing | More reviews: amazon.com

Escape to reality: A roadmap to the coming age

by Ronald L McCartney

Publisher: Partnership Book Services | More reviews: amazon.com

Missing Links: Arts, Religion, and Reality (Heyendaal Institut-Edition : Interdisziplinare Forschungen Zu Religion, Wissenschaft Und Jutlur Abteilung a : Geisteswissenschaftliche Sektion Band 1)

Publisher: Lit Verlag | More reviews: amazon.com

In Your Dreams (Summit Books: Decryptors Series)

by David F. Rider

Publisher: Perfection Learning | More reviews: amazon.com