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Bar-Giora Goldberg is an American-Israeli scholar and entrepreneur. He received his BSc and MSc from the Technion, Haifa; both in Electrical Engineering and Communication theory. With a lifelong career in Technology, he co-founded two US venture-funded technology companies, in Communications and Imaging and published more than 25 US patents. Goldberg published a technical book with McGraw-Hill Company in 1995, titled: Digital Techniques in Digital Synthesis. ISBN 0-07-024166-x. Consequently, he had a teaching career (tech seminars), mostly in the US and Europe. Goldberg's lifelong interests were also in the area of History, Music (classical and opera) and Architecture. His recent focus has been the subject of this book: the rise of Cognition and Complexity and the evolution of our art, science, politics, the perception of the world and the social order. Goldberg resides in San Diego, CA.
Publishers Weekly Booklife Review Goldberg's analysis of
humanity's cognitive evolution reframes our past and re-envisions
our future. He argues that humanity's rapid acceleration of
"cognition," or the ability to generate and communicate abstract
thoughts, has allowed us to transcend the Darwinian endgame of mere
physical survival and instead live in "the age of Idea, Data and
Cognition." Because abstract thinking is now the primary mode of
our existence, we each inhabit the "Cognitive-Cloud," Goldberg's
term for the "mental universe" composed of our own ideas and
beliefs that mediates our relationship with reality. Goldberg goes
on to argue that the Cognitive-Cloud's growing power has increased
the complexity of nearly every aspect of human life, including
government, economics, religion, and the arts.While he celebrates
the generative possibilities of the Cognitive-Cloud, Goldberg also
warns that "much of what we do and imagine is the invention of our
mind" and notes the dangers of not recognizing that we can be
"prisoners" of our clouds. He embraces the complexity of his
subject, and there's much that's fascinating and challenging in his
abundant details and wide survey of topics. The material can also
overwhelm, though, and some readers will struggle to synthesize all
the information and connect it to Goldberg's ideas on cognition and
complexity. In addition to his broad scope, Goldberg's writing
style amplifies the intricacy of his subject, as he shifts topics
quickly and frequently circles back to previous points. Some
readers will revel in the kaleidoscope of facts that he presents,
while others will wish for a more focused discussion.Goldberg
presents a steady stream of intriguing facts and thought-provoking
quotations. His analysis of the Cognitive-Cloud's impact on
frontiers like Artificial Intelligence, cryptocurrency, and climate
change offers a fascinating peek at our future. Readers who are up
for the challenge will be rewarded by this exciting and in-depth
examination of our species' past and its
potential.Takeaway: Goldberg's wide-ranging
commentary on humanity's next steps offers abundant food for
thought for the intellectually curious.Great for fans
of: Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet Is
Doing To Our Brains, Maryanne Wolf's Proust and the Squid: The
Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Yuval Noah Harari's
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
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