14 Nov 2012 23:51:08
Pop-up ads and mechanised call centres may be annoying and faintly sinister, but they are whimsical delights compared with the technological cataclysm that some scientists believe could happen "around 2045". Known as the Singularity, it represents the moment when computers become so advanced that they "escape the limitations of the human brain", booting themselves into ever-higher levels of intelligence and rendering our current idea of humanity redundant. Taking his title from Emily Dickinson – a figure any computer might struggle to replicate – Appleyard argues that the human mind can't be quite so easily captured as the techno-moguls like to think. The range and pace of his book are at times dizzying, drawing Cheryl Cole, Bill Gates and CS Lewis, among others, into an alarming survey of the computer age's immersive power. Appleyard enjoys playing Morpheus in The Matrix, plying the reader with red pills and leading them to see beyond the joys of "unboxing" their latest gadget. It's fitting, however, that a book that dissects the modern obsession with connectivity and information leaves your circuits a bit overloaded.
