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The schedule of readings will almost certainly change during the course of the semester, depending on the interests in the class. We may not discuss all readings in class, but you should be prepared to discuss the readings if and when they come up in class discussions.
Week 1 (Jan 22 – 24): Course
Introduction and Concepts
Cybernetics, communication, codes, and control.
Begin Wiener, Human Use of Human Beings Preface and Ch 1
Week 2 (Jan 29 – 31): Feedback
HUHB chapters 2-4
Futures of the 1950s clips
Response 1 (on negative feedback)
Week 3 (Feb 5 – 7): Homeostasis
HUHB chapters 5-8
Response 2 (on homeostasis)
Week 4 (Feb 12 – 14): the 2nd Industrial
revolution
HUHB chapters 9-11
Response 3 (on 2nd Industrial Revolution)
Week 5 (Feb 19 – 21): Technological Singularity
Vernor Vinge, "Technological
Singularity."
TED Talk: Kevin
Kelly on How
Technology Evolves
Essay 1 due
Feb 21
Week 6 (Feb 26 – 28): Predicting
the Future
Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near Prologue and Chapter 1
Response 4 (on predicting future trends)
Week 7 (March 5 – 7): Technological Progress
TSiN chapter 2 and chapter 3 (sections "The Computational Capacity
of the Human Brain" and "The Limits of Computation")
Response 5 (on the life cycle of a technology)
Week 8 (Spring
Break)
Week 9 (March 19 – 21): Mind and Machine
TSiN chapter 4 (sections "Reverse Engineering the Brain," "Is
the Human Brain Different from a Computer?" "Interfacing the Brain
and Machines," and "Uploading the Human Brain."
TED Talk: Tan Le: A
Headset that Reads Your Brainwaves
Response 6 (on uploading the human brain)
Week 10 (March 26 – 28): GNR
TSiN chapter 5
TED Talk: Juan Enriquez, Will our kids be a different species?
TED Talk: Sheila Nirenberg,: A Prosthetic Eye to Treat Blindness and Nirenberg Q&A
Essay 2 due March
28
Week 11 (April 2 – 4) : Research and Technology
Google, Databases, and Wikipedia
Synthesis: Using & Citing Sources
Response 7 (Research Topics)
Week 12 (April 9 – 11): Impacts and Identity
TSiN chapters 6-7
TED Talk: Lucy McRae, How can technology transform the human body?
Francis Fukuyama: Transhumanism
Nick Bostrum: In Defense of Posthuman Dignity
Response 8 (on identity)
Week 13 (April 16 – 18) On the Other Hand
TSiN chapters 8 and 9
Bill Joy : "Why
the Future Doesn't Need Us"
William Grassie: Millenialism and the Singularity
Response 9 (on Joy)
Week 14 (April 23 – 25): In Conclusion
Mark Walker: Ship of Fools
Ted Peters: Transhumanism and the Posthuman Future
Russell Blackford: Trite Truths about Technology (reply to Ted Peters)
Week 15 (April 30 – May 2):
Peer Review of Research paper April 30
Exam Prep
Research Paper due
May 3
Final Exam: Tues May 14, 1:30 – 4:15
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