WE, ROBOTS: STAYING HUMAN IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA

Book ID/图书代码： 08885015B83197

English Summary/英文概要： Can technology solve all of our problems? Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many of our most famous journalists, pundits, and economists seem to think so. According to them, “intelligent machines” and big data will free us from work, educate our children, transform our environment, and even make religion more user-friendly. This is the story they’re telling us: that we should stop worrying and love our robot future.

But just because you tell a story over and over again doesn’t make it true. Curtis White, one of our most brilliant and perceptive social critics, knows all about the danger of a seductive story, and in We, Robots, he tangles with the so-called thinkers who are convinced that the future is rose-colored and robotically enhanced.

With tremendous erudition and a punchy wit, White argues that we must be skeptical of anyone who tries to sell us on technological inevitability. And he gives us an alternative set of stories: taking inspiration from artists as disparate as Sufjan Stevens, Lars von Trier, and François Rabelais, White shows us that by looking to art, we can imagine a different kind of future. No robots required.

Playful, provocative, and uncompromisingly intelligent, We, Robots tussles with our most pernicious assumptions—and offers a joyful defense of what it means to be human in an inhuman age.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 科技能解决我们的一切问题吗？尽管反方似乎拥有压倒性的证据，许多新闻记者、评论家和经济学家却表示赞同。在他们看来，“智能机器”和大数据将我们从工作中解放出来，能够教育孩子，改变环境，甚至让宗教更加贴近生活。他们告诉我们：我们应该停止担忧，拥护热爱我们的机器未来。

然而一遍遍的讲述同一个故事并不能让故事成真。我们最聪颖最具洞察力的社会评论家柯蒂斯•怀特，太过了解这种诱人故事背后的危险。在《我们，机器人》中，他与那些所谓的认为未来一片形势大好，认为机器增益未来的思想家们展开争论。

怀特用他的博学与机智警示我们，对任何向我们兜售科技无可避免的人都应该保持怀疑态度。同时他还带来了一组不一样的故事：通过从迥然相异的艺术家身上吸取灵感，苏夫扬•史蒂文斯，拉斯•冯•提尔，弗朗索瓦•拉伯雷... 怀特告诉我们通过观察艺术，我们可以想象一种完全不同的未来。不需要机器人，充满乐趣，创造力，无可比拟的聪颖...《我们，机器人》与对我们而言最致命的假设进行搏击——同时妙趣横生的辩护，何为在一个机器的时代中身而为人。（DC）

Awards/获奖情况：
Review
“Discursive, scholarly, and crackling with intensity...White walks it like he talks it; We, Robots is both erudite and irreverent, and humor is as much his method as it is his message.” —NPR

“Insightful...[Curtis White] joins Evgeny Morozov and Jaron Lanier on the front line of critics challenging assumptions about the benefits of technology.” —The Washington Post

“A soulful swipe at science…If a word can sum up what he is for, it is ‘kindness.’”—The Independent

Praise for Curtis White
“The most inspiringly wicked social critic of the moment.” —Will Blythe, Elle

“Absolutely indispensable.” —Slavoj Žižek

“A master of bewitchments, parodies, and dazzling tropes.” —Paul Auster

“Splendidly cranky.” —Molly Ivins

“Cogent, acute, beautiful, and true.” —David Foster Wallace

About the Author/作者介绍： 柯蒂斯•怀特，作者，著有《科学幻象》，小说《父亲正在看电视》，《逝者颂》等。他还是一名饱受赞誉的散文作家，作品曾刊登在Harper’s Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, Orion, 及 Playboy等上。其作品《中产思想：美国人为什么不为他们自己考虑》在2003年获国际畅销书殊荣。

CURTIS WHITE is the author of The Science Delusion, and of the novels of Memories of My Father Watching TV and Requiem, among other works. A widely acclaimed essayist, he has had work appear in Harper’s Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, Orion, and Playboy. His book The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don’t Think for Themselves was an international bestseller in 2003.

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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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