A profound exploration of the external influences that shape human consciousness, from healing rituals to digital devices In this voyage through thousands of years of psychosomatic healing, distinguished anthropologist and sociologist Roger Bartra examines the placebo effect as a key to our understanding of human consciousness. Shamans and Robots demonstrates how biology and technology become intertwined within human culture by using the various histories of ritual and symbolic healing to speculate about future developments in artificial intelligence. Charting the extensive history of the placebo effect through medieval healing, shamanism, and early psychoanalytic practices, Bartra posits that consciousness is not simply the province of the mind but something equally shaped by external systems and objects. He finds evidence of this “exocerebrum”—the extension of our brains outside the body—in the shamanistic concept of the placebo, in which external objects heal our bodies, and in modern technical devices like prostheses or robots, whose development of a mechanical consciousness would have to mimic, and in turn elucidate, the processes involved in the creation of consciousness in humans. Through this radical concept, he analyzes digital media’s relationship to the functions of the human brain and probes the possibility of artificial consciousness. Both a look at the human body’s potential to restore itself and a profound reflection on the curative power of symbolic structures, Shamans and Robots explores how our technologies increasingly serve as extensions of our cognitive selves.

A mind-expanding exploration of the ethical bonds we share with the nonhuman Moral relationships saturate the living world, and the line between the human and nonhuman is blurrier than we might think. Animals, Robots, Gods provides a bold new vision of ethics defined less by our minds or society and more by our interactions with those around us, whether they are the pets we keep, the gods we believe in, or the machines we endow with life. Drawing on pioneering fieldwork around the globe by some of today’s leading researchers, acclaimed anthropologist Webb Keane invites us to expand our moral imagination. We learn about the ethical dilemmas of South Asian animal rights activists, Balinese cockfighters, cowboys, and Japanese robot fanciers. We meet a hunter in the Yukon who explains to a bear why it must come out of hibernation and generously give itself up to him, a cancer sufferer in Thailand who sees his tumor as a reincarnated ox, and a computer that persuades users to confess their anxieties as if they were patients on a psychiatrist’s couch. Through these and other stories, Keane challenges us to rethink our most basic ideas about who—and what—we deem worthy of moral consideration. Brimming with charm, wit, and insight, Animals, Robots, Gods reveals how centuries of conversations between us and nonhumans inform our conceptions of morality and will continue to guide us in the age of AI and beyond.

Schizophrenia is one of the most enigmatic human experiences. While it can cause terrible distress, it doesn't fit the mold of a classic medical disease. In Shamans Among Us, Joseph Polimeni shows that today's schizophrenia patients are no less than the modern manifestation of tribal shamans, people vital to the success of early human cultures. Spanning human history and including discussions of evolution, the definition of disease, and the nature of psychosis, Shamans Among Us is the most detailed and comprehensive evolutionary theory yet assembled to explain a specific psychiatric diagnosis. "Joseph Polimeni's scholarly book challenges several traditional concepts of both evolutionary biology and medicine. I strongly recommend it to all those who dare to think outside the box." - Martin Brüne, MD, author of Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry.

From the snowscapes of Siberia to the jungles of the Amazon, this book explores the role of the shaman as a healer mediating between the world of the living and the world of the spirits. 250 illustrations, many in color. 25 maps.

Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21st Century is the true story of this author's contact with a "dead" optics physicist colleague and the telepathic communication that sent him searching for scientific answrs to his spiritual questions. Harper draws from this deep well of wisdom: astrology, biology, near-death experiences, paranormal psycholgy, quantum physics as well as Egyptian and Mayan cosmology overall. He does an excellent job of synthesizing massive amounts of information, making this shift of the ages comprehensible to the general reader. Clearly this is a necessary primer to understand the coming apocalypse of biblical proportions in consciousness, climate, culture, and civilization. However, the theme of this book is that by learning to use trance- the techniques employed by mystics, prophets, and shamans- one can unlock the mysteries of existence for themselves. Indeed this is the big idea behind the Eternal Return of the Sun of God in 2012: Self-Empowerment.

Researchers in artificial intelligence and scholars in the humanities consider the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Prominent experts from science and the humanities explore issues in robot ethics that range from sex to war. Robots today serve in many roles, from entertainer to educator to executioner. As robotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: Should robots be programmed to follow a code of ethics, if this is even possible? Are there risks in forming emotional bonds with robots? How might society—and ethics—change with robotics? This volume is the first book to bring together prominent scholars and experts from both science and the humanities to explore these and other questions in this emerging field. Starting with an overview of the issues and relevant ethical theories, the topics flow naturally from the possibility of programming robot ethics to the ethical use of military robots in war to legal and policy questions, including liability and privacy concerns. The contributors then turn to human-robot emotional relationships, examining the ethical implications of robots as sexual partners, caregivers, and servants. Finally, they explore the possibility that robots, whether biological-computational hybrids or pure machines, should be given rights or moral consideration. Ethics is often slow to catch up with technological developments. This authoritative and accessible volume fills a gap in both scholarly literature and policy discussion, offering an impressive collection of expert analyses of the most crucial topics in this increasingly important field.

From the clouds of Venus to the origins of the time gates, this collection of novellas and short fiction visits many favourite worlds of the Quantum Evolution universe, as well as some new to the series. With two 20,000 plus novellas and four long short stories, this collection is a stunning showcase of talent. Collecting: “Persephone Descending”, “Schools of Clay”, “Beneath Sunlit Shallows”, “Flight From the Ages”, Pollen From a Future Harvest and Tool Use By Humans of Danzhai County, this is a must for all fans of forward-thinking science fiction.

Natural Born Shamans - A Spiritual Toolkit for Life covers all aspects of performing spiritual or shamanic work with children and young people. It is aimed at anyone who has an interest in young people and their spiritual journey, and covers all age groups from “in utero” until age 18+. The book explains what shamanic parenting is and describes ways of doing spirit-led work, even with both unborn babies and spirit children (after miscarriage, abortion or early death). It also provides 30 “tried and tested” session plans for people looking for inspiration and “where to start”.

This critical reader of original essays places the boom and bust years of the Internet in a broad cultural context. Exploring the world of html, web browsers, cookies, online net guides, portals, and Internet service providers, this text includes the history of the Internet, interesting case studies and discussions on online community, user inequalities, and governance. Within the larger issues of technological infrastructure, government policy, and globalization, Critical Perspectives on the Internet highlights both the limitations and possibilities of everyday Internet use. Does the net function as a space for radical social and political change? For challenging established media? What opportunities lie in the cracks and crevasses of net structure? With its critical agenda for Internet studies, this text is a valuable tool for upper-level courses on the Internet, online communication, computer-mediated communication, communication and information technologies, and media and politics.