Book Review: Technology vs. Humanity by Gerd Leonhard

Following criticism that my previous post was "a clear cop-out" and "not at all relevant to media, as this blog is supposed to be" - most of that criticism coming from the writer herself, but still - I have decided to write a proper, media-centric post this week as an apology. This post will be a review of a book I recently read, Technology vs. Humanity: The Coming Clash Between Man and Machine by Gerd Leonhard.

I bought this book about a month or so ago and only finished it around last week, but I'd been interested in reading it for several years before that. As you can probably tell from the title, Technology vs. Humanity focuses on current and future conflicts between humans and machines, a topic which has long been of interest to me. Leonhard's book tackles this subject in quite a broad fashion, giving general overviews of recent technological progress and suggestions regarding what these advancements could lead to in the future. The author also stresses the philosophical aspect of the issue, discussing the need for ethical guidelines in the development of technology. Leonhard frequently breaks these down into lists, such as "seven existential questions to ask" and "nine suggested principles", which are less doctrinal than they are aimed at promoting conversation around technological ethics. 

For better and worse, Technology vs. Humanity is quite a basic book. Aimed at the general tech-using population rather than experts in the field, it provides a broad overview of relevant topics from technological "megashifts" to digital obesity. In some ways this works to the book's advantage, making it relatively accessible and a good jumping-off point for larger discussions, but a little extra depth (perhaps in the form of more detailed analysis or specific examples) could have taken the book from general to comprehensive. One also doesn't have to read very far into the book before they get the sense that it's moving in a somewhat circular direction, repeating the same points without really building its argument. I feel like you could read any one chapter of the book in isolation and come away with an accurate sense of Leonhard's perspective, without the need to read the rest of it.

Speaking of Leonhard, I did find the self-promotion in the book to be a little jarring. A passage about his concept of HellVen (hell/heaven) is interrupted with "#hellven", seemingly encouraging readers to tweet or otherwise post on social media with this Leonhard-affiliated hashtag. In a section about the need for a global council on technological ethics, the author adds "This writer is happy to chime in!". Even the very end of the book calls the reader to "join the discussion" at two of Leonhard's websites. While I understand the need to promote one's self in today's digital landscape, it felt at times like the author was taking a huge, world-shifting issue and using it for his own career promotion. This sounds a bit harsh, and I'm sure that Leonhard didn't intend it this way, but the effect remains.

While I take minor issue with the way Leonhard presents his perspective (the shallowness of the book, his self-promotion), I would like to say that I do agree with his points. He is clearly someone who has devoted a lot of thought and a deal of research to this issue, and I believe he is genuinely concerned for the implications of this so-called "coming clash between man and machine". I appreciated that he is not afraid to call out the role of capitalism in potential runaway technology, emphasising that the producers of such technology will naturally prioritise profit over ethics. I certainly also support his argument that we need to put in place ethical restrictions, and perhaps in some cases even barriers, to prevent technology from advancing in such a way that it hurts rather than helps humans. We must be sure not to, as Leonhard put it, "pursue efficiency over humanity".

Overall, I would say that Technology vs. Humanity does what it sets out to do, in that it manages to "highlight the challenges, start the debate, and provoke a spirited response" with regard to an issue that is in urgent need of attention. It provides a good introduction to the ethical problems of technological advancement and definitely works as a starting-point for deeper and more detailed discussion. I would recommend this book to those who, like me, don't have a great deal of technological knowledge but are still concerned about (or at least interested in) the impact of technology on the future of humanity. 

There is No Post Today - Here's What to Read Instead

Let me start this post with an apology: I'm very sorry, but unfortunately I totally forgot to write the scheduled post for Extra Libris this week. Since I don't want to leave this blog entirely without an update, I am still writing this paradoxical semi-post, which should serve as both justification and replacement for the usual Wednesday blog. 

The main reason I have managed to neglect this blog this week is because I've been busy using my usual blog-writing time to write things for other places, specifically Medium publications and zines. So, if you want to read more of my work in spite of there being no proper post this week, I am providing links to those pieces below:

• "Dear Straight People: Calling Homosexuality a Sin is Still Homophobic" in An Injustice!
• "Horror Begins at Home: The Hidden Fears of ‘The Housemaid’ (1960)" in Cinemania
• "Agape - Cat Love" in See Through Zine, issue 7

I understand these aren't quite equivalent to an Extra Libris post, partially because all but one don't focus specifically on media, but I hope they will suffice for now. Hopefully we will back to the usual weekly posting schedule next week!

5 Books I Abandoned

Generally speaking, I don't like to abandon books. I normally try to finish them even when I'm not enjoying myself, if only out of spite. I need to be able to write a scathing review of them after all, and I can't exactly do that if I haven't read the whole thing. I'm half joking, but on the other hand the book may actually improve halfway through and make me thankful I decided to finish it. Whatever the reasoning for that particular book, the point is that I don't usually like to leave a book half-read.

But there are always exceptions. In this post, I'm going to list five books that I have abandoned halfway through, for a variety of reasons. Some of these I would like to attempt to finish sometime in the future; others I would happily never read a word of ever again. 

It by Stephen King

I really tried with this one. I first attempted to read It one Halloween many years ago, getting approximately 50% of the way into the story before abandoning it. I didn't exactly mean to drop the book, instead gradually losing enthusiasm until eventually I realised it had been three months and I hadn't picked it up once. Since then, I've tried a few times to make it to the end of the book (I always pick it up again from where I left off, because I feel I remember it well enough and I can't bring myself to slog through all those pages again), but never to any success.

I think the main thing that put me off was the "teenage werewolf" scene, in which the titular antagonist It transforms into - you guessed it - a teenage werewolf. The scene felt comical rather than scary, and it jolted me out of the otherwise very creepy story. I enjoyed other parts of the book though, plus it's about time I read a Stephen King novel from cover to cover. Perhaps 2021 will be the year I finally manage it?

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson

I can't for the life of me remember why I initially bought this book, but it may well have had something to do with the vaguely-amusing title. If the title is funny though, the book's content certainly is not. It begins by detailing the US military's attempts to literally weaponise New Age ideas, in a narrative which quickly veers from humorously bizarre to incredibly dark. Reading about the US military's torture methods was too much for me, and I quit around the point when the book started talking about the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib. I don't think I'll ever read this one again.

If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous

Perhaps more than the other books on this list, I expected to enjoy If You Follow Me. It's about an American woman who moves to Japan with her girlfriend to start work as an English language teacher. That ticks at least three interest boxes for me from the summary alone. Sadly, the book didn't live up to my admittedly high expectations. I found the main character unsympathetic, her infatuation with her male supervisor uninspiring, and her and her girlfriend's "culture shock" to paint them more as frustratingly inconsiderate rather than pitiable.

The final straw came when there was a horrible scene involving the death of a pet cat, something which is personally very upsetting to me and which I don't like to see in fiction. The book wasn't worth continuing with after that.

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

I hadn't heard of this novel until it was assigned to me as part of a course on dystopian literature at university. In theory, it's a fascinating concept for a book. Set in a post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear-bomb future that is almost unrecognisable to the reader, it's written in an incredibly unique style as well. The idea seems to be that the book is written more or less as the narrator would write it, complete with idiosyncratic speech and irregular grammar and spelling. Words that we are familiar with have been distorted with the passage of time and the breakdown of society, meaning that terms like "Prime Minister" are now "Pry Mincer". To give you an example, here's an unedited excerpt from the book:

“I stil aint qwite said how it wer. Not like a diffrent country. It wer mor like I wer behynt the back clof in a show. Thats how it wer. Thru the clof I cud see the other figgers moving I cud see the peopl watching only no 1 cud see me. If I wer a figger in a show what hand wer moving me then? I cudnt be bothert to think on that right then. Theres all ways some thingwl be moving you if it aint 1 thing its a nother you cant help that.”

As you can tell, reading this requires some effort on the part of the reader, although the amount of struggle it requires varies. I had a friend on the course who could read the book easily, whereas I had to trudge through it by reading each sentence aloud and attempting to decipher it. 

I do think that the concept of the book is fascinating and its style is very effectively immersive, so I would like to make it through the whole thing someday. I'm just not quite sure when that will be.

The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock

Finally, we have this relatively new Southern Gothic book that was recently adapted into a film on Netflix. I absolutely do want to finish this one before watching the film, so please, no spoilers for either! 

The main reason I stopped reading this one is because I had to return it to the library, but there are two other reasons why I couldn't finish it in time before returning it. The first is that two plotlines in the story (there are several) seemed to have somewhat homophobic undertones, which diminished my enthusiasm a little. The second reason is that I was having trouble sleeping around the time that I got this book, and I decided that reading it before bed wasn't likely to help with my lack of sleep and nightmares, seeing as the novel can get quite dark and violent at times. The combination of the two meant that I didn't manage to devote the time needed to finish it before the library needed it back, so I ended up returning it only partially-read.

I think this is the book on the list I'm most likely to finish, and hopefully I will do so soon, as I recently bought an ebook copy to allow me to finally get to the end of the story. Fingers crossed the end is worth it!

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Have you read any of the books I mentioned on this list? If not, do you have any books you abandoned partway through, and if so, do you intend to finish them someday?

I'd also really like to know what people think of the Riddley Walker excerpt I included here. I really struggle to read it, so I'd be curious if others find it easier or harder than I did.