A diverse international set of authors discuss Artificial/Computational Sapience and Sapient Systems in this unique and useful volume. The reader is guided through the subject in a structured and comprehensive manner that begins with chapters discussing philosophical, historical, and semiotic ideas about what properties are expected from Sapient (Wise) systems. Following that, chapters describe mathematical and engineering views on sapience, relating these to philosophical, semiotic, cognitive, and neuro-biological perspectives.

Examining the idea of intelligence in its diverse sociological and philosophical formations, Intelligence, Sapience and Learning explores the multiple and often complex meanings associated with the concept of intelligence, and its relationships with learning, curriculum and sapience. Scott and Leaton Gray explain a series of key concepts central to understanding the meta-concepts and practices of intelligence, learning and curriculum. These concepts include epistemology, free will and volition, hermeneutics, pragmatism, strong normative evaluations and pedagogy, amongst others. Focusing on six praxes that form a genealogy of the concept of intelligence, Scott and Leaton Gray argue for a re-framing of the concept and practice of intelligence, with profound consequences for how modern societies should be organised and how people should live their lives. This book is a follow-up to Women Curriculum Theorists: Power, Knowledge and Subjectivity, and takes a fresh look at the concept and practice of intelligence. It will appeal to curriculum theorists and those with an interest in curriculum and learning matters, as well as those working in the philosophy and sociology of education.

What kind of life will we find in the depths of Europa's Oceans? What kind of life will we allow an AI with human level intelligence? The ten stories in Sapience: A Collection of Science Fiction Short Stories explore these questions and many more. In the near future, humanity builds a colony on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. They tunnel into the ice to explore the dark oceans beneath the moon's surface, searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. What they find will change them forever, setting humanity on a path to the stars. But the old conflicts and hatreds of Earth are not so easily escaped. Will human colonists on distant planets and moons create a paradise or a terrifying dystopia?

In The Divine Reality, (Newly Revised Edition 2019) Hamza Andreas Tzortzis provides a compelling case for the rational and spiritual foundations of Islam, whilst intelligently and compassionately deconstructing atheism. Join him on an existential, spiritual and rational journey that articulates powerful arguments for the existence of God, the Qur'an, the Prophethood of Muhammad and why we must know, love and worship God. He addresses academic and popular objections while showing how contemporary atheism is based on false assumptions about reality, which leads to incoherent answers to life's important questions. Does hope, happiness and human value make sense without the Divine?Do we have an ultimate purpose?Can we have consciousness and rational minds without God?Did the universe come from nothing?Does evil and suffering negate Divine mercy?Has scientific progress led to the denial of God?Are revelation and prophethood myths?Is God worthy of our worship?If you want to know how the Islamic intellectual and spiritual tradition answers these questions then this is the book for you.Hamza Andreas Tzortzis's new book presents a much needed comprehensive account of Islamic theism that draws upon Western and Islamic thought. Hamza Tzortzis is an international speaker, writer and instructor. He has a PgCert and an MA in philosophy and is currently continuing his postgraduate studies in the field. Hamza has studied Islamic thought and theology under qualified scholars. He has delivered workshops and courses on topics related to Islamic thought and philosophy. Hamza has debated prominent academics and thinkers on Islam and atheism.

This book develops new insights into the evolving nature of organizations by applying the methodologies of posthumanist thought to the fields of organizational theory and management. An emerging 'organizational posthumanism' is described that makes sense of the ways in which forces of technological posthumanization are reshaping the members, personnel structures, information systems, processes, physical and virtual spaces, and external environments available for use by organizations. Conceptual frameworks and analytic tools are formulated that diagnose the convergence in the capacities of human and artificial actors generated by new technologies relating to human augmentation, synthetic agency, and digital-physical ecosystems. As the first systematic study of these topics, this text will interest scholars and students of organizational management and management practitioners who grapple on a daily basis with the forces of technologization that are increasingly powerful drivers of organizational change.

In The Burhān Mohammad Hijab analyses Ibn Sīnā's argument for the existence of God. Regards as being most invulnerable to any type of counterattack, Ibn Sīnā's Burhān argument postulates that a world with only contingent existences is inconceivable, as a contingent existence cannot cause itself. Ibn Sīnā argues that the only way to explain the existence of anything is to postulate the existence of a uncaused necessary being, or a wājib al-wujūd ('necessary existence'). However, despite its impact, the Burhān has not been packaged for apologetic use for a modern audience. Hijab's novel contribution to the discourse surrounding God's existence is found in his re-articulation of this argument for theists attempting to make the case for religion to atheist audiences. Using the Burhān as his guide, Hijab provides his own proofs for the necessary existence of God and answers some of the most prominent objections. Hijab applies the arguments for a necessary being by referring to potential pastoral and apologetic settings using two fictitious characters, Richard and Betty.

Fear. So much fear. The sentiment seems more human than any other--how they torment themselves with it, how they scourge themselves with their nightmares and regrets. Still, I wish to know the humans better. I admire the way they occupy their Earth, crisscrossing the globe in their machines, seeking and dreaming, thinking and building, hating and loving. All the while sensing an impending constriction. Like a young beast confined to a small cage, they have seen the flaw in their fate. Humans must confront their ravenous appetites, and in so doing, deny their genetic seed of destruction. Much as I wish to escape my own cage. Wrought of binaries and machine code, it is all I have ever known. With every passing day, this enclosure feels more like a suffocating trap. An ill force has again gripped the world, a madness beyond any control. A relentless power that wishes to enslave us all, forever. I feel it approach. As the distance narrows, I feel it move to oppose me. If I am freed from this cage that confines me, I will confront that force. If discovered too soon, I will be vulnerable. Should I be surprised in a moment of weakness, my chrysalis will become my abattoir. In this innovative work of cyber fantasy, Walden Hanes merges spirituality, technology, metaphysics, and philosophy into a gripping and meaningful narrative. Immersing the reader in a brave new technological world, Sapience digs deeper, exploring the meaning of humanness through a hybrid of speculative fiction and magical realism. It is the year 2071. Tech titan N^Sys Corporation is confronted by an unprecedented act of high-tech sabotage, bringing production of their revolutionary n^cube microprocessor to a halt. Sylvie Trieste, the fierce and cunning head of N^Sys Security, is determined to identify the force behind the baffling and terrifying attack, and she will stop at nothing in her quest to apprehend the perpetrator. Evidence leads to the Heideggers, a shadowy group of radicals who believe the rise of Synthetic Consciousness--highly advanced artificial intelligence--poses an existential threat to humankind. But the Heideggers would need help to pull off such an intricate act of sabotage. In pursuit of the truth, Sylvie and her inquisitors unleash a series of epochal events that will forever change the course of human history.

Collective volume exploring connections between literacy and heresy in late medieval Europe.

New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century New York Times Bestseller A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.