The old list had a top ten readings, followed by an undifferentiated list.
I would now like to divide the longer list into subject sections. The idea
is not to compile a comprehensive list of every possible book on a topic,
but to pick one or two readings that many of us consider crucial to
understanding extropian thinking. Clearly we will not all agree on
everything, but I think such a shortlist helps newcomers to get up to speed
on understanding our worldview.
I would appreciate suggestions for books I do not have listed. If you think
one of the books listed should be replaced with another, or a new subject
section added, please let me know.
I don't have a good book chosen to cover AI. I don't regard Minsky's
Society of Mind as appropriate here. I'd like something more accessible
that covers the field more broadly. I also haven't read any of the several
more recent books on life extension research and practice, so I don't know
which to pick. Also needed: A good book on space and space travel.
I will not list any book in the final version unless I have read it.
Your input would be greatly appreciated.
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These books are listed because they express Extropian ideas. However,
appearance on this list should not be taken to imply full agreement of a
book or its author with the Extropian principles, or vice versa. Reading
just the first ten books listed will illuminate many components of the
evolving Extropian worldview.
[These first ten are also included in the topic sections following.]
Paul M. Churchland: Matter and Consciousness
Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene
Eric Drexler: Engines of Creation
David Friedman: The Machinery of Freedom (2nd Ed.)
Hans Moravec: Mind Children: The Future of Robot and=20
Human Intelligence
Ed Regis: Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition=09
Julian Simon: The Ultimate Resource (2nd ed.)
Robert Anton Wilson: Prometheus Rising
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged (fiction)
Marc Stiegler: The Gentle Seduction (fiction)
SCIENCE
Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene; The Blind Watchmaker
Stuart Kauffman: The Origins of Order=85
Bart Kosko: Fuzzy Logic
Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers: Order Out of Chaos
IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGIES
Alcor Foundation: Cryonics: Reaching For Tomorrow
Ward Dean &=20
John Morgenthaler: Smart Drugs and Nutrients
Eric Drexler: Engines of Creation
Eric Drexler: Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and
Computation
Eric Drexler, C. Peterson
with Gayle Pergamit: Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology
Revolution
Hans Moravec: Mind Children: The Future of Robot and=20
Human Intelligence
Ed Regis: Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition=09
Ed Regis: Nano
PHILOSOPHY
Paul M. Churchland: Matter and Consciousness
Paul M. Churchland: A Neurocomputational Perspective
David Gauthier: Morals By Agreement
J.L. Mackie: The Miracle of Theism
W.W. Bartley: The Retreat to Commitment
ECONOMICS/SOCIETY
David Friedman: The Machinery of Freedom (2nd Ed.)
Jan Narveson: The Libertarian Idea
Ayn Rand: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
Julian Simon: The Ultimate Resource (2nd ed.)
Julian Simon and=20
Herman Kahn (eds): The Resourceful Earth
PSYCHOLOGY
Nathaniel Branden: ? (which one?)
Harry Browne: How I Found Freedom in An Unfree World
Stephen R. Covey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Timothy Leary: Info-Psychology
Robert Anton Wilson: Prometheus Rising
GENERAL FUTURE
Damien Broderick: The Spike
Freeman Dyson: Infinite in All Directions
F.M. Esfandiary: Optimism One
Up-Wingers
FM-2030: Are You A Transhuman?
Robert Ettinger: Man Into Superman
Jerry Pournelle: A Step Farther Out
Alvin Toffler: Powershift
LONGEVITY
Robert Ettinger: The Prospect of Immortality
Alan Harrington: The Immortalist
Albert Rosenfeld: Prolongevity II [more recent books?]
Roy Walford: Maximum Life Span
HISTORY
Daniel Boorstin: The Creators; The Discoverers
Bruce Mazlish: The Fourth Discontinuity
Richard Tarnas: The Passion of the Western Mind
FICTION:
Roger MacBride Allen: The Modular Man
Greg Egan: Quarantine, Axiomatic
Robert Heinlein: Methusaleh's Children
Time Enough for Love
James P. Hogan: Voyage To Yesteryear
Inherit the Stars
Peter James: Host
Charles Platt: The Silicon Man
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged (fiction)
Eric Frank Russell: The Great Explosion
Robert Shea and=20
Robert Anton Wilson: Illuminatus! (3 vols.)
L. Neil Smith: The Probability Broach
Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age
Bruce Sterling: Schismatrix
Marc Stiegler: The Gentle Seduction (fiction)
Vernor Vinge: True Names
"The Ungoverned" in Across Realtime
David Zindell: Neverness
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Max More, Ph.D.
more@extropy.org
http://www.primenet.com/~maxmore
President, Extropy Institute: exi-info@extropy.org, http://www.extropy.org