In The Shadow of the Machine by Jeremy Naydler is a fascinating read. It tells the long story of how human consciousness evolved so that, at the turn of the modern period, the machine might become the dominant metaphor and feature of our age.
In our new, latest dialogue, Rupert Sheldrake and I discuss this prehistory.
It ranges over ancient myths, such as the second day of creation that God did not think good, as well as practical inventions like the public clock. We ask what’s been gained and lost in this process, the ways in which our perception of life has been moulded, and how human consciousness might evolve further as the machine metaphor itself “runs out of steam”.
Our previous discussions are available on youtube, streamed and on iTunes.