The ascent of information : books, bits, genes, machines, and life's unending algorithm
(Book)

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Published
New York : Riverhead Books, [2021].
Physical Desc
340 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Status
Spanish Springs Library - Adult Nonfiction
003.54 SCHARF 2021
1 available

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Published
New York : Riverhead Books, [2021].
Format
Book
Language
English

Notes

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-328) and index.
Description
"Your information has a life of its own, and it's using you to get what it wants. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves. But in our rush to build the infrastructure for the 20 quintillion bits we create every day, we've failed to ask exactly why we're expending ever-increasing amounts of energy, resources, and human effort to maintain all this data. Drawing on deep ideas and frontier thinking in evolutionary biology, computer science, information theory, and astrobiology, Caleb Scharf argues that information is, in a very real sense, alive. All the data we create-all of our emails, tweets, selfies, A.I.-generated text and funny cat videos-amounts to an aggregate lifeform. It has goals and needs. It can control our behavior and influence our well-being. And it's an organism that has evolved right alongside us. This symbiotic relationship with information offers a startling new lens for looking at the world. Data isn't just something we produce; it's the reason we exist. This powerful idea has the potential to upend the way we think about our technology, our role as humans, and the fundamental nature of life. The Ascent of Information offers a humbling vision of a universe built of and for information. Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. Understanding this relationship will be crucial to preventing our data from becoming more of a burden than an asset, and to preserving the possibility of a human future"--,Provided by publisher.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Scharf, C. A. (2021). The ascent of information: books, bits, genes, machines, and life's unending algorithm . Riverhead Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Scharf, Caleb A., 1968-. 2021. The Ascent of Information: Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life's Unending Algorithm. Riverhead Books.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Scharf, Caleb A., 1968-. The Ascent of Information: Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life's Unending Algorithm Riverhead Books, 2021.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Scharf, Caleb A. The Ascent of Information: Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life's Unending Algorithm Riverhead Books, 2021.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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