Bostrom’s last book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (OUP, 2014), sparked a global conversation on AI that continues and widens to this day. That book, which despite its academic style became a New York Times bestseller, focused on what would happen if AI goes wrong. But what if AI goes right? Suppose we succeed in developing superintelligence safely and that we make good use of the almost magical powers this unlocks. We would then achieve full unemployment. More than that, we would transition into a “post-instrumental condition," in which human effort is not needed for any practical purpose. This would be a condition of material abundance. Human nature itself would become fully malleable. In such a solved world, what would be the point of human existence? What could give meaning to our lives? Which old values will we have to sacrifice, and which new values will we be able to realize to wonderful degrees? Deep Utopia—a work that is again years ahead of its time—takes the readers on a journey into some of the most profound questions that arise as we dissolve the limits of our current mode of being. It is a lush, playful, difficult, and human text that interleaves fiction stories and philosophical lectures that show us a glimpse of a different kind of existence–one that might be ours in the not-so-distant future. Winner of 7 Book Awards! 2024 AMERICAN LEGACY BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2024 LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD EVERGREEN GOLD MEDAL WINNER 2024 PENCRAFT BOOK AWARDS 1ST PLACE WINNER
Legal Foundations of a Free Society is an updated selection of articles published over three decades dealing with a variety of issues in libertarian rights and legal theory, including the nature and foundations of libertarianism, rights and punishment theory, causation and responsibility, contract theory, and intellectual property. The chapters have been significantly revised and updated and integrated with each other with extensive cross-references, and with an extensive bibliography and index. “… more than 40 years after the first publication of Rothbard’s Ethics of Liberty and characterized by much practical disappointment and increasing theoretical confusion, the publication of Stephan Kinsella’s present work must be considered a most welcome sign of renewed hope and new, refreshing intellectual inspiration. Indeed, with this work, that has been in the making for more than two decades, Kinsella has produced no less than an intellectual landmark, establishing himself as the leading legal theorist and the foremost libertarian thinker of his generation. While following in Rothbard’s footsteps, Kinsella’s work does not merely rehash what has been said or written before. Rather, having absorbed as well all of the relevant literature that has appeared during the last few decades since Rothbard’s passing, Kinsella in the following offers some fresh perspectives and an innovative approach to the age-old quest for justice, and he adds several highly significant refinements and improvements and some centrally important new insights to the theories of personhood, property and contract, most famously some radical criticism and rejection of the idea of ‘intellectual property’ and ‘intellectual property rights.’ … Henceforth, then, all essential studies in the philosophy of law and the field of legal theory will have to take full account of the theories and criticisms expounded by Kinsella.” —From the Foreword, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Star Trek fans and collectors will love this one-of-a-kind, mini-size collectible communicator with light and sound. The communicator is used for voice communication and serves as an emergency-signaling device for Starfleet. Kit includes a replica of the iconic communicator, with light and sound, and a 48-page book on the history of communicators, complete with full-color photos.
In this instant New York Times bestseller, renowned economist Thomas Sowell demolishes the myths that underpin the social justice movement “Light on rhetoric, seriously heavy on data, and accessible in style, there is a reason why Sowell has been described as ‘among the most brilliant thinkers in the world today’ by Harvard University’s Steven Pinker and an ‘American sage’ by the Wall Street Journal.” – Washington Examiner The quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed. However attractive the social justice vision, the crucial question is whether the social justice agenda will get us to the fulfillment of that vision. History shows that the social justice agenda has often led in the opposite direction, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. More things are involved besides simply mistakes. All human beings are fallible, and social justice advocates may not necessarily make any more mistakes than others. But crusaders with an utter certainty about their mission are often undeterred by obstacles, evidence or even fatal dangers. That is where much of the Western world is today. The question is whether we will continue on heedlessly, past the point of no return.
Social media is changing the community. Several may speak up, but under such apparent freedom of expression, an undercurrent of conformity, obedience, self-censorship, and fear dominates. This is how tolerance turns into intolerance and political freedom into totalitarianism. Distinctive attitudes and individuality are replaced by group affiliation, where those who think differently are ostracized. We sense something disturbing: A community moving toward greater control. And a growing risk of politics with totalitarian features that, instead of fighting for freedom, wants to curtail it.
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Everything I want in a thriller. Sexy, shocking, and tense with an ending I never saw coming. Jeneva Rose is the queen of twists."--Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author The highly anticipated new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage and One of Us Is Dead You've opened up your house and your heart to a total stranger ... What could possibly go wrong? Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she's pleased to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells--and he's eager to introduce her to his easygoing way of life. But there are things Grace discovers that she's not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn't right with the ranch. Despite her uneasiness, the two bond and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to have morphed to obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him--including her reason for staying at his ranch to begin with. Vacation flings typically end in heartbreak, but for Grace and Calvin, it'll be far more destructive.
Do you think you know something about Bitcoin and Austrian Economics? If so you may be ready for Cryptoeconomics. This is not a work for the uninitiated. The content is dense – it does not repeat itself. It is not a contribution to the echo chamber, will not show you how to set up a wallet, the future price, or what to do. Cryptoeconomics applies rational economic principles to Bitcoin, demonstrating flaws and unnecessary complexities in them, and in common understandings of Bitcoin. It will improve your understanding of both. Bitcoin requires a new, rigorous, and comprehensive discipline. This is it. Bitcoin is something new. It seems to defy understanding. Has there ever been a fixed supply money? Is there another case of production cost varying directly with product price? Is there anything else with a competitive yet fixed rate of transactability? To see past the hype, understand the value proposition, security model, and economic behavior, this may be your only source. Bitcoin is economics, technology, and security. Without incorporating all of these aspects, errors will be made. Economists, technologists, security experts, and even numerologists have attempted to explain it. Each brings a limited perspective, failing to incorporate essential aspects. The author found himself uniquely qualified to integrate them. His work in Bitcoin began with a hardware wallet. He spent a year analyzing threats, working with electronics design, hardware exploitation, and state surveillance experts. He chose the Libbitcoin software library, as Satoshi’s prototype was not factored for development and was largely financed by the Bitcoin Foundation, a corporate consortium. He later dedicated himself to Libbitcoin, eventually writing or editing all of its ~500,000 lines of code. Few have comparable experience with such a comprehensive Bitcoin stack. As a combat-experienced fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy he experienced state threats. He became a highly-qualified Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor, in which his primary role was tactics analysis and threat presentation. He also advised for the Navy on the Strike Fighter Training System network, Joint Strike Fighter, early GPS weapons, and F/A-18 systems. His understanding of the physical nature of all security was enhanced by decades of training in Japanese martial arts, achieving black belt rankings in five disciplines. His degree and experience in computer science mixed with extensive business experience, founding several companies. He has worked at IBM and as a Principle Architect at Microsoft, two of the world’s largest companies. The latter purchased his first startup, and his second was acquired by Veritas Capital. He was awarded three related U.S. patents. Eventually he became an angel investor, sharing his experience with other entrepreneurs. As CTO of his first company he published three computer security advisories via Computer Emergency Response Team. Each was derived entirely from his reading of user documentation. Later he earned a seat on the DHS Open Vulnerability Assessment Language advisory board for his work on software patching. In recent years he uncovered material security flaws in each of the first three iterations of a popular “secure element” hardware wallet, again from review of user documentation. Thirty years of self-study in free market economics was reinforced by extensive global travel. In visiting over 80 countries he has interacted with people on five continents. Still often traveling on a motorcycle with only a shoulder bag, he obtains intimate understanding of global economic realities. From Zimbabwean black market currency traders, to Tanzanian coffee pickers, Venezuelan refugees, Mongolian shepherds, Okinawan jazz musicians, Lao monks, etc. – the world is not as often presented. The ability to integrate these diverse and relevant experiences led to Cryptoeconomics. This is your next stop.
Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince is one of the most influential works in the history of political thought and the adjective Machiavellian is well-known and perhaps even over-used. So why does the meaning of the text continue to be debated to the present day? And how does a contemporary reader get to grips with a book full of references to the politics of the early 16th Century? The Routledge Guidebook to Machiavelli’s The Prince provides readers with the historical background, textual analysis, and other relevant information needed for a greater understanding and appreciation of this classic text. This guidebook introduces: * the historical, political and intellectual context in which Machiavelli was working * the key ideas developed by Machiavelli throughout the text and the examples he uses to illustrate them * the relationship of The Prince to The Discourses and Machiavelli’s other works Featuring a timeline, maps and suggestions for further reading throughout, this book is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to be able to engage more fully with The Prince.
In July 2010, Wikileaks published Cablegate, one of the biggest leaks in the history of the US military, including evidence for war crimes and torture. In the aftermath Julian Assange, the founder and spokesman of Wikileaks, found himself at the center of a media storm, accused of hacking and later sexual assault. He spent the next seven years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearful that he would be extradited to Sweden to face the accusations of assault and then sent to US. At this point, Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, started his investigation into how the US and UK governments were working together to ensure a conviction. His findings are explosive, revealing that Assange has faced grave and systematic due process violations, judicial bias, collusion and manipulated evidence. Melzer also gathered together consolidated medical evidence that proves that Assange has suffered prolonged psychological torture. Melzer's compelling investigation puts the UK and US state into the dock, showing how, through secrecy, impunity and, crucially, public indifference, unchecked power reveals a deeply undemocratic system. Furthermore, the Assange case sets a dangerous precedent: once telling the truth becomes a crime, censorship and tyranny will inevitably follow.
In The Fiat Standard, world-renowned economist Saifedean Ammous applies his unique analytical lens to the fiat monetary system, explaining it as a feat of engineering and technology just as he did for bitcoin in his global bestseller The Bitcoin Standard. This time, Ammous delves into the world's earlier shift from the gold standard to today's system of government-backed fiat money—outlining the fiat standard's purposes and failures; deriving the wider economic, political, and social implications of its use; and examining how bitcoin will affect it over time. With penetrating insight, Ammous analyzes global political currencies by analogy to bitcoin: how they're "mined" whenever government-guaranteed entities create loans, their lack of inherent restraints on inflation, and the rampant government intervention that has resulted in heavy, devastating, and persistent distortions to global markets for food, fuel, science, and education. Through these comparisons, Ammous demonstrates that bitcoin could be our next step forward—providing high salability across space, just like the fiat system, but without the unchecked fiat-denominated debt. Rather than a messy hyperinflationary collapse, the rise of bitcoin could look like a debt jubilee and an orderly upgrade to the world's monetary operating system, revolutionizing global capital and energy markets.
In the beginning, there was Menger. It was his Principles of Economics that reformulated — and really rescued — economic science from the theoretical errors of the old classical school.Menger set out to elucidate the precise nature of economic value, and to root economics firmly in the real-world actions of individual human beings. In Principles of Economics, he advances the theory that the marginal utility of goods is the source of their value, rather than the labor inputs that went into making them. The implication of this theory is that the individual mind is the source of economic value — a point that touched off the marginalist revolution and started a departure from the flawed classical view of economics.For this reason, Carl Menger (1840–1921) is considered to be the founder of the Austrian School of economics. Principles of Economics is the book that Ludwig von Mises said turned him into a real economist. What's striking is how, nearly a century and a half later, the book still retains the incredible power of both its prose and its relentless logic.The Mises Institute's new edition features a new foreword by Peter G. Klein, which summarizes Menger's contribution and places him in the history of ideas. Klein also explains Menger's continued relevance in present times. F.A. Hayek contributes the introduction.Economics students still say that it is the best introduction to economic logic ever written. The book also deserves the status of a seminal contribution to science in general. Truly, no one can claim to be well read in economics without having mastered Menger's argument.To search for Mises Institute titles, enter a keyword and LvMI (short for Ludwig von Mises Institute); e.g., Depression LvMI
Immerse yourself in this meticulously crafted edition of the "Ethiopian Bible in English 88 Books" a comprehensive compilation that opens doors to the profound wisdom and spiritual heritage of Ethiopia. Discover the richness of the Ethiopian Bible in English Complete which includes the Apocrypha Complete, Psalms, Enoch, and the Lost Books of The Bible, allowing exploration of ancient texts omitted from standard editions, providing profound insights into Ethiopian religious tradition. Delve into the poetic beauty and spiritual depth with this unique edition offering for the first time in English access to all 88 books of the Ethiopian Bible: * Apocrypha complete: Esdras (III and IV), Tobit, Judith, Additions to the book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Prologue to Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasseh, 1, 2 and 3 Meqabyan. * Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel (I Kingdoms), 2 Samuel (II Kingdoms), 1 Kings (III Kingdoms), 2 Kings (IV Kingdoms), Chronicles 1 and 2, Jubilees, Enoch, Ezra (I Ezra), Nehemiah (II Ezra), Esther, Job, Psalms, Psalms 151, Proverbs Messale and Tagsas, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. * New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Corinthians 1 ad 2, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians 1 and 2, Timothy 1 and 2, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Peter 1 and 2, John 1, 2 and 3, Jude, Revelation, The First Epistle of Clement, The Second Epistle of Clement and The Book of Adam and Eve. Why Choose This Book? * Authentic translations in English ensuring the preservation of the original texts' integrity and nuance. * Easy-to-read font/typeface enhances readability for effortless immersion in the scriptures. * Enjoy a comprehensive collection encompassing all 88 books of the Ethiopian Bible, offering an immersive reading experience. Embark on a journey of spiritual discovery and scholarly exploration, enhance your understanding of ancient scripture, delve into profound wisdom, and experience the richness of Ethiopian religious heritage. Purchase your copy now and receive it comfortably at home. Your spiritual journey awaits!