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This book summarizes how the world wide interconnected network is humanity's greatest creation. The author acknowledges that today's internet has many foibles, but insists that "the internet greatly reduces the potency of six major existential threats...: epidemics, natural disasters, poor information flow, political corruption, resource depletion, and economic meltdown." Alas, most of the examples used to elaborate his ideasin are cherry picked and overly optimistic, but I like the author's gen...
Maybe I'm just Eagleman'd out but this one is yet another example of a long form essay that burst it's seams and became a book.It's ok, but nothing special, a bit of a rushed job to get in early on the covid-bandwagon before there really is enough perspective on the matter to even begin to write with any authority on this topic.
This is going to be crass. If you don't enjoy strong language, please stop reading here. There is no way that anyone that spends an appreciable amount of time on any parts of the internet other than old forums, wikipedia, or purely in the stacks of digital library analogues, think that spending 91 pages performing full-on fellatio on the internet is a good thing. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the arguments the author lays out. Yes, rapid, nigh-instantaneous information transfer saves lives (a...
The Safety Net is on par with Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now as one of the most optimistic books of the last few years. Just as Pinker writes in Enlightenment Now about human progress and how there’s never been a better time to be alive, Eagleman does the same about the in internet and it’s many positive benefits. From a conservationists point of view, the internet is probably the greatest technology ever invented. Think about the digitization of all your favorite media. By converting that me...
So this book was released in June, 2020. A pretty quick turnaround since the Pandemic started in December, 2019 or about then. But actually this is a re-working of a book Eagleman wrote some years ago called "Why the Net Matters." It has been updated, though, with current information. And, basically his theory is that the internet and the many creative ways it is being used to solve problems and help us deal with disasters throughout the world. And, could be the salvation of our civilization. Th...
I think the overall message this book was trying to convey isn’t unique, however I did really enjoy the author’s style of writing and found myself looking up interesting facts he shared so all in all it wasn’t that bad
A brief but enjoyable book about the pandemic and how we are now in a much better place to survive the pandemic due to the development of the Internet to allow worldwide communication within seconds. It compared natural disasters over time, where the locals had a warning by someone, to get to safety, vs no heads up. Also covered the pathophysiology of viruses and their spreads, and how some communities lacked the understanding which led to the spread of the viruses when they gathered to send off...
A reassuring, thought provoking read for our current milieu, highlighting how bygone civilizations have seemingly disappeared without a trace and considering the positive benefits of living in an era of technological development that supports and maintains the longevity of the human race, by enabling better navigation through natural disasters, political corruption, resource depletion, pandemics etc.
I listened to the audiobook version read by the author. A good book which opens the mind to positive aspects of the current technology, the pitfalls and dangers. One or two parts were not updated to the current year although he talks about COVID-19 just briefly.No mention on VR/AR tech and its benefits and other tech's which are impacting our lives.
It is a re-worked book but it is just in time. I am the one that always complain about the internet addiction and insecurities, specially those ones related to privacy. After read this book my respective changed a little but enough to be agree that the internet is a single invention that could save us from us, ironically.
Very informative!
Brilliant, compact, beautifully written, and very timely.
Interesting premise but the author spends quite a bit of time on how great the internet is without focusing on its very serious drawbacks. I would have liked to see a more balanced approach.