{"product_id":"shamans-and-robots-on-ritual-the-placebo-effect-and-artificial-consciousness-paperback-softback-9781517917494","title":"Shamans and Robots; On Ritual, the Placebo Effect, and Artificial Consciousness (Paperback \/ softback) 9781517917494","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eShamans and Robots\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eOn Ritual, the Placebo Effect, and Artificial Consciousness\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eRoger Bartra (Author), Gusti Gould (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781517917494\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 19 November 2024\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e176 pages\u003cbr\u003e20.3 x 13.3 x 1 cm, 0.227 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e \"Can computational devices like Large Language Models ever become truly intelligent and conscious? In this book, Roger Bartra argues that, for machines as for humans, it is not just a matter of what's inside but of outer surroundings as well. Minds only arise when they are coupled with suitable environments; every cerebrum needs an exocerebrum.\" -Steven Shaviro, Wayne State University \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA profound exploration of the external influences that shape human consciousness, from healing rituals to digital devices\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In this voyage through thousands of years of psychosomatic healing, distinguished anthropologist and sociologist Roger Bartra examines the placebo effect as a key to our understanding of human consciousness. \u003ci\u003eShamans and Robots\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates how biology and technology become intertwined within human culture by using the various histories of ritual and symbolic healing to speculate about future developments in artificial intelligence. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Charting the extensive history of the placebo effect through medieval healing, shamanism, and early psychoanalytic practices, Bartra posits that consciousness is not simply the province of the mind but something equally shaped by external systems and objects. He finds evidence of this “exocerebrum”-the extension of our brains outside the body-in the shamanistic concept of the placebo, in which external objects heal our bodies, and in modern technical devices like prostheses or robots, whose development of a mechanical consciousness would have to mimic, and in turn elucidate, the processes involved in the creation of consciousness in humans. Through this radical concept, he analyzes digital media’s relationship to the functions of the human brain and probes the possibility of artificial consciousness. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Both a look at the human body’s potential to restore itself and a profound reflection on the curative power of symbolic structures, \u003ci\u003eShamans and Robots\u003c\/i\u003e explores how our technologies increasingly serve as extensions of our cognitive selves. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e Contents \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Prologue \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Part I. The Rituals of Pleasure and the Word: Anthropology of the Placebo Effect \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 1. The Placebo \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 2. The Ligatures of Qusta ibn Luqa \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 3. The Magical Powers \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 4. A Shamanic Journey in Search of the Lost Soul \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 5. Neurology of the Placebo Effect \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 6. On Electronic Amulets and Catharsis \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 7. Zombies and Transhumanists \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Part II. The Construction of an Artificial Consciousness: Anthropology of the Robotic Effect \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 8. The Mystery of Thinking Machines \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 9. The Robotic Effect \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 10. How Do You Educate a Robot? \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 11. Panpsychism \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 12. A Mechanical Consciousness \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 13. Robotic Culture \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 14. Prostheses and Symbols \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 15. Robotic Experiences \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 16. Emancipation of the Exocerebrums \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 17. Sentimental Machines \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 18. Proof of the Placebo \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Notes \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Univ Of Minnesota Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52670803575064,"sku":"9781517917494","price":16.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/shamans-and-robots-on-ritual-the-placebo-effect-and-artificial-consciousness-paperback-softback-9781517917494","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}