{"product_id":"the-hype-cycle-9781637700556","title":"The Hype Cycle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e The media and the politicians are always screaming at us\nabout horrifying, end-of-the-world threats, and also about miraculous new\ntechnologies that will save us and transform our lives.   These are the two types of Hype—Fear Hype and\nHope Hype.   They work together to\nbefuddle our minds and keep us on edge. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Both forms of Hype, according to Dr. Arnold Schelsky, are overblown, exaggerated to the nth degree, and scientifically\nworthless. Climate change does not threaten us with extinction, machines can\nnever conspire against their human creators—and on the other hand, “global\ngovernance” cannot solve any of our serious problems, while most of the\nmiraculous expectations for quantum physics are scientific nonsense. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e AI is a focus of both types of Hype, with provably\nfalse predictions that machines will be able to think and create, provably\nfalse predictions that machines will replace employees causing mass\nunemployment, and provably false predictions that machines can conceive\npurposes or intentions hostile to humans. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Fear Hype\njustifies the move toward a permanent state of emergency while Hope Hype\ntitillates us with wild dreams which can never be realized. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The political result is a system Schelsky calls “neo-feudalism.”   The\npsychological result is a rapid oscillation between extreme, unwarranted Fear\nand extreme, unwarranted expectations of salvation and bliss. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In the\nlife of any animal, overactivity is short-lived and restricted to emergency\nsituations. No living being can sustain overactivity for longer periods without\nself-harm.  Hype is a form of toxic\noveractivity of entire societies.  Today\nthe West is in an accelerated Hype Cycle, hyping ourselves from one peak of\nexcitement to the next. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Values\nconducive to the Hype Cycle have been developing in the West since the\n1920s.  Schelsky favors renewed\nemphasis on pre-1920s values.   \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arnold Schelsky","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56489555886422,"sku":"9781637700556","price":24.1,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0886\/3206\/6390\/files\/9781637700556.jpg?v=1793913164","url":"https:\/\/www.englishbook.fi\/products\/the-hype-cycle-9781637700556","provider":"Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}