Unnatural Selection

September 22, 2014
Urging Darwin's theory of evolution into the nihilistic, technological obsessed 21st century, Roeder presents the prototype âHomo Geektus' as the face of professional success in the digital age. He argues that once pitiable nerds with shy, studious personalities are the new ideal, conditioned to thrive in a cyber culture. The author takes a tone of sarcastic glee yet builds his case with convincing data from various evolutionary ages. The chapter called "The Gift of Weakness" sets the intellectual table, depicting Man's fight for survival in the "technological Greenhouse" instead of a cave as we shift from the nature-based "Holocene" age to the "Unnatural Selection" favoring know-how over physical aggression. Roeder emphasizes the "mutual interaction between the environment and nature," in this case, an invisible but powerful data infrastructures dominated by outsiders whose mental strength allows them to create/alter alternative informational and sensory realities "withoutâ¦asking anyone's permission." Roeder offers a thoughtful, contemplative treatise told with wit and wisdom.

November 1, 2014

The future belongs to the bright, tech-savvy, focused, persistent, and avid--that is, to the geeks--and further, we will soon be able to bioengineer more of these kinds of people through a variety of human-enhancement technologies. Such is the provocative claim of author and critic Roeder (The Big Mo), who builds his case on two assertions: that geeks are financially, culturally, and technologically dominant now and will be more so in the future, and that the capacity to alter human cognition through high-tech means is imminent. In his mostly celebratory consideration of the Anthropocene (the era of the man made), Roeder touches on a dizzying array of topics such as epigenetics, the mind-body disconnect, the advantages of nonneurotypical individuals, and the effect of social networks on politics and policy. A section on types of geeks (e.g., hackers, financiers, warriors, pornographers, etc.) includes a chilling reflection on the severe moral dilemmas of remote warfare, but, at other times, Roeder writes in a flip style, zipping through such weighty topics as the ethical application of neuroscience and the essence of human identity. VERDICT Not a scholarly treatment, and posing more questions than it answers, this account is vexingly facile but may lead to more nuanced conversations about the role of technology in human intelligence.--Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus

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