The Reality of the Artificial: Nature, Technology and Naturoids by Massimo Negro

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The Reality of the Artificial

by Massimo Negrotti

The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus's wings to modern robotics and bioengineering.

FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New

Publisher Description

The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus's wings to modern robotics and bioengineering. This imperative seems to be linked not only to practical utility but also to our deepest psychology. Nevertheless, reproducing something natural is not an easy enterprise, and the actual replication of a natural object or process by means of some technology is impossible. In this book the author uses the term naturoid to designate any real artifact arising from our attempts to reproduce natural instances. He concentrates on activities that involve the reproduction of something existing in nature, and whose reproduction, through construction strategies which differ from natural ones, we consider to be useful, appealing or interesting.  The development of naturoids may be viewed as a distinct class of technological activity, and the concept should be useful for methodological research into establishing the common rules, potentialities and constraints that characterize the human effort to reproduce natural objects. The author shows that a naturoid is always the result of a reduction of the complexity of natural objects, due to an unavoidable multiple selection strategy. Nevertheless, the reproduction process implies that naturoids take on their own new complexity, resulting in a transfiguration of the natural exemplars and their performances, and leading to a true innovation explosion. While the core performances of contemporary naturoids improve, paradoxically the more a naturoid develops the further it moves away from its natural counterpart. Therefore, naturoids will more and more affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature, but in ways quite beyond our predictive capabilities.  The book will be of interest to design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology.

Back Cover

The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus's wings to modern robotics and bioengineering. This imperative seems to be linked not only to practical utility but also to our deepest psychology. Nevertheless, reproducing something natural is not an easy enterprise, and the actual replication of a natural object or process by means of some technology is impossible. In this book the author uses the term naturoid to designate any real artifact arising from our attempts to reproduce natural instances. He concentrates on activities that involve the reproduction of something existing in nature, and whose reproduction, through construction strategies which differ from natural ones, we consider to be useful, appealing or interesting. The development of naturoids may be viewed as a distinct class of technological activity, and the concept should be useful for methodological research into establishing the common rules, potentialities and constraints that characterize the human effort to reproduce natural objects. The author shows that a naturoid is always the result of a reduction of the complexity of natural objects, due to an unavoidable multiple selection strategy. Nevertheless, the reproduction process implies that naturoids take on their own new complexity, resulting in a transfiguration of the natural exemplars and their performances, and leading to a true innovation explosion. While the core performances of contemporary naturoids improve, paradoxically the more a naturoid develops the further it moves away from its natural counterpart. Therefore, naturoids will more and more affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature, but in ways quite beyond our predictive capabilities. The book will be of interest to design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology.

Author Biography

Massimo Negrotti has been a full professor of the Methodology of Human Sciences at the Universities of Parma and Genoa since 1980, and currently also teaches at the Università di Urbino 'Carlo Bo', where he chairs the LCA (Lab for the Culture of the Artificial). His areas of research are methodology of human sciences, technology, cybernetics, and the culture of the artificial.

Table of Contents

Part I.- Chap. 1 Daedalus and Icarus.- Chap. 2 Artificiality and Naturoids.- Chap. 3 Duplicating Reality.- Part II.- Chap. 4 The First Step: Observation.- Chap. 5 Observation and Representations.- Chap. 6 The Exemplar and Its Definition.- Chap. 7 Essentiality of Things.- Part III.- Chap. 8 The Mind Reduces Complexity, Reality Does Not Make Discounts.- Chap. 9 The Problem of Synthesis.- Chap. 10 Transfiguration.- Part IV.- Chap. 11 Classification of the Artificial.- Chap. 12 Automatisms and Naturoids.- Chap. 13 Naturoids in Real Contexts: Bionic Man and Robots.- Chap. 14 The Challenge of Complexity.- Chap. 15 Illusion and Compatibility.- Part V.- Chap. 16 Naturoids: Interface and Camouflage.- Chap. 17 Structure or Process?.- Chap. 18 Artificial Limbs: History and Current Trends.- Chap. 19 The Artificial Brain.- Chap. 20 Prostheses, Replacements and Surrogates.- Chap. 21 Artificial Environments and Landscapes.- Chap. 22 Virtual Reality.- Chap. 23 Conclusions.- Appendix A Naturoids and Music.- Sect. A.1 Reproduction and Transfiguration.- Sect. A.2 The Rarefaction of Meaning.- Sect. A.3 Statements by Writers or Scholars in the Humanities.- Sect. A.4 Statements by Composers.- Appendix B Naturoids and Conventional Technology Devices.- References.

Review

"This book presents an interesting and deep discussion of some of the principle problems of artificial reality. The point of view of the author ... will help computer science readers broaden their understanding of the classical vision of the subject. ... The book presents an interesting approach for the interpretation of artificial reality and artificial things." (Pietro Hiram Guzzi, Computing Reviews, November 14, 2012)

Review Quote

"This book presents an interesting and deep discussion of some of the principle problems of artificial reality. The point of view of the author ... will help computer science readers broaden their understanding of the classical vision of the subject. ... The book presents an interesting approach for the interpretation of artificial reality and artificial things." (Pietro Hiram Guzzi, Computing Reviews, November 14, 2012)

Feature

Interesting for design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology Naturoids affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature in ways beyond our predictive capabilities Author is an authority on the methodology of human sciences, technology, cybernetics, and the culture of the artificial

Details ISBN3642443532 Author Massimo Negrotti Publisher Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. KG Series Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics Year 2014 ISBN-10 3642443532 ISBN-13 9783642443534 Format Paperback Publication Date 2014-07-18 Imprint Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K Subtitle Nature, Technology and Naturoids Place of Publication Berlin Country of Publication Germany Birth 1944 Short Title REALITY OF THE ARTIFICIAL 2012 Language English Media Book Series Number 4 Pages 160 Edition 2012th DEWEY 006.30286 Illustrations VIII, 160 p. Edition Description 2012 ed. Alternative 9783642296789 Audience Professional & Vocational

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TheNile_Item_ID:137926232;
  • Condition: Brand New
  • ISBN-13: 9783642443534
  • Book Title: The Reality of the Artificial
  • ISBN: 9783642443534
  • Subject Area: Material Science, Mechanical Engineering
  • Publication Name: The Reality of the Artificial: Nature, Technology and Naturoids
  • Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg Gmbh & Co. Kg
  • Subject: Sociology, Computer Science, Science
  • Publication Year: 2014
  • Type: Textbook
  • Format: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Item Height: 235mm
  • Author: Massimo Negrotti
  • Item Width: 155mm
  • Item Weight: 267g
  • Number of Pages: 160 Pages

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