The Fuzzy Future: From Society and Science to Heaven in a Chip

Who draws the line in the digital age? Those with the most power? Does the digital age even have black-and-white parameters? Where does one country's Internet jurisdiction end and an-other country's begin? Who owns the ocean or the moon -- or even you? Would you be you if a chip replaced your brain?
        
Fuzzy logic has been the most explosive new concept in science since chaos theory. Now, Bart Kosko, the leading proponent of this revolutionary worldview, tackles these questions and shows how fuzzy thinking will shape every aspect of life in the digital age, from politics and genetics, to warfare and technology and art, and finally to mortality itself. The Fuzzy Future starts with a self-contained explanation of fuzzy logic and then explores how shades of gray, or fuzz, will change how we vote, pay taxes, fund science, shop on the Internet, view abortion, have children, fish the oceans, wage "smart" wars or create "smart" art, raise machine IQs, invest money, view black holes, and confide in our software agents. It also shows us how we may someday challenge death in the digital immortality of a nanochip. Today camcorders, Internet spam filters, nuclear power plants, and the new Volkswagen Beetle depend on fuzzy logic. Tomorrow we may, too, because the future is fuzzy.

Bart Kosko, Ph.D., is the author of Fuzzy Thinking and Nanotime, as well as several other books. He is on the faculty of the department of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California and holds degrees in philosophy, economics, mathematics, and engineering. He writes for several media outlets, lectures widely on science and society, and is an award-winning composer. He lives in Los Angeles.