True Mutations (Paperback)

~ R.U. Sirius (Author), Ken Goffman (Editor), Ryder Carroll (Illustrator) "In the late '80s, some people thought we (MONDO 2000 etc.) were trying to pull a fast one when we linked the evolution of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: smart mobs, ray kurzweil, global brain, San Francisco, New York Times, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

True Mutations: Interviews on the Edge of Science, Technology, and Consciousness looks at the wild changes that may be coming to the human species during the 21st Century. In a series of interviews, author/host RU Sirius explores a series of (r)evolutions in disciplines ranging from the evolution of clean energy to the possibilities of endless neurological ecstasy; from open-source free access to nearly everything under the sun to self-directed biotechnological evolution; from psychedelic culture mash-ups to the possibilities of a technological singularity that alters not only humanity but the entire universe.

About the Author

RU Sirius a.k.a. Ken Goffman is still best known as co-founder and former Editor-in Chief of the first popular technoculture magazine, Mondo 2000, in the early 1990's. His books have included Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge, Design for Dying, The Revolution: Quotations from Party Chairman RU Sirius and Couterculture through the Ages: From Abraham to Acid House. He has written for Wired, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Time Magazines

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Pollinator Press; 1st edition (February 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977441016
• ISBN-13: 978-0977441013
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,077,849 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loved it, March 8, 2007

By	C. Hill (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished the last of the interviews in this book a few minutes ago, and it was one of the best reads I've had in awhile. I purchased the book mostly to read the chapters on familiar names I know and respect (Rheingold, Doctorow, RAW, etc.) but also found myself turned on to many fascinating new ideas and faces.

It seems like every few pages I found myself blown away by some new idea, or new way of looking at an old one. Although I don't agree with everything in here (some of the Transhumanists are waaay too Brave New World for my taste), I found the book to be a wealth of ideas that I'm going to have to go back through again to make a list of follow-up reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful Evolution, August 20, 2008

By	Richard Rasa "Rasa" (Noho, Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the information age, we are examining our entire existence from a vast perspective - the combined perspectives of all of us plugged into computers. We now all share the opportunity to experience a piece of each other's reality tunnels. The observations of Leary and Wilson now resonate in a generation of cybernauts who interact comfortably in a virtual reality, and explore on and off line, as if tinkering with the latest software, vast opportunities for creativity. Robert Anton Wilson said a reality tunnel was an individual's artistic creation. Bob wrote, ". . . each artist finds unique meanings on other levels of abstraction." In the information age, we look for novelty within the vastness of zeros and ones, in entheogenic journeys, in the rewiring of the social networks and rituals, in the rewiring of our neural networks and rituals, in massaging the DNA, in nano measurements and quantum fluctuations, in any manner of artistic reality building.

The only way I ever hope to get a handle on what developments have come out of all this, comes from a handful of really good interviewers who hunger for the enlightened research and observation that, in my mind, signifies something meaningful in this world generally ruled by seemingly insane robotic behavior.

R. U. Sirius' True Mutations was one of those books I carried with me through the day, taking a break to read a chapter when I had a chance, and periodically I would cry, "Yeow! Things are getting interesting!"