Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War

by Christopher Coker

Warrior Geeks examines how technology is transforming the way we think about and fight war, focusing on three major changes driving the the technologies aiming to incorporate soldiers into a cybernetic system through which the military can read their thoughts and mold them accordingly; the anticipated coexistence of men and robots on the battlefields of tomorrow; and the extent to which armies may one day be able to reengineer warriors through pharmacological manipulation. Harking back to the Greeks and Aristotle's original conception of virtue ethics and the proper contours of war, Christopher Coker believes modern humans are on the verge of losing touch with their humanity. War can only be rendered more humane if we recall the wisdom of our ancestors, he claims. Unfortunately, modern society is about to subcontract its ethical self to machines. In revaluing technology, we devalue our humanity, or the posthuman condition, and by changing our functional and performative relationship to technology, we irrevocably alter our subjectivity and the existential dimensions of war.

Genres: Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Christopher Coker was a British political scientist and political philosopher who wrote extensively on war.

Reviews

[Yana Shevkirova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love his way of writing - incredibly convincing, clear, well-structured and with just enough metaphors to keep things interesting. However, his books sound quite similar, regardless of the fact that they explore somewhat different concepts and issues. Nevertheless, this one is a good account of technology shaping the human mind in general and war in particular. He explores issues, which, I think, have not been a subject to sufficient attention and will prove to be critical in the future.

[J.J. Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok - I was hoping for more focus on today's tech and less of a historical approach. Good info, but I thought it would be something else so a little disappointed.