Wise Animals: How Technology Has Made Us What We Are

by Tom Chatfield

'Powerful, profound and completely engrossing, this is a multitudinous meditation on not only technology but also history, culture, ideas, ethics, psychology and, above all, what it means to be human.' – Michael Bhaskar, co-author of The Coming Wave

Wise Animals explores the history of our relationship with technology, and our deep involvement with our creations from the first use of tools and the taming of fire, via the invention of reading and printing, to the development of the computer, the creation of the internet and the emergence of AI.

Human children know no more of modern technology than their ancestors did of older technologies thousands of years ago, and develop in relation to the technologies of their time. We co-evolve with technology as individuals as we have as a species over thousands of years.

Rather than see technology as a threat, this deeply humanist contribution to the debate proposes that we are neither masters nor victims of our technologies. They are part of who we are, and our future – and theirs – is in our hands.

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, History, Science

337 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 22, 2024

About the author

Dr Tom Chatfield is a British writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher. Tom’s books exploring digital culture—most recently "Critical Thinking" (SAGE Publishing) and "Live This Book!" (Penguin)—have appeared in over two dozen countries and languages. He's currently writing a series of thrillers for Hodder set in the world of the dark net.

Reviews

[Charlotte Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on the basis of an interesting synopsis. That it was not what I expected is due to my own ignorance of the topic.
A lot of the book is taken up with quotes lifted directly from other books that people with an interest in this subject may well have read already.
As a newcomer, I hadn’t come across them and would have benefitted from a more basic discussion on the topic.
I found the numerous referrals to notes to be distracting, with this book of 262 pages having a further 45 pages covering notes and a select bibliography.
There were enough interesting nuggets in the book to keep going until the end.

[Julian Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating and thought provoking read full of points that make you stop and wonder about our powers of comprehension.

Life moves at an extraordinary paced and just because so don’t yet understand something doesn’t mean it is magic - it just seems that way.

Very satisfying.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the first bit but lost me when it got really philosophical.

[John Badger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of quotes and reactions to them, but with no actual thought or unifying original opinions to unite them. Strange chapter names and no real argument or continuity between chapters

[Laura Gibbons · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF'ed just because it feels like he is just quoting a load of other people rather than having original thoughts of his own. just couldn't stay engaged so dnf

[Iamreddave · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting argument about our relationship with technology.