[Commlist] New book: Quantum Ecology: Why and How New Information Technologies Will Reshape Societies

A recent open-access book (MIT Press) that might be of interest to many 
here: "Quantum Ecology: Why and How New Information Technologies Will 
Reshape Societies", co-authored by Dr Stefano Calzati (TU Delft) and 
Derrick de Kerckhove (Polytechnic University of Milan).

Here the synopsis and the link for download:
https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5872/Quantum-EcologyWhy-and-How-New-Information 


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Quantum Ecology: Why and How New Information Technologies Will Reshape 
Societies
By
Stefano Calzati,
Derrick de Kerckhove
The MIT Press
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/14061.001.0001
ISBN electronic:
9780262375405
Publication date:
2024



An exploration of the emerging quantum technological paradigm and its 
effects on human consciousness and cultures.

In Quantum Ecology, Stefano Calzati and Derrick de Kerckhove identify 
three technological ecologies—linguistic, digital, and quantum—to better 
understand today's shattered globalized contemporaneity and navigate the 
impact of soon-to-come quantum information technologies. Today's 
societies, based as they are on language and writing, face disruption 
brought on by digital transformation, which is not predicated on sharing 
meaning but on sheer computability. This produces what the authors call 
an “epistemological crisis.” From here, the book explores how emerging 
quantum computers and communication will trigger an even deeper 
existential shift based on quantum physics' principles of discreteness, 
uncertainty, and entanglement.

Enriched with evidence from biology, anthropology, sociolinguistics, and 
information and cognitive sciences, the authors draw upon diverse case 
studies to sustain a convincing philosophical and political argument. 
The book's chapters move from a discussion about the coevolution of 
humans and language to the codependence of writing, thinking, and 
innovation, then proceed to investigate “datacracy,” the power of 
algorithms. Finally, the authors outline the looming psychocultural 
effects and geopolitical challenges of the nascent quantum technological 
paradigm.

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