Title: Devices of the Soul 
Subtitle: Battling for Our Selves 
          in an Age of Machines
Author: Steve Talbott
Edition: First
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Publication Month: April 2007
ISBN 10: 0-596-52680-6
ISBN 13: 9780596526801
Cover: Hard
Pages: 281
Cost: $22.99 USD; £15.99 GBP

      "Devices of the Soul" review

Somewhat Longer Review

Contents

• The Title
• About the Reviewer
• What You Get
• Likes
• Gripes
• Who's the Book for?
• Final Thoughts

The Title

Device

I see two different relevant meanings of device:

• a mental meaning, i.e., a scheme, plan, process or technique.
• a physical meaning, i.e., a mechanism (e.g. a piece of equipment) that serves some purpose.

Soul

By soul I understand: the essence of a person, his/her spiritual core, that which makes him/her an individual.

Self

By self I understand: the whole individual; that which sees and feels, speaks and listens.

Machine

By a machine I understand: a mechanical or electronic device.

Some examples are:

• a calculating machine
• a car
• a cell phone
• a clock
• a computer
• a robot

Does the title fit the book?

Yes. The book talks of both devices that restrict the soul and devices that free it; the book talks of both physical and mental devices.

The book engages with the question: how can we free our selves from machines and mechanistic thinking.

About the Reviewer

Education

I majored in philosophy in college at a school that didn't treat metaphysics as a bad word.

I recall one professor at the second school I did graduate work at saying that the purpose of the PhD program was to burn the last vestiges of poetry from the students soul. Yuk.

Freedom

I'm an advocate of freedom. My view is that we are in a period in which freedom, self-development, etc. are valued way less than order and technological progress.

Verification

I was recently hurt and many things take way longer than before. This review was not checked as carefully as most of my earlier reviews.

Nature

My greatest pleasures all have to do with nature.

Occupation

I'm retired now, however most of my life I've made my living as a software developer.

Progress

I'm very skeptical of the use of the word progress.

I often wonder: progress for whom?. Progress seems to often refer to "The Economy" or "Free Trade" or some other abstraction.

Publisher

I've had very favorable experiences of O'Reilly and of their books. I've reviewed many of their books (both technological books and technology related books).

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What You Get

By the Numbers

• 5 parts: each 3 to 6 chapters long; average length about 50 pages
• 21 chapters: from 2 to 22 pages long
• 281 pages

Stories

One of the things you get is lots of stories about relevant experiences of the author and others.

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Likes

Balance

It would be very easy for the author to trash

• capitalism
• computers
• technological progress
• etc.

He does not. In fact he has some quite positive things to say about them.

He seeks balance.

The author was raised as a traditionalist conservative and it shows, e.g.:

• He favors checks and balances
• He thinks when we view a battle between us and them in terms of good and evil we place ourselves above evil.

Concrete

I like that the author often talks of

• specific experiences
• specific people in specific situations
• etc.

I especially like the author's stories which are very concrete and specific.

Extraordinary Lives Part

I especially liked the "Extraordinary Lives" Part of the book where I was introduced to:

• Jacques Lusseyran who was a leader in the French resistance in World War II i despite being young (19) and blind.
• Martha Beck who chose to have the retarded baby she was bearing despite being on the fast track to a successful career which might be derailed by having the baby.
• Camphill, an association of communities in which those who are often referred to as disabled can live with dignity and flourish.

Short

I like that the book is short.

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Gripes

Missing Index Terms

I thought the following terms were important to the book and warranted entries in the index:

• conservative
• direction
• GNP
• intimacy
• object
• soul

Negativity

Despite the author's optimistic approach from time to time he falls into negativity. I'll give two examples:

• The author uses the word "Battling" in the subtitle.
• The author suggests we view the computer as an enemy.

Textual Oddities

In the version of the book on Safari, I encountered several textual oddities.

In the table of contents, the section numbers of chapter 7 are numbered 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4.

In section 8.1, I encountered "workdestructively", i.e., the two words are run together.

Each Part of the online version of the book begins with the title of the part followed by links to the chapters contained in it; in all but two instances the text of the link consists of the word "Chapter" followed by the chapter number. In Part III, the text of two of the links includes the chapter title.

In chapter 7, the sections are numbered 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4.

In section 17.5, I encountered "distancecollapsing", i.e., the two words are run together.

None of these problems occur in my paper copy of the book.

I don't much care about such oddities, but I know some people do.

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Who's the Book for?

For

I'm hoping that this book will be suitable for most everyone. However, it seems to me it would be especially good for someone who

• loves nature
• is committed to self-expression and self-development
• is apprehensive about technological progress
• and appreciates balance

Not For

The book would not be good for any of the following:

• people who don't wish to think for themselves.
• people who are convinced terms such as nature, self and soul are nonsense and abhor there use.
• people who don't wish to hear anything negative about "technological progress".
• people who just want a little exposure to Steve Talbott's thinking.

If you just want to get a glimpse of Steve Talbott's thinking, there's quite a bit of his writings available online. You may wish to start with the guide to his writings.

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Final Thoughts

If you've gotten this far in my review, read this book. If you are alive, read this book. Read this book! :)

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