224: Optimism One: The Emerging Radicalism by F. M. Esfandiary

Optimism One: The Emerging Radicalism

The son of an Iranian diplomat F. M. Esfandiary also worked as a diplomat, was an Olympic basketball player, and a novelist. In the early 1970s he laid out a truly remarkable philosophical vision rooted in extreme optimism. Esfandiary yearned to break the shackles of tradition with the possibilities of a techno-utopia. Esfandiary's work was a significant influence on the modern transhumanist movement.

Why this is progressive/liberal: Breaking with tradition and optimistically embracing the future are liberal traits, but very few are willing to go as far as Esfandiary. Read this with his book Up-Wingers: A Futurist Manifesto.

225: Info-Psychology: A Manual for the Use of the Human Nervous System According to the Instructions of the Manufacturers, and a Navigational Guide for Piloting the Evolution of the Human Individual by Timothy Leary

Info-Psychology: A Manual for the Use of the Human Nervous System According to the Instructions of the Manufacturers, and a Navigational Guide for Piloting the Evolution of the Human Individual

Richard Nixon called him "the most dangerous man in America." But the revolution Leary fought was for the liberty to control one's own brain. Written while he was serving a life sentence Info-Psychology (originally titled Exo-Psychology) introduces readers to his 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness. While not the most reliable of research scientists or theorists, Leary's far-reaching ideas are unlike anything else you've ever read.

Why this is progressive/liberal: Leary is a progressive icon. From the moment he first tried hallucinogens he fought for their acceptance in the US. A lot of liberals and progressives still hate Leary for various perceived transgressions, but such a dynamic larger-than-life figure won't be along again for generations. Nobody thinks like Leary.



Read this with his two other futurist masterworks--Neuropolitics: The Sociobiology of Human Metamorphosis & The Intelligence Agents (Future History)

250: Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling

Shaping Things (Mediaworks Pamphlets)

In this short book futurist and science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling coins a word -- spime -- to describe the future he sees unfolding. A spime is an object that can be located in space and time. The time is rapidly approaching when most objects in our world will be spimes. In the not too distant future, we'll be able to "google" our lost car keys. We will also have the opportunity, if we choose it, to follow the production stream of every object we use. This is a rousing manifesto about the future of design.

Why this is progressive/liberal: This is less "progressive" and more "this is really cool." I suppose if I had to fit it into some progressive pigeonhole it's be that Sterling focuses on making the invisible visible. We have an abundance of new tools at our fingertips, and rather than bemoaning the loss of a life gone past we should be figuring out how these new tools can make out lives better. And, we also need to pay attention to the almost certain ways they will make out lives worse.