Homo Exploratoris: Is Humanity an Apprentice God?

Description:

In accessible style, "Homo Exploratoris" tackles fundamental questions. Is humanity going forth to the stars, or back to the caves? Is humanity a naked ape species, or an apprentice god? Are we evolving to be both rational enough to do God's job - create worlds at will - and irrational enough to want it, too? Are we going to explore, and settle, the Universe to one day create other universes in its image? Can it be that gods create universes and universes create gods, in a never-ending circle of life? Is this - spawning civilizations that evolve into gods - a biosphere's adaptation to immortalize itself? Is the human race even in this race?

I believe we are. We are the most numerous, prosperous, healthy, peaceful and educated humankind that ever inhabited this planet. We did somehow get from the caves to the Moon, and felt inexplicably compelled to create the Sphinx and the Mona Lisa and the theory of relativity and the World Wide Web, and we dreamed of planting seeds from our beautiful home across the Universe.

We won't ever get there unless we try. And we won't even try unless we believe the unknown to be worth exploring. You can't rationally justify exploring the unknown, not without a time machine. So, to go forth to the stars (rather than back to the caves) we need faith. Faith in us humans, that is. A.k.a. humanism.

Brief description: Dr. Alexander Shenderov is a seasoned technologist, with scientific publications and over two dozen commercialized patents to his name; a serial entrepreneur (that's how his inventions got commercialized); an educator; and an aspiring futurist and author of a book, Homo Exploratoris. Some of the ideas from that book will be presented in this series. Alex is an engineer by training, trade, worldview and, some friends say, even nationality. His Master's degree in Engineering Physics is from a country that is no longer on the map: the USSR. His Ph.D. is in Cell Biology, and it's from Duke University. So is his teaching experience. He had a rare adventure of licensing an invention to a University (rather than licensing one from a University, as it is usually done).So, Alex's been around. He treasures the following skills he learned during his life journey: -Not taking himself too seriously -Finding people who know more than he does-Listening to people who know more than he does -Learning from people with views different from his-Avoiding pompous thickheadsIn his spare time, Alex is a world traveler, avid outdoorsman, community organizer and an aspiring wildlife photographer.

Review Quotes:

"Few people can speak with seriousness and depth about crucial scientific questions of our time... while taking theology and philosophy seriously too. Alex Shenderov does so in this book, asking questions and posing issues we must all take seriously! This book has something for just about everybody."

We as a species are what we are because evolution shaped us to survive. We shouldn't feel guilty about that simple fact. Now we are at the most important point of our history and have to make a choice: do we want to progress further or decline? This book provides a positive view on our species and a mission for our future.

"Homo Exploratoris wakes up your inner dreamer. The idea that humanity is an apprentice god is profoundly appealing!"