Reading Man a Machine | Alexandria
Read Man a Machine by Julien Offray de La Mettrie. Imagining humans as sophisticated machines, La Mettrie's radical vision foresaw AI debates 300 years ago. His provocative claim that consciousness emerges from physical processes - not divine essence - sparked outrage yet laid groundwork for neuroscience. The twist? His "soulless" view actually celebrates humanity's complexity rather than diminishing it.