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REVIEWS BOOKS All the while, we will be questioning what it means to be human and we'll have to develop ethical systems to handle this expo- nential technological progression. By 2099 the distinction between humans and comput- ers will have blurred so much that humans who do not utilise augmentation implants for improving perception, memory and reason- ing will be severely impaired in life. Kurzweil's forecasts are promising in many areas, yet they are alarmng, raising deeply philosophical issues that inevitably we'll have to face in the decades to come. THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES nential technological progression. By 2099 affecting our region of space. Just as we by Ray Kurzweil the distinction between humans and comput- __ need to understand the Light, not just accept p Vile A ers will have blurred so much that humans it blindly, so, too, say the Pleiadians, do we Publisher: Viking, USA, Allen & Unwin, who do not utilise augmentation implants for need to understand the Dark and participate Australia, 1999 . improving perception, memory and reason- in the interplay between the two forces. Our ISBN: 0-670-88217-8 (hc); ing will be severely impaired in life. only way through the chaos and fear is 1-86508-026-8 (388pp tpb) Kurzweil's forecasts are promising in many _ through the vibration of Love; without this Price: AUD$29.95; NZD$39.95; £16.99, areas, yet they are alarmng, raising deeply frequency, we cannot go through the percep- USD$25.95 (he) . philosophical issues that inevitably we'll tual and genetic shifts that are our inheri- Available: Aust—Allen & Unwin, tel (02) have to face in the decades to come. tance but which the Family of Dark has tried 8425 0100; NZ—Archetype Book Agents, to suppress over the millennia. The mind- tel (09) 377 3800; UK—Penguin Books; FAMILY OF LIGHT control technologies of the dark powers are USA—Viking/Penguin Putnam by Barbara Marciniak a force to be reckoned with, they agree, but ithin the next hundred years, human Publisher: Bear & Company, USA, 1999 can be overcome with the correct energy. beings will no longer be the most ISBN: 1-879181-47-9 (258pp tpb) _ The Pleaidians (and, apparently, other _ intelligent entities on the planet. We'll be Price: AUD$32.95; NZD$41.95; £10.99; _ intelligent races in the cosmos) see humanity outstripped by our own creation, the com- NLGfn/a; USD$15.00 and the Earth at an evolutionary crossroads puter. This inevitability will be due to the Available: Aust—Gemcraft, tel (03) 9888 with a great cosmic wave soon to engulf us. inexorable, exponential pace of progress, 0111; NZ—Peaceful Living Publications, You guessed it: around 2012! says computing genius Ray Kurzweil. tel (07) 571 8105; UK—Airlift Book Co., In The Age of Spiritual Machines, his third ta] 0181 804 0400; Europe—NEXUS . book, Kurzweil posits the Law of Time and office; USA—Bear & Co. Publishing, PO Fa MILY Chaos, with its sub-law, the Law of Box 2860, Santa Fe, NM 887504, tel (505) oF]. Accelerating Returns, as the framework for 983 5968, fax (505) 989 8386 Li G HT his predictions about future developments in ihe Pleiadians, that collective of multidi- computing power and intelligence. The mensional intelligences who claim to speed and density of computation now dou- have originated from the Pleiades constella- bles every year. According to Kurzweil's tion, have been communicating through calculations and backed up by his formida- Barbara Marciniak since 1988. Family of ble understanding of technological applica- Light is her third book of teachings chan- tions: by 2009, a $1,000 PC will perform nelled by these entities. Regardless of the around a trillion calculations per second; by Pleiadians' source and identity, there is a 2019, it will approach the computational ring of truth about their messages that res- ability of the human brain; by 2029 it will onates with other high-integrity teachings. have the computing capacity of around These time-travelling agents of change 1,000 human brains. By then, machines will —_ again put out the wake-up call for us to learn claim to be conscious and even to have spiri- how to handle the chaos of our times. They tual experiences—and will be believed! see our civilisation, with its misplaced and 74 © NEXUS misguided authorities, crumbling—but this is all part and parcel of the cosmic-scale vibrational frequency changes that are affecting our region of space. Just as we need to understand the Light, not just accept it blindly, so, too, say the Pleiadians, do we need to understand the Dark and participate in the interplay between the two forces. Our only way through the chaos and fear is through the vibration of Love; without this frequency, we cannot go through the percep- tual and genetic shifts that are our inheri- tance but which the Family of Dark has tried to suppress over the millennia. The mind- control technologies of the dark powers are a force to be reckoned with, they agree, but can be overcome with the correct energy. The Pleaidians (and, apparently, other intelligent races in the cosmos) see humanity and the Earth at an evolutionary crossroads with a great cosmic wave soon to engulf us. You guessed it: around 2012! Barpana’Marcintar APRIL — MAY 1999