Parallel Minds

Insights into the intelligence throughout the natural and technical environment, in the fabric of our devices and dwellings, in our clothes, and under our skin. Is there a way to understand the materials that surround us not as passive objects, but as other intelligences interacting with our own? In Parallel Minds, expert in materials science and nanotechnology Laura Tripaldi delivers not only detailed insights into the properties and emergent behaviors of matter as revealed by state-of-the-art chemistry, synthetic biology, and nanotech, but also a rich philosophical reflection that crosses the frontier between nature and culture, where the most cutting-edge scientific syntheses resonate with ancient myth. The result is a technomaterial bestiary full of unexpected encounters with “strange minds”—from cobwebs to kevlar and carbon fibre, from centaurs to amoebas to arachnids, from polycephalic slime to resonating plasmons, from viruses to golems. Parallel Minds reveals the intelligence at large throughout the natural and technical environment, in the fabric of our devices and dwellings, in our clothes, and even under our skin. Full of lateral ideas and unexpected images, Tripaldi’s book imbues the study and synthesis of materials with a new urgency. For not only do the materials that surround us participate actively in the construction of the world in which we live, but harnessing their ability to interact intelligently with their environment could be the key to the future of our species.

Marr draws from her experience as a teacher, visual artist, poet, graphic designer, and art director to demonstrate how one can change his or her body, profession, relationship, and life just by changing thoughts.

Let's go pay God a visit... So I can make thread again. That's...something, I guess. Don't get me wrong-I could be doing a whole lot worse than pumping out thread all day while cooped up in some demon's mansion. I just wish my other powers would come back alrea-Oh...they are back. When the heck did that happen?! And why am I suddenly, like, really good at teleporting? I bet I could go anywhere I want! In fact, that gives me an idea...Hey, D, I think it's time we met face-to-face!

When someone asks if you're a guardian spirit, you say...?I've really done it this time. After I saved my old classmate who's been reborn as an overpowered vampire, the townspeople took it upon themselves to worship me like some kind of guardian spirit. Not that I'm complaining about the delicious free food, but...I'm a loner by nature! I'm TERRIBLE at dealing with people! And they're not monsters, so it's not like I can just kill them to make them go away. What am I gonna do...?

Seriously! What genre is this?! So get this...Me, the Demon Lord, the baby bloodsucker, Mera, and the puppet posse are on our way to the demon territory when Mera falls into a hole and gets attacked by giant ants. We wipe 'em out in no time, but the commotion (and totally not me sticking my nose where it doesn't belong) just haaappens to wake up some ancient, hyper-advanced killing machines, and now the entire planet is gonna be destroyed! It's such a big deal that Güli-güli, the pontiff, and even Potimas are teaming up with the Demon Lord. Wait, when did they all get so chummy? And I'm sorry, what? They want ME to take out the main weapon?! No waaay!

I've finally escaped the monster infested Elroe Labyrinth and now making my way towards the land of humans! But what was waiting for me on the surface was something even worse than dragons...it's MY MOTHER!! We don't have the greatest relationship for various spidery reasons but am I going to make it out of this family reunion in one piece?!

A physicist examines ideas from medieval alchemy and contemporary science to explore the connection between mind and matter. Alchemists of old attempted to make sense of the universe—to discover the connection between mind and matter. Some of today’s scientists, in particular quantum physicists, are doing the same. In this contribution to the study of consciousness, physicist Fred Alan Wolf reveals what he calls the “new alchemy” —a melding of the ideas of the old alchemists and the new scientists to reach a fuller understanding of mind and matter. An elegant book with short, stand-alone chapters, each framed by an alchemical symbol and its definition, Mind into Matter is thought provoking for scientists and lay people alike. Praise for Mind into Matter “I consider Fred Alan Wolf one of the most important pioneers in the field of consciousness. This book could change the way you perceive the world.” —Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, author of How to Know God “Once again, physicist Fred Alan Wolf takes us on a magical mystery tour into the adventure land of science and spirit. . . . Both enthralling and energizing.” —Michael Toms, cofounder, host, producer of New Dimensions Radio “How refreshing to have a scientist put the emphasis on the individual where it belongs! Wolf has written a glorious entertainment for the mind that matters.” —Kenneth Ring, PhD, author of Lessons from the Light “[A]llows readers to look at their own inner mechanism and better understand the consciousness which gives them life and makes them aware of the outer world of forms and phenomena in which they live.” —Glen P. Kezwer, Ph.D., physicist, author of Meditation, Oneness and Physics

I-i-it's not like a spider needs friends! I did it! I'm finally an Arachne!...Aaand things already aren't going the way I thought they would. I'm inexplicably on a road trip with the Demon Lord, a reincarnated baby, and her troubled vampire guardian. I don't really interact with them much, besides subjecting my reborn classmate to insane training, watching the party sneak off into villages, hearing about the delicious food they eat...Wait, hold up. Doesn't it seem like I'm the only one who's being left out?!? W-w-well, the monsters up here taste delicious, so whatever! Sniff, sniff. I wonder if my other brains are having a better time... What are they even up to?