Stories

The origin, nature, and function of stories is a primary narrative and thematic focus for the author. One of his book's key arguments, in fact, is his contention that humanity has constructed stories out of a wide range of different sorts of facts in order to give larger meaning to those facts. That sense of constructed meaning, the author also suggests, is at the core of many of humanity's beliefs about itself and about existence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The presence, power, and potential of artificial intelligence is another primary narrative and thematic focus for the author. Another of the book's key arguments is his contention that humanity has both a great deal to gain and a great deal to lose as a result of its interactions with AI. He argues at several points throughout the book that humanity is, in fact, in a degree of losing itself...