Introduction : the new humanists / by John Brockman. Part I. Homo sapiens: A new scientific synthesis of human history / Jared Diamond. A biological understanding of human nature / Steven Pinker. Getting human nature right / Helena Cronin. Natural born cyborgs? / Andy Clark. Animal minds / Marc D. Hauser. The evolution of cooking / Richard Wrangham. The computational perspective / Daniel C. Dennett. What shape are a German shepherd's ears? / Stephen M. Kosslyn. Part II. Machina sapiens?: Software is a cultural solvent / Jordan B. Pollack. The second coming: a manifesto / David Gelernter. Making living systems / Rodney Brooks. Making minds / Hans Moravec. Quantum computation / David Deutsch. What comes after minds? / Marvin Minsky. The singularity / Ray Kurzweil [et al.].