Michael Woudenberg is a mixed mental artist who breaks down complex ideas into practical wisdom for thriving in the octagon of life. The writer behind one of my favorite Substack accounts, Polymathic Being, Mike explores both conventional and controversial concepts relating to humanity.
I grew up reading primarily fiction. These days, the majority of my reading is nonfiction; however, when I learned Mike had written a fictional novel based on many of his Substack posts, I immediately ordered a copy. Already having high expectations, Paradox exceeded them all.
Paradox is a science fiction thriller based on moral dilemmas in creating advanced AI. Integrating science, psychology, and technology, Mike creates an engaging plot, likable characters, and a story that reads like a real possibility. It will challenge you to consider the pros and cons of continued development toward sentience of AI while allowing you to draw your own conclusions. Its premise poses a simple question, “In the battle over advanced AI, will we lose our humanity or learn what truly makes us human?”
In this conversation, Mike and I discuss his outstanding book and the many themes that arise in it such as moral dilemmas, consciousness, identity, reason vs. emotion, technology vs. human experience, and the illusion of progress. We also discuss his creative process, merging of science and fiction, and the already published sequel to Paradox titled Integration. He’s now working on the third book in his series titled Rebirth which sounds like it’s developing into his most exciting novel yet.
If you enjoy fiction in any way, I can’t recommend picking up a copy of Paradox enough. Order here
I also highly recommend checking out The Singularity Chronicles website for more information on all of his novels to include sources of information for the various concepts he writes on, videos, order links at a discounted cost, and more.
Posts we alluded to in our conversation:
