I’m sure we can all agree that we in the U.S. are in one of the most turbulent and disagreeable times in our collective history, not from a survival standpoint — most of us have everything we need and then some — but from a well-being perspective. We have lost our sense of community, preferring an us vs. them mentality, and as a result, can agree on next to nothing. Some want a return to the old patriarchal system where a man is the head of the household, and his wife and children are the support staff. As a modern woman who enjoys a challenging career and a nourishing and fulfilling family life, I had hoped this line of thinking would wither and die on the vine; instead, it has returned with greater force and urgency than ever before. Certain factions of society are dug in, demanding a return to a normal Lifestyle by leaving the gains made in civil and women’s rights, and environmental protections achieved over the last half a century in the rearview mirror. That our mothers had more bodily autonomy than our daughters is the stuff of fiction.
For centuries, mankind has used the earth’s resources to its advantage, usually with good intentions. We needed those resources to survive. Today, we reach way beyond survival, taking more than we could individually or collectively use, taxing the earth’s ability — especially its water — to recharge itself as we stand on the precipice of a 6th mass extinction, with as many as 150 species a day vanishing at an alarming rate. Despite the denials of the current administration, climate change is well underway, leaving people vulnerable to the vagaries of extreme weather and putting humanity on a collision course with its own destruction. Parts of the earth will soon be uninhabitable due to fires, floods, droughts, excessive heat and/or cold, inability to grow food, poisoned air and water, the list goes on if you have the stomach for it.
So what do we as a society do to unravel the mess we’ve made? Enter AI, the key, as some see it, to mankind’s salvation. For decades, scientists have realized computers would one day surpass us technologically. Still, the fear is that if we don’t partner with computers, they will one day control us, similar to the way we try to control everything in our natural world. Translation: we messed up; the planet is Dying; this is the only way we survive — by aligning ourselves with computers, pairing them with humans like you would pair a fine wine with a good meal. Sounds great if you can control it, but that’s the unknown known. Yet, scientists are actively looking for ways to partner with computers rather than risk losing control. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right? We’ll worry about the rest later.
So our big brains got to work, programmed computers that could think faster and more brilliantly than humans, and developed a new species: Artificial Intelligence. This extraordinary piece of hardware and software that processes crazy amounts of information in nanoseconds just happened to be made by man. How did it come to be that man created something poised to be more innovative, more creative, and more adaptive than man himself? It’s a rhetorical question we should take time to debate, right?
Nah. That would get in the way of hurling epithets at each other. Let’s plow ahead, see what happens, and pray we don’t unleash the next round of Frankensteins on the world.
But when is she getting to the book review?!
Right now. So, without further philosophizing, let’s talk about the latest novel by Fred Burton entitled Man Made.
In 2020, Burton heard Joe Rogan interview Elon Musk about his Neuralink project. Neuralink Corp. is an American Technology company that makes implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Musk founded the company in 2016 with a group of scientists and engineers with the premise that someday computers would outwit us, so we had to adapt and do the next best thing — cohabitate with them. Since its inception, Neuralink has been working on a prototype for inserting a piece of artificial intelligence into the human brain. As of January 2025, three people have been implanted with Neuralink. Fred Burton has taken the concept of a society steeped in Neuralink adherents and turned it on its head. For those who have no interest in going gentle into the dying light, this book is for you.
In Man Made, the Neuroblast system, developed at the highest levels of government, attempts to connect humans to computer technology via a chip insert to allow for sharing of the computer’s data sets. As the first human test subject, Milo is already more intelligent, faster, more potent, and more prescient than regular humans. Think The $6 Million Man, a popular TV show from the 1970s, on steroids. Now, imagine he also has ESP. Touted by the government as a way to save mankind, this guy will be the GOAT! If only they can keep Milo alive.
Sadly, the engineers responsible for this product’s design, implementation, and testing are on an entirely different mission than the government operatives responsible for oversight. While the engineers work tirelessly to create a hybrid human that may one day be more gifted than DaVinci, stronger than the Hulk, and wiser than Confucius, the government operatives assigned to the project would prefer Ghengis Kahn, the Terminator, and Rocky all mashed into one.
And so, the trouble begins. Milo, the leader of his recently disbanded Punk rock band, Death Scepter, has become disillusioned and discontented with his life. His food service job is a dead end, and the last member of the original Death Scepter has left the group to settle down and do grown-up things. When the government approaches Milo to partake in a Neuroblast experiment, he accepts the offer, feeling he has nothing to lose. Milo makes impressive progress on many fronts after only a few treatments, but when the President of the U.S. decides things are moving too slowly, the operatives change the protocol. To the disgruntlement of the engineers working on the Neuroblast project, the government is no longer interested in testing the limits of this new man/computer merger but rather in making Milo a weapon of war. When Sheila, the chief engineer, resists her new orders due to the moral and ethical issues they raise, and her fear for Milo, to whom she has become fiercely loyal, she is fired. And that is just the beginning.
Fred Burton has written a post-apocalyptic, mind-bending thriller that scours the depths of morality, ethics, and Consciousness in a race to control the very essence of humanity. Using well-drawn characters and references to today’s biggest problems, Burton explores what once was while trying to make sense of what will be and the cost of getting us there. This thoughtful, provocative page-turner explores themes not easily debated in the 2025 political landscape and asks questions we may not want the answers to as we hurtle toward a future that seemingly has already arrived. The question is, are we ready?
So where are we, people? Are we more interested in self-aggrandizement, hoarding resources, and conquering the free will of man than in finding a way to live peaceably with all creatures on a once-thriving-and-could-be-again planet? Read Man Made by Fred Burton and find out who will win the struggle to control mankind’s destiny.
Want to read more about Fred’s work? Go here: https://www.fredfburton.com/
or to Fred’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063636905178
As always, thanks for reading.
pam lazos 3.16.25
Originally Published on https://greenlifebluewater.earth/feed/
Notifications
Version 1.0.0
