Daniel Mark Harrison is an ambitious technology evangelist who has written a book (itself ambitious) that aims to upgrade the Cartesian "Cogito Ergo Sum" for something more applicable to the the Millennial era. The Millennial Reincarnations is a collage of stories set between 1990 and 2014, where the theme is not so much ideological as it is governed by the actions of the Millennial generation, in which the mentality of the generation is expressed at its highest level, which is to say, how it affects our entire society.The final stage of enlightenment that will be conceived by this influential generation is, I Feel Therefore I am Not, Harrison argues. Harrison's reasoning is this: thinking skills, a capacity for abstraction and basic computation, on which Descartes founded everything he wrote, is now a questionable skill due to the fact technologically it is easily reproduced. There are machines that can "think" in a manner analogous to the Cartesian mode of thinking and to Descartes' notions of higher thinking, and in fact they do so more efficiently than any human.So the problem has moved on from thinking being expressed as something of a mere Turing Test, lavishly conveyed in the movie "Ex Machina": if it is not the ability to think  that is important though, what distinguishes man from machine? The answer is our ability to feel: and specifically, to feel sensations that can not be captured in an algorithm.The sentient machine, however, is no longer an image from an old science fiction book. In Silicon Valley, there are legions of engineers sure it is only a matter of time before one is created, and even if they do not act like man or conceive of ideas in the way man does, life and the universe of feelings is no longer the great moat that separates man and a surrogate technology from his enlightened self.I Feel Therefore I Am Not is then the paradoxical outcome of the doubt that even the sentiment captures the essential characteristics of the human, so that if the process of feeling proves replicable artificially then we would "directly understand our own creative mechanism, which would cease to qualify us as human, making some form of human divinity out of us instead (this, after all, is what we aspired the Enlightenment)," writes Harrison.The interesting thing here about The Millennial Reincarnations is that it does not just line up the theoretical or moral dilemmas of man struggling with the prospect of a future post-human or trans-human self (which is not that new in and of itself), but the author instead explores the influence of this concept today, on how Millennials conceive of their work, the economy, their social bonds, their observance of the law, their sexual interactions, their accumulation of knowledge, as well as the criteria they use to make critical decisions about the kind of life they want and the aspirations they seek to cultivate.Harrison carries out an investigation here into the possibility that there exists for this new Millennial generation a metaphysical dimension whereby the Cartesian existential paradox is ultimately overcome, with thinking as the more synthetic of senses and feeling being something of an essentially human quality. These are certainly not matters to be entrusted to an algorithm.

"A foreword explains that a new leader will arise. Jews call him the Messiah; theMongols (i.e., the Chinese) call him a Mandate. By the volume's end, the latestMandate "had firmly ensconced himself in the place of the world's next powerful elite," who would reign over the globe's most powerful country,constituting "a reincarnation of dynastic proportions." The work explores this ensconcing in a narrative with several main themes: a man's guilt over a car accident that kills his daughter and her friend; the sorority; young men whose lives encompass high finance, nightclubs, and business deals; sex,romance, and political intrigue, including blackmail and bribery; and overlapping versions of the same characters and events. Some readers may enjoy the meta-ness, as well as Harrison's brash confidence in the privileged,fast-moving world he describes ... ambitious and high-flying, this millennial tale remains bedazzled by the elite."

New age, spirituality and philosophy readers alike will find in The Millennial Reincarnations a different kind of message, delivered with a different style: a novel that reads like a cinematic widescreen production designed to capture immediate attention and explore the reasons why individuals are on the planet. If all this sounds heady - it is.

The Millennial Reincarnations is especially recommended for seekers who would absorb all this information in the form of a narrative that closely examines mind, heart, and soul in the height of millennial times (the late 1990s to the mid-2000s).

A series of experiences by people around the world serve as focal points in this sweeping (even epic) examination of universal connections, transition points, and connections that succeeds in embracing a wide, seemingly-disparate perspective.

One way that The Millennial Reincarnations achieves this goal while remaining accessible and lively is through sparkling, compelling dialogue that doesn't just explain or lecture, but reaches out and grabs readers: "This is what a power struggle looks like; and you are leaving one, which is why you see it and feel it now…Now take the pressure off the turbo and slide the cruise function along the bottom; the trick is to try and kind of glide within the space you see ahead – just let yourself stay there suspended for a moment and hang out the stabbing pain you feel for that’s not something we want to take back with us at all … … that pain, by the way, is the pain of a consciousness determined to condemn its own species to death for its own personal gain. It’s a pre-Millennial force dragging at your back wings …"

Why are we here? What are the forces that dictate life choices? How can Millennials become the first generation to let loose the ties that bind to embrace an ideology and approach to life that lends to taking wing and making most of one's presence on the planet?

It's Daniel M. Harrison's high-octane, compelling language that creates the path to help this generation perceive and understand these new opportunities; his approach that captures the connections between individual lives and greater purpose through a series of fictional vignettes; and his compelling vision of a reincarnated generation raised on new technology with the possibilities for new responses and vision unprecedented in human history that makes this such a stand-out discussion.

The fact that all this is couched in a fictional format makes it compellingly accessible despite these complex overtones: "Most of us are not really here for the money anymore, the same way most suburbanites aren’t in the picket-fence walls of a three square meter garden for the lifestyle; we’re here either because we entered a block with a one-way revolving door and there’s no way out … or we’re just in it for the ride."

Be forewarned: The Millennial Reincarnations isn't the kind of novel you'll want to tear through, no matter how gripping its language or approach. It's best digested in bits and pieces (there's so much to consider and learn) and it's a sparkling revolution of words that holds the potential to not just entertain Millennials, but help them transform the world.

All that's required of its readers is an interest in psychology, spirituality, and the processes of choice and change. The Millennial Reincarnations (like its predecessor Butterflies: The Strange Metamorphosis of Fact & Fiction In Today’s World) is a category unto itself and a standout in the mundane world of novels with canned plots and one-dimensional approaches. 

There's nothing predictable or tired about The Millennial Reincarnations. It screams its message of faith, opportunity, and how individuals change worlds, and it's a gripping and unique account that turns the novel format upside down and imbibes it with an intense message aimed right at the Millennial generation.