false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172473498m/179744.jpg 179744 17 Some love it, some hate it, but <I>The Emperor's New Mind</I>, physicist Roger Penrose's 1989 treatise attacking the foundations of strong artificial intelligence, is crucial for anyone interested in the history of thinking about AI and consciousness. Part survey of modern physics, part exploration of the philosophy of mind, the book is not for casual readers--though it's not overly technical, it rarely pauses to let the reader catch a breath. The overview of relativity and quantum theory, written by a master, is priceless and uncontroversial. The exploration of consciousness and AI, though, is generally considered as resting on shakier ground.<p> Penrose claims that there is an intimate, perhaps unknowable relation between quantum effects and our thinking, and ultimately derives his anti-AI stance from his proposition that some, if not all, of our thinking is non-algorithmic. Of course, these days we believe that there are other avenues to AI than traditional algorithmic programming; while he has been accused of setting up straw robots to knock down, this accusation is unfair. Little was then known about the power of neural networks and behavior-based robotics to simulate (and, some would say, <I>produce</I>) intelligent problem-solving behavior. Whether these tools will lead to strong AI is ultimately a question of belief, not proof, and <I>The Emperor's New Mind</I> offers powerful arguments useful to believer and nonbeliever alike. <I>--Rob Lightner</I> 1309914 book 1989 The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science) total:250|5:52|4:92|3:82|2:18|1:6| 250 916 494 29 3 5 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1989 Sun Dec 07 05:01:04 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 12 13:38:47 -0700 2009 A L'Ombre Des Jeunes Filles En Fleurs as a kind of wave function of girls (see my review), and that made me think of The Emperor's New Mind. Given that it's all about quantum mechanics, I suppose it's appropriate that I have two different and co...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Fri Oct 24 13:40:38 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 13:49:09 -0700 2008 the bulk of the book was a great deal of fun,
in the vein of "Goedel, Escher, Bach";
the concluding section seemed astonishingly
ill-conceived. There's a big debate around
this, but the connections he makes strike
me as terr...more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Feb 08 04:26:30 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 04:41:49 -0800 2009
(well, I read a bit... zzz)]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jun 15 17:12:23 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 11:09:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Tue Dec 23 20:45:04 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 20:58:42 -0800 2008
Yes, it's true we can't reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics

Yes, reconciling how intelligence arises in a purely mechanical system is not understood

Yes, Godel's incomplet...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Dec 30 09:44:37 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 31 21:20:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 19:33:23 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 15:17:31 -0700 2008
First, the good. Penrose weaves tales of science, philosophy, and history that few others can, due to his wide-ranging and vast intellect. He touches on a wealth of interesting subjects in this book and his enthusiasm for them bleeds through the pages. In particular, this book offered...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 01 17:09:08 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 22 17:33:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 18:09:29 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 18:15:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun May 17 09:43:24 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 09:47:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 1989 Mon Aug 10 15:23:03 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 15:23:03 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 19 07:26:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 07:27:26 -0800 2009
This one makes you think about the physical world and has been known to cure my insomnia.

Still working my way through it...no hurry!]]> 1 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Thu Oct 04 08:51:56 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 04 08:56:09 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 20 15:07:11 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 15:09:12 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Wed May 13 02:26:15 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 02:26:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu Sep 06 15:34:11 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 15:38:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Apr 12 19:21:22 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 11:07:16 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Sep 07 07:19:21 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 16 19:06:09 -0700 2008
Probably had a lot of influence in moving me from ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Apr 16 04:02:27 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 05 07:47:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 25 10:35:50 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 10:39:32 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=179744