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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27539.On_Intelligence?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="On Intelligence" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167881695m/27539.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27539.On_Intelligence?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">On Intelligence</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15461.Jeff_Hawkins">Jeff Hawkins</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7999443?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars Hawkins' theory is that the entire sensory cortex runs a single cortical algorithm to perform all of its sensory functions.
 
 This single algorithm simply looks for patterns. Layers and layers of brain cells performing this pattern recognition result in our sensory experience. Here is an example of how this might work for vision:
 
 Layer 1 receives sensory input from the outside world and looks for general patterns of lines.
 Layer 2 receives input from layer 1 and looks for patterns of edges from those lines.
 Layer 3 receives input from layer 2 and looks for groups of edges forming rectangles and other shapes.
 Layer 4 receives input from layer 3 and looks for patterns of shapes (a circle on top of a vertical rectangle with 2 long vertical rectangles below and 2 long horizontal rectangles on the side might be a human with 4 limbs).
 ...and on and on
 
 *I'm not a neuroscientist. Go read the book to get a much better explanation of this theory.
 
 The variety of sensory functions our brain can perform then arise, not from a set of varied algorithms, but from the structure of the brain.
 
 Hawkins also suggests that behavior and prediction are one and the same. To perform an action, our brains imagine us going through the action, our motor neurons fire in response, and voila!, we act. (Its been a few months since I read this book and my memory on this theory is a bit fuzzy. Again, go read the book.)
 
 The great leaps forward in science of our past have often been counterintuitive simplifications of a complex issue and Hawkins' theory is just simple and elegant enough to qualify. Research over the next decade will prove him right or wrong, but in either case, this is a fantastic book to stimulate thinking on what's going on inside your head.
 
 (Note: this is a scientifically dense book and you may have to reread sentences, paragraphs, and chapters to make sense of it all. I personally intend to go back and read it again after reading a few other books on intelligence and the brain.)
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/206483?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

DJ's review
rating:
bookshelves: great-ideas
recommended for: anyone interested in the brain and artificial intelligence

Hawkins' theory is that the entire sensory cortex runs a single cortical algorithm to perform all of its sensory functions.

This single algorithm simply looks for patterns. Layers and layers of brain cells performing this pattern recognition result in our sensory experience. Here is an example of how this might work for vision:

Layer 1 receives sensory input from the outside world and looks for general patterns of lines.
Layer 2 receives input from layer 1 and looks for patterns of edges from those lines.
Layer 3 receives input from layer 2 and looks for groups of edges forming rectangles and other shapes.
Layer 4 receives input from layer 3 and looks for patterns of shapes (a circle on top of a vertical rectangle with 2 long vertical rectangles below and 2 long horizontal rectangles on the side might be a human with 4 limbs).
...and on and on

*I'm not a neuroscientist. Go read the book to get a much better explanation of this theory.

The variety of sensory functions...more Hawkins' theory is that the entire sensory cortex runs a single cortical algorithm to perform all of its sensory functions.

This single algorithm simply looks for patterns. Layers and layers of brain cells performing this pattern recognition result in our sensory experience. Here is an example of how this might work for vision:

Layer 1 receives sensory input from the outside world and looks for general patterns of lines.
Layer 2 receives input from layer 1 and looks for patterns of edges from those lines.
Layer 3 receives input from layer 2 and looks for groups of edges forming rectangles and other shapes.
Layer 4 receives input from layer 3 and looks for patterns of shapes (a circle on top of a vertical rectangle with 2 long vertical rectangles below and 2 long horizontal rectangles on the side might be a human with 4 limbs).
...and on and on

*I'm not a neuroscientist. Go read the book to get a much better explanation of this theory.

The variety of sensory functions our brain can perform then arise, not from a set of varied algorithms, but from the structure of the brain.

Hawkins also suggests that behavior and prediction are one and the same. To perform an action, our brains imagine us going through the action, our motor neurons fire in response, and voila!, we act. (Its been a few months since I read this book and my memory on this theory is a bit fuzzy. Again, go read the book.)

The great leaps forward in science of our past have often been counterintuitive simplifications of a complex issue and Hawkins' theory is just simple and elegant enough to qualify. Research over the next decade will prove him right or wrong, but in either case, this is a fantastic book to stimulate thinking on what's going on inside your head.

(Note: this is a scientifically dense book and you may have to reread sentences, paragraphs, and chapters to make sense of it all. I personally intend to go back and read it again after reading a few other books on intelligence and the brain.)...less

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