Status Updates From How to Create a Mind: The S...

A primary reason that evolution created brains was to predict the future.
But such built-in predictors of the future are linear, not exponential, a quality that stems from the linear organization of the neocortex.
The neocortex is organized with linear sequences of steps in each pattern, which means that exponential thinking does not come naturally to us.

Before brains there was no color or sound in the universe, nor was there any flavor or aroma and probably little sense and no feeling or emotion.

The truth can be discovered only by finding an explanation that overrides-transcends-seeming differences, especially for fundamental questions of meaning and purpose.

I refer to “mind” in the title of this book rather than “brain” because a mind is a brain that is conscious.

Individual philosophical assumption about the nature and source of consciousness underlie disagreements on issues ranging from animal rights to abortion, and will result in even more contentious future conflicts over machine rights.

People often fail to appreciate how powerful mathematics can be - keep in mind that our ability to search much of human knowledge in a fraction of a second with search engines is based on a mathematical technique.

A key aspect of creativity is the process of finding great metaphors - symbols that represent something else.
One approach to expand the available neocortex is through the collaboration of multiple humans. This is accomplished routinely via the communication between people gathered in a problem-solving community.

It is the job of our neocortex to enable us to be the master of pleasure and fear and not their slave.
The old brain tries to set the agenda with its control of pleasure and fear experiences, whereas the new brain is continually trying to understand the relatively primitive algorithms of the old brain and seeking to manipulate it to its own agenda.