eskt@holin.ATT.COM (Eddie Tam) (12/24/89)
Has anyone read the new book, "The Emperor's New Mind, concerning computers, minds, and the laws of physics", written by the noted British mathematical physicist, Roger Penrose? He is an opponent to the theory of strong AI, which basically claims that intelligence and consciousness is all a matter of algorithm; the actual physical implementation is essentially insignificant. Penrose speculates that there is a component of consciousness which is inherently non-algorithmic in nature, and therefore cannot be 'recreated' by an intrinsically algorithmic computer. Penrose further suggests that the possible origin of this non-algorithmic component of consciousness to be some quantum-mechanical effect which involves the yet-to-be discovered theory of quantum gravity. He speculates that quantum gravity has the characteristic of being deterministic but yet non-computable; somewhat akin to the growth of quasi-crystals. Penrose is a very brave man. In the same book, not only does he take on the argument against strong AI, he also expresses his opposition to the widely accepted quantum-mechanical view of reality being non-objective. This is an excellent book (even if you disagree with him totally), and it is getting rave reviews in British magazines and journals such as the Economist, and Nature. Curiously, I have yet to be able to find a review of it in an American magazine or journal. Is this a case of Trans-Atlantic snobbery, or just my oversight? Eddie Tam AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ, 07724 Rm 2L-333 attcom!holin!eskt
andrew@dtg.nsc.com (Lord Snooty @ The Giant Poisoned Electric Head ) (12/24/89)
In article <851@holin.ATT.COM>, eskt@holin.ATT.COM (Eddie Tam) writes: > Has anyone read the new book, "The Emperor's New Mind, concerning computers, > ...is getting rave reviews in British magazines and journals such as the > Economist, and Nature. Curiously, I have yet to be able to find a review > of it in an American magazine or journal. Is this a case of Trans-Atlantic > snobbery, or just my oversight? I think Scientific American has referred to it. In general, I think that the educated US citizen gets a raw deal on good magazines compared with his/her European counterparts. "The Economist" has no equal here. "New Scientist" is also excellent - of course the exception to my statement is "Scientific American" which never fails to delight me. I haven't even read my backlog .. ("Who Got Einstein's Office?", "Penrose Tilings and Trapdoor Ciphers", etc. etc.) so I'll hope someone else can provide a review here. Come to think of it - I think you might find one if you check back about a 100 articles in comp.ai. -- ........................................................................... Andrew Palfreyman a wet bird never flies at night time sucks andrew@dtg.nsc.com there are always two sides to a broken window
harnad@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (S. R. Harnad) (12/24/89)
In article <851@holin.ATT.COM>, eskt@holin.ATT.COM (Eddie Tam) writes: > Curiously, I have yet to be able to find a review of [Roger Penrose's > "The Emperor's New Mind" in an American magazine or journal. Is this a > case of Trans-Atlantic snobbery, or just my oversight? A multiple book review will appear in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) in 1990. The publisher is Cambridge University Press, the editorial office is in Princeton, but the journal is international and interdisciplinary, and this will be represented in the 20 - 30 reviews from psychologists, biologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, linguists, physicists, mathematicians and philosophers, co-appearing with an article-length precis of the book and a Response to the reviews by the author. Stevan Harnad Editor, BBS -- Stevan Harnad Department of Psychology Princeton University harnad@confidence.princeton.edu srh@flash.bellcore.com harnad@elbereth.rutgers.edu harnad@pucc.bitnet (609)-921-7771
costin@cogsci.EDU (Dan Costin) (01/04/90)
In article <851@holin.ATT.COM>, eskt@holin.ATT.COM (Eddie Tam) writes: > Curiously, I have yet to be able to find a review of [Roger Penrose's > "The Emperor's New Mind" in an American magazine or journal. Is this a > case of Trans-Atlantic snobbery, or just my oversight? There was a review of it in the Sunday New York Times Book Review section I believe in the latter half of December. Interesting ideas, but not something that will revolutionize the field, I don't think (how many AI people are there that have a good grasp of quantum mechanics, and what might be wrong with it?). -dan
kpfleger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Karl Robert Pfleger) (01/04/90)
In article <851@holin.ATT.COM>, eskt@holin.ATT.COM (Eddie Tam) writes: > Curiously, I have yet to be able to find a review of [Roger Penrose's > "The Emperor's New Mind" in an American magazine or journal. Is this a > case of Trans-Atlantic snobbery, or just my oversight? The computer recreations column of Scientific American (December) has a discussion of the book and its ideas. The column didn't seem to indicate much evidence of quantum mechanical utilization in the brain. I haven't seen the book yet. -Karl kpfleger@phoenix.princeton.edu kpfleger@pucc (bitnet)