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Liked It “It has so much in it, you'll never tire of re-reading it n number of times. One of the better scientific prose I've read so far.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I wish there was a category for "I tried to read it"...a heavy slog.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I wish there was a category for "I tried to read it"...a heavy slog.”
foggytown wrote this review Sunday, November 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I’ve read the Roger Penrose book “The Emperor’s New Mind” (finally, I’m so slow at reading!). First of all I’d like to say that it’s, in my opinion, composed by two (quite independent) books.
Baldo wrote this review Sunday, August 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The first and the last 100 pages (of 600 total) are about the author ideas regarding AI, consciousness and free will. Penrose thinks that intelligence/consciousness cannot be the result of an algorithm, even if very sophisticated, so he affirms that these aspect of mind (not only of human beings but also for other animal species) are the result of non-algorithmic/non-computable events.
Believing that brain mechanisms do not lie only on classical physics, Penrose introduces some (many in truth) concepts from quantum theory to support this argument. Therefore 400 pages (!!!) of the book are used to explaining fundamental quantum ideas needed involved in his theory. This is the main defect (in my opinion) of this book, to many pages are dedicated to physics lessons (starting from Newton’s mechanics!); maybe it’s my fault because I was only interested in the AI aspect of the book.
In conclusion I think that “The Emperor’s New Mind” ideas are interesting and deserve to be read, especially if you’ve read its rival book GEB (though, personally, I still prefer Hofstadter arguments). My suggestion is, if you’re not interested in a 400 pages overview of physics (although good), to skip that part or to read it at a VERY HIGH LEVEL without caring too much about vectors or functions! ”
“Very difficult to read.Skipped most of the chapters involving maths and physics.Post grads in maths and physics can understand but lay person cannot.The book is very compelling for serious students of metaphysics.Penrose believes and rightfully so that human consciousness is not in the field of algorithems and is essentially non alogorithemic.Therefore any attempt to understand human consciousness only in terms of brain anatomy is erroneous.He takes the route of quanum mechanics to bring out the probabilistic scenario and talks about schrodingers cat experiment .In short computers can be better than humans in computational ability but cannot ever have consciousness.There is a school of thought working on Artificial Intelligence who feel otherwise.They say certain experiments have proved that it is difficult to figure out whether responses are from comuters or humans and a day will come when computers can show feelings.Weird and penrose attempts to debunk it with the help of physics and maths which is impossible for most to understand in their present lifetime.
ketan s wrote this review Tuesday, April 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Wish someone like Depak Chopra had written it in simple language.”
“Awesome book; even though Penrose's CQG (Correct Quantum Gravity) theories didnt quite stand the test of logic... and he takes a better approach in his later book 'Shadows of the Mind'.
Conan J F wrote this review Wednesday, June 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If buying; then better to instead buy Shadows of the Mind instead...”“A superb journey into physics, computing and human and machine intelligence; read it, really, you must. ”
Richard H wrote this review Sunday, October 28 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“It has so much in it, you'll never tire of re-reading it n number of times. One of the better scientific prose I've read so far.”
vijayant wrote this review Monday, October 15 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A rigorous critique of the school of thought that thinks that mind is merely matter wired in a specific way. Penrose draws from quantum physics, relativity theory and the frontiers of artificial intelligence research to show that mind can never be reduced to matter. A difficult, densely argued and profound book at every level, from one of the greatest minds of our times. But in the end, Penrose does not explore the obvious implications of the mind-body dualism problem: the problem of God, life after death and the power of mind over matter. Why are scientists so reluctant to take the leap of faith?
mikeneri wrote this review Friday, September 21 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If you are not very conversant with modern physics, you'll find much of the material presented here abstruse and perhaps boring. ”
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