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Title details for The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose - Available

The Emperor's New Mind

Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics

by Roger Penrose
Julian Elfer
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
For decades, proponents of artificial intelligence have argued that computers will soon be doing everything that a human mind can do. Admittedly, computers now play chess at the grandmaster level, but do they understand the game as we do? Can a computer eventually do everything a human mind can do?
In this absorbing and frequently contentious book, Roger Penrose puts forward his view that there are some facets of human thinking that can never be emulated by a machine. The book's central concern is what philosophers call the "mind-body problem." Penrose examines what physics and mathematics can tell us about how the mind works, what they can't, and what we need to know to understand the physical processes of consciousness. He is among a growing number of physicists who think Einstein wasn't being stubborn when he said his "little finger" told him that quantum mechanics is incomplete, and he concludes that laws even deeper than quantum mechanics are essential for the operation of a mind. To support this contention, Penrose takes the listener on a dazzling tour that covers such topics as complex numbers, Turing machines, complexity theory, quantum mechanics, formal systems, Godel undecidability, phase spaces, Hilbert spaces, black holes, white holes, Hawking radiation, entropy, quasicrystals, and the structure of the brain.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 15, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781618033321
      • File size: 531395 KB
      • Duration: 18:27:04

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Michael Jackson enlivens a philosophical audiobook that relates our minds to computers, but he gets in a little trouble when pronouncing obscure parts of the brain like "cerebellar gyrus" and "neuronal fasciculi." The sound quality may be too good as it even picks up mouth noises. Jackson's lively attitude combats the lassitude one might feel while delving into topics like probability amplitude, squared moduli, quantum mechanics, and nerve-cell physiology. The distinguished Oxford professor's mathematical formulae as presented in audio format may overwhelm most listeners. Since many of the ideas presented are vague and unprovable, we can see why the author admits in the beginning that his views are unconventional. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 1, 1991
      A physicist who believes that some aspects of the human mind will never be duplicated by artificial intelligence here supports his view with material drawn from quantum mechanics, brain structure and other theories. 75,000 first printing.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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