Read Are You a Machine? The Brain the Mind And What It Means to Be Human Eliezer J Sternberg Shannon Balke 9781591024835 Books
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Right now, someone in an artificial intelligence lab is fusing silicon circuitry in an attempt to engineer the human mind. In a hospital, a neurosurgeon is attempting to influence a patient’s emotions by firing electrical impulses into his brain. In a classroom, a teacher is explaining how neurons in the brain interact to generate thoughts, feelings, and decisions.
The question of where consciousness comes from and how it works is likely the greatest mystery we face. Despite progress in our knowledge of the brain, we still don’t know how it allows us to do things like enjoy a sunset, solve a math problem, or use our imagination. For those of us who have ever thought about issues of the mind or free will, these developments pose provocative questions.
What would happen if those mysterious processes could be understood? Would a scientist be able to know everything about our minds just from studying the systems in our brains? Could he predict how we will think and act? After all, the brain is an organ just like the heart or stomach, and scientists can figure out when the heart will beat and when the stomach will release bile. If such a thing could be accomplished, would that make me a machine?
There are those who approach this question from a technological perspective. Someday, an engineer might be able to build a robot with my memories, opinions, and behavior. Would that make me a machine?
This concise, lucid primer on neuroscience and philosophy of mind takes the reader to the very depths of the mystery of consciousness, exploring it through the eyes of key philosophers, neuroscientists, and technologists. Avoiding jargon and oversimplification, author Eliezer J. Sternberg illuminates baffling questions of the brain, mind, and what it means to be human.
Read Are You a Machine? The Brain the Mind And What It Means to Be Human Eliezer J Sternberg Shannon Balke 9781591024835 Books
"Could we ever construct a robot with consciousness? If so, does that mean that we--all human beings--are machines? If not, what is it about a human being that could not be replicated by a machine?
These are the questions that are addressed in this book, and in a really gripping way. The book is structured so that it feels like one long, interesting discussion between experts in the fields of neuroscience, philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence and others.
Filled with illustrative examples, the book draws you into every concept immediately and doesn't let go. At points, I felt that it read like a novel that I couldn't put down. I haven't read many books on this topic, so the questions raised in the book really took me by storm and got me thinking about things like consciousness and free will in radically new ways. It's a really cool book. I definitely recommend it."
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Are You a Machine? The Brain the Mind And What It Means to Be Human Eliezer J Sternberg Shannon Balke 9781591024835 Books Reviews :
Are You a Machine? The Brain the Mind And What It Means to Be Human Eliezer J Sternberg Shannon Balke 9781591024835 Books Reviews
- In "Are You a Machine? The Brain, the Mind, and What It Means to Be Human," Eliezer Sternberg explores what it means to be a human versus what it means to be a machine. He introduces views of various philosophers on the concept of consciousness, the distinguishing factor between humans and machines. Although I found the book to be an extremely interesting read about the philosophy of consciousness, I was disappointed in how little the author actually discussed science of the brain. As state in the title, I expected the book to focus equally on the three topics (1) the brain, (2) the mind, and (3) what it means to be human. As I progressed through the book however, I found that the several theories that the author discussed lacked any consideration for scientific data because they were mainly philosophical theories. As a student of both Science and Engineering, I found it extremely hard to take some of these theories seriously because they were based on the assumptions that seemed impractical, and at times silly.
The book is composed of fifteen short chapters, each that starts with a scene from the author's life or a hypothetical situation. He uses the events or actions in this scene in the rest of the chapter to discuss, prove or disprove a theory of interest. Each individual chapter is well structured and cohesive, and it is easy to comprehend because the writing is in layman's terms. Although initially the book seems haphazardly organized, a closer look at the structure of the book shows that the author's organization is justified and comprehensible. While reading the book, it seemed to me that one chapter did not smoothly transition to the next. For example, the first chapter defines a "machine," but the second chapter jumps to the definition of consciousness without any true transition. At the completion of the book, however, the structure of the book is understood. The author starts the book by define the terms, machine (chapter 1) and consciousness (chapter 2), that he spends most of the book discussing. Next, he introduces the long lasting question of the relationship between body and mind, and some theories as to how philosophers have approached it until now (chapter 3). Next, he discusses how the how the brain might be connected to consciousness (chapter 4-5). The next major portion of the book contains various discussions on how consciousness could or could not exist in machines (chapter 6-9). The following chapters discuss what it means to be a human (chapters 10-14), and he ends the book with suggesting his own theory that combines portions of several theories presented in the book (chapter 15).
The book mainly focused on the many different philosophical ideologies on consciousness. Because the entire book is an attempt to provide answers to the question "are you a machine?", the author develops a working definition of a machine in the beginning that he uses though out the book. He states that a machine is "a system of interacting physical parts that operates according to a set of formal rules to accomplish a task" (page 28). With this definition, he begins the quest of determining if humans are machines. Immediately, he is encounters an obstacle, the existence of consciousness, in answering the question that humans are machines. Because consciousness is the central to the question of "are you a machine?", he defines consciousness as the ability to possess the "powers of language, understanding, experience, perspective, imagination, thinking, the self, intention, free-will, and emotion (page 36)". With these working definitions of a machine and consciousness, Sternberg begins his path for the understanding of what it means to be human.
Sternberg introduces the three major schools of thought on relationship between the body and mind (1) materialism, (2) dualism, and (3) idealism. He provides an extensive overview of both materialism and dualism, but neglects to discuss idealism. Materialism is the belief that consciousness can be completely explained as a physical phenomenon. Dualism is the idea that there are two worlds (physical and mental).Idealism is the belief that everything we perceive in the product of the metal world. He provides examples of how these theories are represented by various philosophers. One of the dualist concepts is the existence of a homunculus which literally means `tiny person,' inside a person who makes all the decisions. He also talks about how the materialists believe that neural circuits are cause the emergence of consciousness. This is the major section in which he introduces neuroscience. He provides a brief overview of the major parts of the brain and neurons. This overview is less than elementary at best.
Later on in the book, Sternberg talks about more interesting ideas that include the discussion of whether we are machines. In this section, he introduces several programs that were trying to emulate the humans, such as Deep Blue (chess playing computer), COG (robot that learned from human interactions), ELIZA (program developed to be a virtual therapist), and ALICE (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity). While discussing why these highly complex machines are not considered conscious, the concept of understanding arises. One of my favorite quotes in the book is Marvin Minsky's (Nobel Prize winner and one of the founders of Artificial Intelligence) definition of understanding "Understanding is the connection of one idea to many others and the ability to interpret that idea in many ways" (page 83). As this quote suggests, one of the most important concept in consciousness is "understanding" not only of concepts but also emotions. After talking about several other characteristics that define consciousness, he introduces his own theory. Because that is the main theme of the book, I will not spoil it for those who will by this book.
Overall I found the book to be an interesting overview of all the theories that exist on consciousness and how it applies to machines, artificial intelligence, and robotics. This book is an excellent source for those who would like to get a summary of the debate on consciousness thus far. However, if you are looking for a book that will provide with an in depth analysis of these theories and their implications on what it truly means to be human, I would recommend this book as a great starting place. Not only will this book be a quick and comprehensive overview of what you are looking for, but it also provides further readings that can be done in order to obtain a better understanding of what is discussed. I would recommend this book for all those who are looking for some insight into understanding consciousness, but not for those how are looking for a neuroscience explanation for this phenomenon. - This book really makes the brain understandable. It helps us differentiate ourselves from the animal world too. Highly recommend it to high school age on up.
- Sternberg's book examines the question of what makes us human, and more specifically what makes us different from machines, computers, and artificial intelligence. At a time when people talk about carbon-based intelligence versus silicon-based intelligence at dinner parties in the suburbs, posing this question in a scientific manner is both relevant to our times and much needed.
In particular, Sternberg examines what it means to be conscious-not just awake, but aware and processing our surroundings in a uniquely human way. And, what makes us different from machines. Is it possible that some day scientists could understand enough about the way our brains work to understand how we love, how the creative process begins, and what constitutes joy and despair?
Sternberg poses the fundamental questions What is the difference between our brain, our mind, and our consciousness? What separates us from robots? He brings together science and philosophy and weaves them together in an easily accessible way that draws on biology, neuroscience, and common sense examples to illustrate his points.
Sternberg asks us to consider our consciousness-how much we know about it and how ultimately private and unknowable it is. First, no one can know what we are thinking or imagining until we tell another person. Even then, we can filter out what we want to share from what we want to remain private. We can imagine things that are not tied to the physical world. In our minds we can be greater than Michael Jordan on the basketball court, receive the Nobel Prize or and Academy Award, walk on Mars, or reverse the course of previous actions.
This short book is a fascinating examination of the mind and the brain. It is definitely a book for the layman, and Sternberg offers additional reading suggestions at the end of each chapter.
He raises fascinating questions about who we are, addresses them in vivid ways, and challenges his readers to consider what discovery about consciousness might be just around the corner.
Armchair Interviews says If you're looking for a fascinating book to challenge your thinking about thinking, pick up Are You a Machine? - Could we ever construct a robot with consciousness? If so, does that mean that we--all human beings--are machines? If not, what is it about a human being that could not be replicated by a machine?
These are the questions that are addressed in this book, and in a really gripping way. The book is structured so that it feels like one long, interesting discussion between experts in the fields of neuroscience, philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence and others.
Filled with illustrative examples, the book draws you into every concept immediately and doesn't let go. At points, I felt that it read like a novel that I couldn't put down. I haven't read many books on this topic, so the questions raised in the book really took me by storm and got me thinking about things like consciousness and free will in radically new ways. It's a really cool book. I definitely recommend it. - Eliezer Sternberg's "Are You a Machine?" provides a simple, short introduction to many contemporary ideas and discoveries related to the philosophy of mind and cognitive neuroscience. He provides a gentle overview of the ongoing debates swirling around consciousness, artificial intelligence, and robotics and introduces the audience to many of the thinkers in these areas including Cynthia Breazeal, Rod Brooks, David Chalmers, Hubert Dreyfuss, Ray Kurzweil, Doug Lenat, Marvin Minsky, John Searle, Alan Turing, Joseph Weizenbaum, and others. At times, this thin volume comes across a little sketchy. Apparently, Eliezer wrote this as a student at Brandeis. He shows considerable promise.
