Synopses & Reviews
Our minds are working all the time, but we rarely stop to think about how they work. The human mind has many different ways to think, says Marvin Minsky, the leading figure in artificial intelligence and computer science. We use these different ways of thinking in different circumstances, and some of them we don't even associate with thinking. For example, emotions, intuitions, and feelings are just other forms of thinking, according to Minsky. In his groundbreaking new work, The Emotion Machine, Minsky shows why we should expand our ideas about thinking and how thinking itself might change in the future.
The Emotion Machine explains how our minds work, how they progress from simple kinds of thought to more complex forms that enable us to reflect on ourselves -- what most people refer to as consciousness, or self-awareness. Unlike other broad theories of the mind, this book proceeds in a step-by-step fashion that draws on detailed and specific examples. It shows that thinking -- even higher-level thinking -- can be broken down into a series of specific actions. From emotional states to goals and attachments and on to consciousness and awareness of self, we can understand the process of thinking in all its intricacy. And once we understand thinking, we can build machines -- artificial intelligences -- that can assist with our thinking, machines that can follow the same thinking patterns that we follow and that can think as we do. These humanlike thinking machines would also be emotion machines -- just as we are.
This is a brilliant book that challenges many ideas about thinking and the mind. It is as insightful and provocative as it is original, the fruit of a lifetime spentthinking about thinking.
Review
"Informative, ingenious and accessible to a general audience." -- Glenn C. Altschuler, andlt;iandgt;The Baltimore Sunandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"Minsky has lots of ideas, and nearly 400 pages can barely contain them." -- William Kowinski, andlt;iandgt;San Francisco cCronicleandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
In this mind-expanding book, scientific pioneer Marvin Minsky continues his groundbreaking research, offering a fascinating new model for how our minds work. He argues persuasively that emotions, intuitions, and feelings are not distinct things, but different ways of thinking. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; By examining these different forms of mind activity, Minsky says, we can explain why our thought sometimes takes the form of carefully reasoned analysis and at other times turns to emotion. He shows how our minds progress from simple, instinctive kinds of thought to more complex forms, such as consciousness or self-awareness. And he argues that because we tend to see our thinking as fragmented, we fail to appreciate what powerful thinkers we really are. Indeed, says Minsky, if thinking can be understood as the step-by-step process that it is, then we can build machines -- artificial intelligences -- that not only can assist with our thinking by thinking as we do but have the potential to be as conscious as we are. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; Eloquently written, andlt;iandgt;The Emotion Machineandlt;/iandgt; is an intriguing look into a future where more powerful artificial intelligences await.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Marvin Minskyandlt;/bandgt; is Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research has led to many advances in artificial intelligence, psychology, physical optics, mathematics, and the theory of computation. He has made major contributions in the domains of computer graphics, knowledge and semantics, machine vision, and machine learning. He has also been involved with technologies for space exploration.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Professor Minsky is one of the pioneers of intelligence-based robotics. He designed and built some of the first mechanical hands with tactile sensors, visual scanners, and their software and interfaces. In 1951 he built the first neural-network learning machine. With John McCarthy he founded the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1959. He has written seminal papers in the fields of artificial intelligence, perception, and language. His book andlt;Iandgt;The Society of Mindandlt;/iandgt; contains hundreds of ideas about the mind, many of which he has further developed in this book.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction
1 Falling In Love
2 Attachments And Goals
3 From Pain To Suffering
4 Consciousness
5 Levels Of Mental Activities
6 Common Sense
7 Thinking
8 Resourcefulness
9 The Self
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index