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A review by raj_page
How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed by Ray Kurzweil
4.0
I'd picked this book up assuming that it'd be just about artificial intelligence.
But along with AI, it also taught me the biology of a human brain, the definition of consciousness and the philosophy of life.
Read these lines:
True mind reading, therefore, would necessitate not just detecting the activations of the relevant axons in a person’s brain, but examining essentially her entire neocortex with all of its memories to understand these activations
How beautifully and simply, we understand how brain works with just this one line
And how about this?
At the far end of the story of love, a loved one becomes a major part of our neocortex. After decades of being together, a virtual other exists in the neocortex such that we can anticipate every step of what our lover will say and do. Our neocortical patterns are filled with the thoughts and patterns that reflect who they are. When we lose that person, we literally lose part of ourselves. This is not just a metaphor—all of the vast pattern recognizers that are filled with the patterns reflecting the person we love suddenly change their nature. Although they can be considered a precious way to keep that person alive within ourselves, the vast neocortical patterns of a lost loved one turn suddenly from triggers of delight to triggers of mourning.
Tell me if this is not the best definition of love you've ever read.
But along with AI, it also taught me the biology of a human brain, the definition of consciousness and the philosophy of life.
Read these lines:
True mind reading, therefore, would necessitate not just detecting the activations of the relevant axons in a person’s brain, but examining essentially her entire neocortex with all of its memories to understand these activations
How beautifully and simply, we understand how brain works with just this one line
And how about this?
At the far end of the story of love, a loved one becomes a major part of our neocortex. After decades of being together, a virtual other exists in the neocortex such that we can anticipate every step of what our lover will say and do. Our neocortical patterns are filled with the thoughts and patterns that reflect who they are. When we lose that person, we literally lose part of ourselves. This is not just a metaphor—all of the vast pattern recognizers that are filled with the patterns reflecting the person we love suddenly change their nature. Although they can be considered a precious way to keep that person alive within ourselves, the vast neocortical patterns of a lost loved one turn suddenly from triggers of delight to triggers of mourning.
Tell me if this is not the best definition of love you've ever read.