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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
At first glance, The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut, a fictional biography of scientist and mathematician John von Neumann was an intimidating (but intriguing) read. But on the page it is a contemplative, beautifully written and captivating tale of the power and burden intelligence carries.
Beginning a prologue focusing on physicist Paul Ehrenfest, Labatut establishes a theme critical to The MANIAC: the weight of knowledge that has world-changing implications (for better or for worse). Told in the third person by an unnamed narrator, this section hit me hard, and immediately establishes the novel's themes.
The next and largest section focuses on von Neumann, whose other-wordly intelligence was both a blessing and a curse. A prodigy in several fields who verged on obsessed, he sought to understand the role of prediction, choice and autonomy in science and mathematics, eventually pioneering AI. Told through the voices of those in his life, we explore his questionable behavior and actions, and see them as more layered and nuanced. This device of the characters (I say characters as Labatut has noted this is a work of fiction, even though they're based on real people) sharing their stream of conscious experience suits this section well and serves as a balance for the scientific, mathematical elements (which are written in a digestible way).
The final section sees von Neumann's work and its implications as AI battles Go champion Lee Sedol. This section delves deep into one man's psychological experience of competing with AI, and the ramifications that come along with that (personal and societal).
As its synopsis notes, The MANIAC is a literary triptych. And like any triptych, there are elements that tie the three parts together. Even as you move forward in the story, you're compelled to look back and forth through time making connections just as you do with artwork made of multiple panels.
The MANIAC is an exciting, relevant and unique book. I recently heard Labatut say that "anything that comes out of a writer is fiction." It's a poignant comment and one that reinforces why unique storytellers are important, and makes The MANIAC stunning and unforgettable.
Beginning a prologue focusing on physicist Paul Ehrenfest, Labatut establishes a theme critical to The MANIAC: the weight of knowledge that has world-changing implications (for better or for worse). Told in the third person by an unnamed narrator, this section hit me hard, and immediately establishes the novel's themes.
The next and largest section focuses on von Neumann, whose other-wordly intelligence was both a blessing and a curse. A prodigy in several fields who verged on obsessed, he sought to understand the role of prediction, choice and autonomy in science and mathematics, eventually pioneering AI. Told through the voices of those in his life, we explore his questionable behavior and actions, and see them as more layered and nuanced. This device of the characters (I say characters as Labatut has noted this is a work of fiction, even though they're based on real people) sharing their stream of conscious experience suits this section well and serves as a balance for the scientific, mathematical elements (which are written in a digestible way).
The final section sees von Neumann's work and its implications as AI battles Go champion Lee Sedol. This section delves deep into one man's psychological experience of competing with AI, and the ramifications that come along with that (personal and societal).
As its synopsis notes, The MANIAC is a literary triptych. And like any triptych, there are elements that tie the three parts together. Even as you move forward in the story, you're compelled to look back and forth through time making connections just as you do with artwork made of multiple panels.
The MANIAC is an exciting, relevant and unique book. I recently heard Labatut say that "anything that comes out of a writer is fiction." It's a poignant comment and one that reinforces why unique storytellers are important, and makes The MANIAC stunning and unforgettable.
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
I loved this. Having only a passing familiarity with John von Neumann, so this ended up being a total thriller, especially given that it ended with Go (randomly my 6 year old read that chapter over my shoulder and seemed to enjoy the man vs computer theme). But along the way, it was fascinating to read the (fictional) perspectives from different geniuses who intersected with von Neumann and see their (imagined [?]) reactions to him, and the foreshadowing of the turn he would take (although I wonder how much this really was a turn vs natural development or evolution). I appreciated the concept of the development of uncertainty in the context of rising fascism, and while the author may have laid the parallels to present day on a bit thick, I didn't think it was inappropriate. Having grown up during the Cold War, I'm not familiar with a world that doesn't contain the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, but I appreciated how the author laid out the development. Additionally, having watched Oppenheimer last year, it was fun to see Strauss make appearances here, and to see Teller and understand the consequences of the push for the hydrogen bomb more fully here than was portrayed there.
I think this book had everything I loved about the author's previous work, [b:When We Cease to Understand the World|62069739|When We Cease to Understand the World|Benjamín Labatut|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661332705l/62069739._SX50_.jpg|84341168], and none of the (fictional) parts I didn't. I can't wait to read his next work.
I also enjoyed reading this right after [b:Love, Theoretically|61326735|Love, Theoretically|Ali Hazelwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681476644l/61326735._SY75_.jpg|96703712]!
I think this book had everything I loved about the author's previous work, [b:When We Cease to Understand the World|62069739|When We Cease to Understand the World|Benjamín Labatut|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1661332705l/62069739._SX50_.jpg|84341168], and none of the (fictional) parts I didn't. I can't wait to read his next work.
I also enjoyed reading this right after [b:Love, Theoretically|61326735|Love, Theoretically|Ali Hazelwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681476644l/61326735._SY75_.jpg|96703712]!
The first half of the book, where Labatut describes the mania of dead heroes, is a tough read, it forces you to look at JVN from different perspectives. This is not a history of JVN, this is the life of JVN as it appears with a specific filter placed on it. The mania is obvious, as is the jealousy, pity, and the enormity of the effect of flattery, manipulation and the thrill of godlike power. The aspects of science we don't always talk about. The second half of the book, where alpha Go is spoken of falls flat, because other, better writings exist about the topic, and because the minds and experiences of the people involved are not as vivid, not as dramatic as in the first half. So the book fails to really create the effect it was intended for, to draw parallels between the rise of AI and the rise of the Atomic bomb. The rise of AI is about capturing the public imaginations using great marketing, and humanity's desire to be special meeting the bitter problem. But this is entirely missing from the book.
Rated 4 because the writing is still powerful. Unfortunately it describes the interpersonal aspects of AI much better than the systemic, and the systemic has more appeal to me.
Rated 4 because the writing is still powerful. Unfortunately it describes the interpersonal aspects of AI much better than the systemic, and the systemic has more appeal to me.
What is the meaning of an idea?
There is the thing itself, born in the mind, an association that springs to life as the result of neurons firing, thoughts connected to other thoughts connected to prior knowledge connected to desire connected to the conscious and unconscious, a web of chemical reactions stitched together, constructing a piece of the self, the most intimate piece, which resides in the unknowable part of our identity, built upon language but also on sensory experience, the two things together, sometimes one used to describe the other, silently, in our minds as we name the things we see, as we connect them, as the alchemy of thinking creates a new, unique thought.
It is that, but it is also how we externalize it, how we describe it in the world and, once described, how it is taken up by other minds, perhaps made manifest in some form— an object, an action, a theory, words, language.
It is that, too, but also the result of that externalization in other minds as they collaborate with it, build upon the original, carry it forward, mutate it, replicate it, expand upon it or reduce it to nothing. It can lay dormant, only to be picked up later, it can be everything from an instantly forgotten notion, a mere whim, to the framework of knowledge itself— science, from a single connection between two thoughts to an incalculable network of ideas that generate something powerful and new, a world-shifting ideal, a process for thinking, for quantifying understanding, for building systems of thought that can transform human experience and, thus, history.
Benjamín Labatut’s The MANIAC is a book that explores the tangible, knowable history of the development of modern computational systems and the human beings that helped create them, a stunning piece of writing that is both a historical recounting of how science found itself at the center of the arms race for nuclear supremacy and thus, the story of how an idea was realized in our world, inspiring an entirely new form of computational power.
More at The Back Row Manifesto...
https://backrowmanifesto.substack.com/p/notebook-the-maniac-by-benjamin-labatut
There is the thing itself, born in the mind, an association that springs to life as the result of neurons firing, thoughts connected to other thoughts connected to prior knowledge connected to desire connected to the conscious and unconscious, a web of chemical reactions stitched together, constructing a piece of the self, the most intimate piece, which resides in the unknowable part of our identity, built upon language but also on sensory experience, the two things together, sometimes one used to describe the other, silently, in our minds as we name the things we see, as we connect them, as the alchemy of thinking creates a new, unique thought.
It is that, but it is also how we externalize it, how we describe it in the world and, once described, how it is taken up by other minds, perhaps made manifest in some form— an object, an action, a theory, words, language.
It is that, too, but also the result of that externalization in other minds as they collaborate with it, build upon the original, carry it forward, mutate it, replicate it, expand upon it or reduce it to nothing. It can lay dormant, only to be picked up later, it can be everything from an instantly forgotten notion, a mere whim, to the framework of knowledge itself— science, from a single connection between two thoughts to an incalculable network of ideas that generate something powerful and new, a world-shifting ideal, a process for thinking, for quantifying understanding, for building systems of thought that can transform human experience and, thus, history.
Benjamín Labatut’s The MANIAC is a book that explores the tangible, knowable history of the development of modern computational systems and the human beings that helped create them, a stunning piece of writing that is both a historical recounting of how science found itself at the center of the arms race for nuclear supremacy and thus, the story of how an idea was realized in our world, inspiring an entirely new form of computational power.
More at The Back Row Manifesto...
https://backrowmanifesto.substack.com/p/notebook-the-maniac-by-benjamin-labatut
normally I hate fictionalized science history books but once again Benjamin Labatut kills it
It's a slightly fictional nonfiction biography as cosmic existential horror. Really unique book. Pairs well with the movie Oppenheimer. So philosophically unsettling.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes