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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
I read the rave reviews but I didn't find the book that interesting
Tres historias biográficas resumen el acelerado avance cientifico desde la física cuántica hasta la inteligencia artificial, mostrando los logros académicos, las desgracias personales y los puntos de inflexión históricos causados por el trabajo de estas personas. La segunda parte es magistral, contada a varias voces nos muestra al personaje principal de este relato, sus matices, sus aciertos y sus demonios. Un trabajo de investigación detallado y una destacada forma de relatarlo.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In another easy 5-star read, Benjamin Labatut brilliantly fills the spaces between fact and fiction, right and wrong.
When We Cease to Understand the World is still one of my best reads to date, so I had insane expectations for The Maniac. I went straight to it, thinking it's gonna be another BANGER, and BANG it did.. it ruined me, rewired my brain chemistry.
The Maniac is another "non-fiction" novel composed of the stories of three great geniuses: Johnny Von Neumann who needs no introduction, Paul Ehrenfest, and David to AI's Goliath, Lee Sedol.
Labatut delivered the stories beautifully and with such urgency, you'd think you were physically there; you're assisting in the creation of the atomic bomb or you're watching the intense match of man vs machine.
The Maniac doesn't stay still, just like the people it was written about — men who made machines to push the world forward, regardless of the implications. And from a personal standpoint, as someone who had been forced to use AI or lose a job, Labatut's writing really did it for me:
"People felt helplessness and fear. It seemed we humans are so weak and fragile. And this victory meant we could still hold our own. As time goes on, it'll probably be very difficult to beat Al. But winning this one time ... it felt like it was enough. One time was enough."
When We Cease to Understand the World is still one of my best reads to date, so I had insane expectations for The Maniac. I went straight to it, thinking it's gonna be another BANGER, and BANG it did.. it ruined me, rewired my brain chemistry.
The Maniac is another "non-fiction" novel composed of the stories of three great geniuses: Johnny Von Neumann who needs no introduction, Paul Ehrenfest, and David to AI's Goliath, Lee Sedol.
Labatut delivered the stories beautifully and with such urgency, you'd think you were physically there; you're assisting in the creation of the atomic bomb or you're watching the intense match of man vs machine.
The Maniac doesn't stay still, just like the people it was written about — men who made machines to push the world forward, regardless of the implications. And from a personal standpoint, as someone who had been forced to use AI or lose a job, Labatut's writing really did it for me:
"People felt helplessness and fear. It seemed we humans are so weak and fragile. And this victory meant we could still hold our own. As time goes on, it'll probably be very difficult to beat Al. But winning this one time ... it felt like it was enough. One time was enough."
Fascinating. Von Neumann. He lived a short life, which he wrung the absolute most out of. Brighter perhaps than Einstein. More influential to computers than Turing.
I have mixed feelings about him, though. Admiration, sadness, and disgust. It's so often that the brightest minds are the most tortured. At the same time, with greatness comes power, and too often, it's abused, which is the case with John.
Mmm. The prices we pay for progress.
I have mixed feelings about him, though. Admiration, sadness, and disgust. It's so often that the brightest minds are the most tortured. At the same time, with greatness comes power, and too often, it's abused, which is the case with John.
Mmm. The prices we pay for progress.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
While not as mind boggling at his last book, The Maniac is nevertheless a poetic and deeply strange attempt to bring science and technology to literature, to understand the people and ideas behind the nearly maniacal creations of the twentieth century. A mesmerizing read.
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes