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A review by nrt43
The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku
Did not finish book.
Fascinating read. Much, honestly, was disturbing, and I couldn't help but question the veracity of his claims. I can't tell you how many times he references some sci-fi novel or movie to simply say, "This is going to happen." Basically all of them will happen. Of note, all the examples he gave, however, do have current proto-types.
The future is going to be something way outside my comfort zone right now. This I'm sure. However, as Yuval Harari has said, "If someone describes the future and it sounds like a science fiction novel, they're probably wrong. But if someone describes the future and it does not sound like a science fiction novel, they're definitely wrong." I believe he's right. And I believe some of Michio Kaku's predictions will come to fruition. Nevertheless, it can't all.
All that being said, his description of consciousness (from a theoretical physicist's perspective) was profound. In short, consciousness is feedback loops of varying complexity. A "level zero, one feedback loop" (aka the lowest level) of consciousness would be a thermostat, which responds to temperature alone. A plant would be maybe a level zero, 5 or 10 - responding to sunlight, water, gravity, etc. Reptiles would be level 1. Mammals would be a level two because they respond more to each other and then determine how others would respond to each other. Humans are different from the rest of conscious beings because we can conceptualize time and space. Fascinating. And helpful. Best part of the book for me.
That being said, I didn't finish it. Made it about 2/3rd of the way through it. Too many other great books...
The future is going to be something way outside my comfort zone right now. This I'm sure. However, as Yuval Harari has said, "If someone describes the future and it sounds like a science fiction novel, they're probably wrong. But if someone describes the future and it does not sound like a science fiction novel, they're definitely wrong." I believe he's right. And I believe some of Michio Kaku's predictions will come to fruition. Nevertheless, it can't all.
All that being said, his description of consciousness (from a theoretical physicist's perspective) was profound. In short, consciousness is feedback loops of varying complexity. A "level zero, one feedback loop" (aka the lowest level) of consciousness would be a thermostat, which responds to temperature alone. A plant would be maybe a level zero, 5 or 10 - responding to sunlight, water, gravity, etc. Reptiles would be level 1. Mammals would be a level two because they respond more to each other and then determine how others would respond to each other. Humans are different from the rest of conscious beings because we can conceptualize time and space. Fascinating. And helpful. Best part of the book for me.
That being said, I didn't finish it. Made it about 2/3rd of the way through it. Too many other great books...