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A review by perilous1
The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku
4.0
3.5 Stars
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
I’ve long enjoyed listening to Michio Kaku speak. In a world where science has sometimes been tainted by celebrity, ego, and political agendas, he’s a refreshingly humble and genuinely curious voice… who also happens to be indisputably brilliant. (This is the first of his books I’ve been able to get a hold of, so please bear that in mind as I give my brief impression—and please understand that I hold Dr. Kaku in the highest respect.)
‘Isn’t Michio Kaku a renowned Theoretical Physicist?’ you may ask. Why yes. Yes, he is.
One might think he’s making a bit of an overreach here in writing outside of his area of expertise. But the fact that this isn’t his own material he’s compiling and presenting, combined with a few points in which the subject matter DOES hold a valid degree of crossover into the realm of physics, makes for a pleasantly palatable and approachably objective experience—at least in this reader’s opinion. (It’s nice to not have to wonder if the author’s views may be affected in some way by the nebulous blinding of hubris… or the gravitational pull of government grant money. >.> Just saying.)
The book is divided into 3 somewhat more manageable parts. Book I: The Mind and the Consciousness, Book II: Mind Over Matter, and Book III: Altered Consciousness.
Questions explored include:
-What is consciousness?
-Is there a difference between the Brain and the Mind?
-Might we one day achieve immortality through technology?
-Is alien intelligence a true possibility?
-How close are we to creating self-aware A.I.?
-Could we eventually ‘download’ skills into our brain?
-Do humans actually have ‘free will’?
I particularly enjoyed the section on A.I. speculation. From this book, I gathered we aren't nearly as far along as I'd always assumed we were in mimicking sentience. It hadn’t occurred to me that one of the more fundamental problems with elevating artificial intelligence is an inability to teach “common sense.” Evaluating and ranking the value of an object or person can be programmed, but only to a certain extent. And manual input will be required when the A.I. is faced with situations in which various ‘values’ may conflict with each other. (I was reminded of a backstory scene from the movie I Robot,’ in which a robot makes a life-or-death decision based on cold statistical probability and inadvertently leaves the main character scarred—both physically and psychologically.)
Overall the information offered in this book is interesting, but pretty basic. Like an amalgamation of things I've already seen on the Discovery Channel or picked up on Reddit. I appreciated that it was so accessible in its presentation, but often longed for a deeper delving into many of the topics. There were also a few points at which the prose took on a bit of a droning cadence—which I found more of a slog than I generally prefer. For what it is, I’m afraid it may have been a bit padded.
I also wanted to note that the word 'probably' keeps coming up... a lot. Almost to the point where one could make a drinking game out of it. (Not that I’m making such a suggestion.) >.> I suppose I was just hoping for a little more certainty. Although I do appreciate that trending theories and speculation, regardless of how probable, were not presented as irrefutable fact. Those who appreciate speculative fiction will likely have more patience for this book than those purely looking for irrefutable truth. As a sci-fi enthusiast, I found a majority of the book stimulating.
Favorite Quotes:
*“It is remarkable that a gigantic, city-size computer is required to simulate a piece of human tissue that weighs three pounds, fits inside your skull, raises your body temperature by only a few degrees, uses twenty watts of power, and needs only a few hamburgers to keep it going.”
*“There is a saying among women scientists who attend highly specialized engineering universities, where the girl-to-guy ratio is decidedly in their favor: “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”
*“Dr. Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, concludes, “Your grades in school, your scores on the SAT, mean less for life success than your capacity to co-operate, your ability to regulate your emotions, your capacity to delay your gratification, and your capacity to focus your attention. Those skills are far more important—all the data indicate—for life success than your IQ or your grades.”
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
I’ve long enjoyed listening to Michio Kaku speak. In a world where science has sometimes been tainted by celebrity, ego, and political agendas, he’s a refreshingly humble and genuinely curious voice… who also happens to be indisputably brilliant. (This is the first of his books I’ve been able to get a hold of, so please bear that in mind as I give my brief impression—and please understand that I hold Dr. Kaku in the highest respect.)
‘Isn’t Michio Kaku a renowned Theoretical Physicist?’ you may ask. Why yes. Yes, he is.
One might think he’s making a bit of an overreach here in writing outside of his area of expertise. But the fact that this isn’t his own material he’s compiling and presenting, combined with a few points in which the subject matter DOES hold a valid degree of crossover into the realm of physics, makes for a pleasantly palatable and approachably objective experience—at least in this reader’s opinion. (It’s nice to not have to wonder if the author’s views may be affected in some way by the nebulous blinding of hubris… or the gravitational pull of government grant money. >.> Just saying.)
The book is divided into 3 somewhat more manageable parts. Book I: The Mind and the Consciousness, Book II: Mind Over Matter, and Book III: Altered Consciousness.
Questions explored include:
-What is consciousness?
-Is there a difference between the Brain and the Mind?
-Might we one day achieve immortality through technology?
-Is alien intelligence a true possibility?
-How close are we to creating self-aware A.I.?
-Could we eventually ‘download’ skills into our brain?
-Do humans actually have ‘free will’?
I particularly enjoyed the section on A.I. speculation. From this book, I gathered we aren't nearly as far along as I'd always assumed we were in mimicking sentience. It hadn’t occurred to me that one of the more fundamental problems with elevating artificial intelligence is an inability to teach “common sense.” Evaluating and ranking the value of an object or person can be programmed, but only to a certain extent. And manual input will be required when the A.I. is faced with situations in which various ‘values’ may conflict with each other. (I was reminded of a backstory scene from the movie I Robot,’ in which a robot makes a life-or-death decision based on cold statistical probability and inadvertently leaves the main character scarred—both physically and psychologically.)
Overall the information offered in this book is interesting, but pretty basic. Like an amalgamation of things I've already seen on the Discovery Channel or picked up on Reddit. I appreciated that it was so accessible in its presentation, but often longed for a deeper delving into many of the topics. There were also a few points at which the prose took on a bit of a droning cadence—which I found more of a slog than I generally prefer. For what it is, I’m afraid it may have been a bit padded.
I also wanted to note that the word 'probably' keeps coming up... a lot. Almost to the point where one could make a drinking game out of it. (Not that I’m making such a suggestion.) >.> I suppose I was just hoping for a little more certainty. Although I do appreciate that trending theories and speculation, regardless of how probable, were not presented as irrefutable fact. Those who appreciate speculative fiction will likely have more patience for this book than those purely looking for irrefutable truth. As a sci-fi enthusiast, I found a majority of the book stimulating.
Favorite Quotes:
*“It is remarkable that a gigantic, city-size computer is required to simulate a piece of human tissue that weighs three pounds, fits inside your skull, raises your body temperature by only a few degrees, uses twenty watts of power, and needs only a few hamburgers to keep it going.”
*“There is a saying among women scientists who attend highly specialized engineering universities, where the girl-to-guy ratio is decidedly in their favor: “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”
*“Dr. Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, concludes, “Your grades in school, your scores on the SAT, mean less for life success than your capacity to co-operate, your ability to regulate your emotions, your capacity to delay your gratification, and your capacity to focus your attention. Those skills are far more important—all the data indicate—for life success than your IQ or your grades.”