Saturday, September 24, 2005

Book of the Week: "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins

Keywords: cognitive science, Jeff Hawkins, artificial intelligence

"Jeff Hawkins, the high-tech success story behind PalmPilots and the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, does a lot of thinking about thinking. In On Intelligence Hawkins juxtaposes his two loves--computers and brains--to examine the real future of artificial intelligence. In doing so, he unites two fields of study that have been moving uneasily toward one another for at least two decades. Most people think that computers are getting smarter, and that maybe someday, they'll be as smart as we humans are. But Hawkins explains why the way we build computers today won't take us down that path. He shows, using nicely accessible examples, that our brains are memory-driven systems that use our five senses and our perception of time, space, and consciousness in a way that's totally unlike the relatively simple structures of even the most complex computer chip. Readers who gobbled up Ray Kurzweil's (The Age of Spiritual Machines and Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open will find more intriguing food for thought here. Hawkins does a good job of outlining current brain research for a general audience, and his enthusiasm for brains is surprisingly contagious."
Source: Amazon.com

Reviews:
On Intelligence

Discuss:
Cognitive Science - tribe.net

Audio:
Jeff Hawkins - STVP Educators Corner

Blogs:
Brain Waves - Corante
CogNews
Cognitive Daily
Mind Hacks
Neurodudes
PsychNotes

Learn:
How Your Brain Works - Howstuffworks
Brain and Cognitive Sciences - MIT OCW

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