In this mind-expanding book, scientific pioneer
Marvin Minsky continues his groundbreaking research, offering a
fascinating new model for how our minds work. He argues persuasively
that emotions, intuitions, and feelings are not distinct things, but
different ways of thinking.
By examining these different forms of mind activity, Minsky says, we
can explain why our thought sometimes takes the form of carefully
reasoned analysis and at other times turns to emotion. He shows how our
minds progress from simple, instinctive kinds of thought to more
complex forms, such as consciousness or self-awareness. And he argues
that because we tend to see our thinking as fragmented, we fail to
appreciate what powerful thinkers we really are. Indeed, says Minsky,
if thinking can be understood as the step-by-step process that it is,
then we can build machines -- artificial intelligences -- that not only
can assist with our thinking by thinking as we do but have the
potential to be as conscious as we are.
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The Emotion Machine
Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the
Human Mind
by Marvin Minsky
Simon & Schuster, 2007
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