On Intelligence
From the inventor of the PalmPilot and the bestselling author of A Thousand Brains comes a compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines.
Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intelligence itself.
Hawkins develops a powerful theory of how the human brain works, explaining why computers are not intelligent and how, based on this new theory, we can finally build intelligent machines.
The brain is not a computer, but a memory system that stores experiences in a way that reflects the true structure of the world, remembering sequences of events and their nested relationships and making predictions based on those memories. It is this memory-prediction system that forms the basis of intelligence, perception, creativity, and even consciousness.
In an engaging style that will captivate audiences from the merely curious to the professional scientist, Hawkins shows how a clear understanding of how the brain works will make it possible for us to build intelligent machines, in silicon, that will exceed our human ability in surprising ways.
Written with acclaimed science writer Sandra Blakeslee, On Intelligence promises to completely transfigure the possibilities of the technology age. It is a landmark book in its scope and clarity.
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Community Reviews
Review
It's a book introducing the very basics of thinking. Now, I'm not sure what level you need to be at to enjoy this book. On one hand it's super simple and basic and easy to read/listen to if you love this topic. On the other hand it's so basic that it's mostly air. Any biological psychology textbook is endlessly deeper than this. It's basically taking 10% of a biological psychology textbook and making it into a very long philosophical argument.
What I don't get is why I would need an introduction to the fact that the brain has memory and that the future will have some form of AI that we can't predict yet? It's so vague and fluffy that it's just basic stuff people think about at home. This expert doesn't know more about the brain than anyone else in the technology sector. It's not his fault it's just that there is not much to tell besides the basics unless you start talking about experiments which he doesn't do.
At least comparative psychology could have told us more about the brain. Or just any brain scan experiments. What he has to say is either basic stuff like humans having a memory or his 5 layers of neocortex theory. The latter is something new to me but without any visual guide I don't really see how this all looks like. His theory would be endlessly better presented in a short visual YouTube video than in a book. It feels like he is trying to act smart in this book or something. But maybe he is just trying to introduce super focused intellectual laymen to his theories of thinking? Would they fall for this snake oil and think this is really the forefront of psychology? Vague philosophical ideas about neurons is all we know? Not really. This is not just a philosophical topic. It's a research area… for some people.
Conclusion
Personally I didn't really learn anything new from this book. I also didn't quite refresh my knowledge on anything. It's a loose intro to thinking in the brain but it's stuff I don't really think anyone doesn't know already. Who doesn't know the brain uses memory to predict events? And then if he wanted to explain it in a deeper way why doesn't he use clear examples of the instinct failing in real life? Just thinking about how basic but yet complicated this book is makes me irritated. I'm not demanding super deep stuff. I just want something that's not stuff a 6th grade student could think up in a similar way but with less flashy language.
I guess I'm not pro flashy simplified philosophy for the sake of it. I do need something I can actually think about.
I still think it may be a good read for some readers as I have seen some people praise it. But I frankly don't understand it. One thing that's good about it is that it's actually fairly understandable English. Which is not a given for philosophy books. So 2 stars.
It's a book introducing the very basics of thinking. Now, I'm not sure what level you need to be at to enjoy this book. On one hand it's super simple and basic and easy to read/listen to if you love this topic. On the other hand it's so basic that it's mostly air. Any biological psychology textbook is endlessly deeper than this. It's basically taking 10% of a biological psychology textbook and making it into a very long philosophical argument.
What I don't get is why I would need an introduction to the fact that the brain has memory and that the future will have some form of AI that we can't predict yet? It's so vague and fluffy that it's just basic stuff people think about at home. This expert doesn't know more about the brain than anyone else in the technology sector. It's not his fault it's just that there is not much to tell besides the basics unless you start talking about experiments which he doesn't do.
At least comparative psychology could have told us more about the brain. Or just any brain scan experiments. What he has to say is either basic stuff like humans having a memory or his 5 layers of neocortex theory. The latter is something new to me but without any visual guide I don't really see how this all looks like. His theory would be endlessly better presented in a short visual YouTube video than in a book. It feels like he is trying to act smart in this book or something. But maybe he is just trying to introduce super focused intellectual laymen to his theories of thinking? Would they fall for this snake oil and think this is really the forefront of psychology? Vague philosophical ideas about neurons is all we know? Not really. This is not just a philosophical topic. It's a research area… for some people.
Conclusion
Personally I didn't really learn anything new from this book. I also didn't quite refresh my knowledge on anything. It's a loose intro to thinking in the brain but it's stuff I don't really think anyone doesn't know already. Who doesn't know the brain uses memory to predict events? And then if he wanted to explain it in a deeper way why doesn't he use clear examples of the instinct failing in real life? Just thinking about how basic but yet complicated this book is makes me irritated. I'm not demanding super deep stuff. I just want something that's not stuff a 6th grade student could think up in a similar way but with less flashy language.
I guess I'm not pro flashy simplified philosophy for the sake of it. I do need something I can actually think about.
I still think it may be a good read for some readers as I have seen some people praise it. But I frankly don't understand it. One thing that's good about it is that it's actually fairly understandable English. Which is not a given for philosophy books. So 2 stars.
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