Are You a Machine?
Are You a Machine?: The Brain, the Mind, And What It Means to Be Human Eliezer J. Sternberg,
Publisher: Humanity Books
ISBN: 1591024838
DDC: 100
Edition: Paperback; 2007-01-02
Summary:
Foreword by Andreas Teuber, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Brandeis
University Right now, someone in an artificial intelligence lab is
fusing silicon circuitry in an attempt to engineer the human mind. In
a hospital, a neurosurgeon is attempting to influence a patient's
emotions by firing electrical impulses into his brain. In a
classroom, a teacher is explaining how neurons in the brain interact
to generate thoughts, feelings, and decisions. The question of where
consciousness comes from and how it works is likely the greatest
mystery we face. Despite progress in our knowledge of the brain, we
still don't know how it allows us to do things like enjoy a sunset,
solve a math problem, or use our imagination. For those of us who
have ever thought about issues of the mind or free will, these
developments pose provocative questions. What would happen if those
mysterious processes could be understood? Would a scientist be able
to know everything about our minds just from studying the systems in
our brains? Could he predict how we will think and act? After all,
the brain is an organ just like the heart or stomach, and scientists
can figure out when the heart will beat and when the stomach will
release bile. If such a thing could be accomplished, would that make
me a machine? There are those who approach this question from a
technological perspective. Someday, an engineer might be able to
build a robot with my memories, opinions, and behavior. Would that
make me a machine? This concise, lucid primer on neuroscience and
philosophy of mind takes the reader to the very depths of the mystery
of consciousness, exploring it through the eyes of key philosophers,
neuroscientists, and technologists. Avoiding jargon and
oversimplification, author Eliezer J. Sternberg illuminates baffling
questions of the brain, mind, and what it means to be human.
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