Scan barcode
author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition
2.0
Don't be confused: not brain science. The Tides of Time: uncovering the spectrum of consciousness by computer scientist David Gelertner (61) unfortunately reminded me of How to Live Longer and Feel Better by Linus Pauling and many popular business books. Linus Pauling because his training and fame (Nobel Prize Chemistry 1954) gave him a platform to expound far and wide, beyond to realms of science, sometimes with success (Nobel Peace Prize 1962) and others without (vitamin C advocacy).
And business books? When I was in business school, I was advised that be proper way to read popular business books was introduction, first and last chapter. Scanning what came between was suggested to be optional.
If you are interested in theories of mind and consciousness, and don't mind theories based on introspection and novels, this could be the book for you. In a century where so many are doing hard observational science on this topic, I found this book to be oddly old fashion in the style of the brilliant Freud whom the author takes as one of his inspirations.
For more see: http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-tides-of-mind-by-david-gelertner.html
And business books? When I was in business school, I was advised that be proper way to read popular business books was introduction, first and last chapter. Scanning what came between was suggested to be optional.
If you are interested in theories of mind and consciousness, and don't mind theories based on introspection and novels, this could be the book for you. In a century where so many are doing hard observational science on this topic, I found this book to be oddly old fashion in the style of the brilliant Freud whom the author takes as one of his inspirations.
For more see: http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-tides-of-mind-by-david-gelertner.html
pbokelly's review
4.0
I've been a David Gelernter fan for many years and was impressed by "The Tides of Mind," but it was a challenging read in some respects.
A few excerpts:
"This book is about that spectrum and a new way to understand the mind. This new way incorporates the findings and observations of many thinkers but rests ultimately on the solid, unspectacular bedrock of common sense."
"The scientist explains the origins of the universe with a logical argument. The religious believer tells a story. (When I say “believer,” I mean Jew or Christian—the only religions I know sufficiently to speak of.) Only the logical argument has predictive power. Only the story has normative moral content. Only a fool would pronounce one superior."
"Casual, unconsidered observations are often the most revealing. John von Neumann, the Hungarian Jew who emigrated to the United States in 1930, is often called the greatest mathematician of the twentieth century. The eminent physicist Eugene Wigner said, “Whenever I talked with von Neumann, I always had the impression that only he was fully awake.” The top of the spectrum, after all, is where we find logical (and, a fortiori, mathematical) thinking—and wide-awakeness. A first-rate mathematical genius soars higher in his logical thought than nearly anyone else. In the spectral (or ultraspectral) region of “exceptional logical capacity,” our model predicts that von Neumann would also, simultaneously, be in the region of “exceptional wide-awakeness.” This is a fine prediction, but what does it mean? Can a person be wider than wide-awake? Wigner tells us yes. That was exactly von Neumann."
"Our conscious thought when we dream, as when we are awake, is a rational attempt to make sense of reality. But what is reality? When we sleep, the inner field of consciousness is reality—and presents us with a series of recollections that probably make no sense as a sequence and might each be damaged or distorted. (Damaged or distorted because of the state of our sleeping brains, or the tendency of memory—out of control—to present several recollections superimposed.) In short, it’s not that our thoughts are irrational and bizarre when we dream. Reality is irrational and bizarre! Making sense of this reality is a stiff assignment, but we do our best. We do it by inventing theme-circle narratives—because at the spectrum’s bottom, that is our technique for making sense of the world."
"The philosopher Georges Rey is right in saying that “there is every reason to think that human beings are not ideally designed, but are a hodgepodge of some very arbitrary evolutionary accidents.” Fair enough. Anyone can think of aspects of the human creature he would love to see improved. (Immediately.) But at the same time, Rey and many other mainstream mind thinkers give us the feeling that they don’t quite see the beauty of the mind we have. It is buggy and fragile, and subject to grotesque abuse (as any investigation into good and evil or into freewill reveals). It is delicate, absurdly sensitive—a far more sophisticated design than really made sense under the circumstances. It was a splurge that has gone wrong in the field again and again, in a million ways. Still: how beautiful."
A few excerpts:
"This book is about that spectrum and a new way to understand the mind. This new way incorporates the findings and observations of many thinkers but rests ultimately on the solid, unspectacular bedrock of common sense."
"The scientist explains the origins of the universe with a logical argument. The religious believer tells a story. (When I say “believer,” I mean Jew or Christian—the only religions I know sufficiently to speak of.) Only the logical argument has predictive power. Only the story has normative moral content. Only a fool would pronounce one superior."
"Casual, unconsidered observations are often the most revealing. John von Neumann, the Hungarian Jew who emigrated to the United States in 1930, is often called the greatest mathematician of the twentieth century. The eminent physicist Eugene Wigner said, “Whenever I talked with von Neumann, I always had the impression that only he was fully awake.” The top of the spectrum, after all, is where we find logical (and, a fortiori, mathematical) thinking—and wide-awakeness. A first-rate mathematical genius soars higher in his logical thought than nearly anyone else. In the spectral (or ultraspectral) region of “exceptional logical capacity,” our model predicts that von Neumann would also, simultaneously, be in the region of “exceptional wide-awakeness.” This is a fine prediction, but what does it mean? Can a person be wider than wide-awake? Wigner tells us yes. That was exactly von Neumann."
"Our conscious thought when we dream, as when we are awake, is a rational attempt to make sense of reality. But what is reality? When we sleep, the inner field of consciousness is reality—and presents us with a series of recollections that probably make no sense as a sequence and might each be damaged or distorted. (Damaged or distorted because of the state of our sleeping brains, or the tendency of memory—out of control—to present several recollections superimposed.) In short, it’s not that our thoughts are irrational and bizarre when we dream. Reality is irrational and bizarre! Making sense of this reality is a stiff assignment, but we do our best. We do it by inventing theme-circle narratives—because at the spectrum’s bottom, that is our technique for making sense of the world."
"The philosopher Georges Rey is right in saying that “there is every reason to think that human beings are not ideally designed, but are a hodgepodge of some very arbitrary evolutionary accidents.” Fair enough. Anyone can think of aspects of the human creature he would love to see improved. (Immediately.) But at the same time, Rey and many other mainstream mind thinkers give us the feeling that they don’t quite see the beauty of the mind we have. It is buggy and fragile, and subject to grotesque abuse (as any investigation into good and evil or into freewill reveals). It is delicate, absurdly sensitive—a far more sophisticated design than really made sense under the circumstances. It was a splurge that has gone wrong in the field again and again, in a million ways. Still: how beautiful."
More...