

Kurzweil's new book: How to Create a Mind - aespinoza
http://howtocreateamind.com/

======
jere
>He describes his new theory of how the neocortex (the thinking part of the
brain) works: as a self-organizing hierarchical system of pattern recognizers.

So is this _On Intelligence 2_?

I'm glad he's figured out how the brain works. He's going to need it to solve
the turing test in less than 17 years: <http://longbets.org/1/>

On a serious note, if you're going to have a "Videos" page on your new book's
website, you need to have more than 2 videos (3 and 6 years old). If your
argument is that technology is progressing at an exponential rate (which I
find stupid, but let's take it at face value), then two videos from several
years ago are probably worthless by now.

~~~
nooneelse
It can't just be pattern recognizers at every level of the hierarchy of
abstraction/organization anyway. I mean, eventually, after I process inputs
and come to understandings of them, I also produce patterns, sequence them,
compare them, prune them, and occasionally produce them as outputs. Unless
that phrase "of pattern recognizers" is supposed to be labeling only the
lowest level of building blocks that go into the self-organizing hierarchical
system, in which case, it is much like saying a jet-engine is just atoms
arraigned somehow... not a very complete explanation.

Also, self-organized? I know the way he meant it. But it irks me, considering
all the structured inputs that a child gets, training material for the
programming of neural connections, different at various stages of mental
development, tailored toward particular chosen outcomes using centuries to
eons of human experience on building minds in young brain matter. A modern
person's mind is also quite constructed by, if one is lucky, one's good
parents/family and cultural environment.

I know, I know, I'm picking on a promo-speak blurb, there no doubt better ways
for me to have spent this time.

------
thesash
Every time I hear about the inevitability of the singularity, all I can think
about is what a precariously balanced collection of hacks actual computer
programs are at their core, and how far off that is from true intelligence. Am
I just pessimistic or are we a complete paradigm shift or two away of even
getting close to true AI?

~~~
danbmil99
I would argue that evolution overall often looks like a "precariously balanced
collection of hacks". So, it would be irrational to expect evolution's
solution to the problem of intelligence to be any different.

~~~
Zimahl
Evolution may seem like a "precariously balanced collection of hacks" but it
takes a long time. As an analogy, the singularity is so far off because our
current computing power is essentially invertebrate multi-celled organisms.
Computers still need a backbone, get out of the oceans, and breathe air - and
this is long before they can store a human existence.

Kurzweil seems to think it's close out of _hope_. I think he's just insanely
afraid of dying.

------
brainid
While I look forward to reading this book, I recommend interested people
balance it somewhat with one of the books by Uttal. Neural Theories of Mind
and The New Phrenology are both good reads that raise theoretical and
practical hurdles to reverse engineering brains.

------
flurie
Obvious differences aside, there's something about the presentation of this
(e.g., "the secret of human thought revealed") that reminds me of Deepak
Chopra.

~~~
jere
Well, Kurzweil _did_ write a book called _Age of the Spiritual Machines._ And
he does think he's going to be able to live forever and essentially
reconstruct his dead father. And he does take 150 (previously 250) supplements
and 10 glasses of alkaline water per day. And he did write a nutrition book
about avoiding fat, particularly butter, organ meats, and eggs.

So I'd say there's more than a passing resemblance to the master of woo
himself.

~~~
batista
> _And he does think he's going to be able to live forever and essentially
> reconstruct his dead father. And he does take 150 (previously 250)
> supplements and 10 glasses of alkaline water per day. And he did write a
> nutrition book about avoiding fat, particularly butter, organ meats, and
> eggs._

Yes, and Michael Jackson avoided germs at all costs, and slept in oxygen
tanks. I wonder how that worked out...

------
Numberwang
It's sad this crank gets support from so many influential people. I guess
since the death of science journalism they embrace whatever is out there.

~~~
maeon3
This crank is 3 or 4 orders of magnitude more accomplished than you!

<http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil#section_1>

Stop insulting yourself.

~~~
Numberwang
Ironically the kind of measurement he would appreciate as sound science.

------
eckyptang
I keep trying to read the singularity is near. It just feels like a a drag so
it gets put down. So much repetition and irrelevance, diversions etc. I hope
his writing has improved.

------
donjigweed
[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/02/13/singularitaria...](http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/02/13/singularitarianism/)

