What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

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Clinton Huxley
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:21 am

Finished Revenger by Alistair Reynolds. Space pirates, basically. It was OK. He's from Pappa's bailiwick.

In addition to the Black Hole book, I've got Enduring Love by Ian McEwan on the go.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Sean Hayden » Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:43 am

How To Create A Mind is turning out to be good. But it does at this point seem like we're getting more of a how a better AI would work than a how our mind's work i.e. he's hanging a lot of assumptions about our minds on what seems to be little evidence, and the more he goes into the mind the more it really feels like we're still just talking about AI.

But, I don't know anything so it's all exciting as hell. :biggrin:

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:50 am

On Jon Butterworth's A Map Of The Invisible: Journeys Into Particle Physics.

I'm not sure the central conceit, that of a boat journey to Atom Land, Bosonia etc really works. Bit clumsy.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:21 pm

Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark. Artificial intelligence, wild speculation and the entire visible universe converted into computronium. Humans kept in a zoo. If we are lucky.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Sean Hayden » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:55 pm

Wow, I really don't know shit about the mind. :hehe: --How To Create A Mind-- I recommend it. But, I didn't find a research topic. I've still got Chips, Clones, and Living Beyond 100 and The Myth of Mirror Neurons which may yield something.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:31 pm

Just starting No Is Not Enough by Naomi Klein.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Sean Hayden » Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:08 am

That sounds like it might be worth reading.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:10 am

Sean Hayden wrote:That sounds like it might be worth reading.
So far so good.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Svartalf » Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:23 am

has anybody tested the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer? a friend of mine recommends it, but I'm in search of second opinions.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by cronus » Thu Oct 12, 2017 9:14 am

Svartalf wrote:has anybody tested the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer? a friend of mine recommends it, but I'm in search of second opinions.
Read it about twenty years ago when I was going through a phase of heavy books. Nicely written.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Tero » Fri Oct 13, 2017 9:02 pm

Reading Noah Strycker birding adventure. For one year he flew around with a carry on size back pack and binocular around his neck. He relied on locals for scopes and often cars. The binos were the sign for the local contacts to find him on arrival. Many times he had to communicate with just pictures of birds. He scanned a year’s woth of field guides and loaded them to maybe a tablet for the day. Or a phone. All of Europe and N America is on phone apps.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Brian Peacock » Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:33 pm

Take a look at this Sean: http://cogprints.org/7150/1/10.1.1.83.5248.pdf Might be interesting - still regularly cited anyway :dunno:

I haven't read a good bit of fiction for a while now. Probably about a year. Mostly technical stuff these days - currently Vector Math for 3D Computer Graphics by Bradley Kjell.
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Sean Hayden » Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:29 pm

Thanks Brian, I bookmarked cogprints. It's funny, I think his argument supports my own skepticism, and yet I find myself wanting to argue against him in support of strong AI anyway. :lol: Maybe I just like to argue. For example, I think we can at least wonder whether or not he may be granting "understanding" a higher status than is warranted.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:25 pm

Perhaps. The problem, as far as I see it, is with the word 'intelligence' itself. Sure, we can device systems which allow machines to amass data and implement routines according to sets of (degrees of fuzzy) rules, but are such kinds of statistical analysis and pattern-recognition 'intelligence' as we mean it? No, not really. Mostly the concept of 'artificial intelligence' can be encompassed by the term 'automated pattern recognition' in the same way that most Science Fiction can be encompassed by the term 'engineering fantasy'. When machines start desiring to be other than they are, and worrying about how to achieve it, then they'll be intelligent.
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:43 pm

Right, starting on Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

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