The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and the Laws of Physics Paperback – 17 May 1999

Awesome! First of all I want to say that lesser moral like us can't have that kind of intellect to write anything about the auhor! He(author) is GOD's wonderful creation!

I had a search on mind and consciousness since 15 years.

A book not for time pass...!! Its requires serious reading to be able to pick the depths to which the author moves...!!

The book is meant for people who have a good understanding of mathematics. This book is not for the faint hearted (like me). So the 3 stars (maybe i should give more?)

The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose is a challenging and thought-provoking book that attempts to reconcile the laws of physics with the existence of human consciousness. Penrose argues that consciousness is non-algorithmic, meaning that it cannot be fully explained by a Turing machine, which is a theoretical model of computation that is capable of simulating any algorithm. He proposes that consciousness arises from quantum effects in the brain, and that these effects are not deterministic.Penrose's book has been met with both praise and criticism from physicists and philosophers. Some have argued that his arguments are flawed, while others have found them to be stimulating and insightful. Ultimately, the book is a valuable contribution to the debate about the nature of consciousness, and it is sure to continue to be discussed and debated for many years to come.From a physicist's point of view, Penrose's book is a tour de force. He weaves together complex ideas from physics, mathematics, and philosophy in a way that is both accessible and engaging. His arguments are well-reasoned and supported by evidence, and he does not shy away from challenging the status quo.One of the most interesting aspects of Penrose's book is his discussion of quantum mechanics. He argues that quantum mechanics is not fully deterministic, and that this non-determinism is essential for the existence of consciousness. This is a controversial claim, but it is one that has been gaining support in recent years.Overall, The Emperor's New Mind is a landmark book that has had a profound impact on the way we think about consciousness. It is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the nature of mind and the relationship between physics and consciousness.

Great book from a great mind. To read. To learn. To think.Penrose is my favourite mathematician/physicist/philosopher.

Référence au fameux conte d‘Andersen, celui dans lequel un souverain, se croyant paré des étoffes les plus raffinées et à l‘avant-garde de la mode déambule en réalité en tenue d‘Adam devant ses courtisans médusés, le titre du livre du professeur Penrose ne laisse d’emblée aucun doute sur la thèse qu‘il y défendra : l‘intelligence artificielle n‘est en réalité …qu’artifice .C‘était déjà une position dissidente en 1989 et elle semble l’être encore davantage aujourd’hui.Cependant le fait que l’on parle 30 ans après davantage d‘humain augmenté et de transhumanisme que d‘ intelligence artificielle „forte“ ne témoigne t-il pas d‘une certaine évolution quant aux prétentions démiurgiques de nos savants?Allons droit au but: ce livre est essentiel à la culture personnelle de tout lecteur fusse-t’il même, comme votre serviteur, allergique aux équations et raisonnements scientifiques.La question résolue d‘avance par l’intitulé n‘est que prétexte à un tour d‘horizon des grands concepts mathématiques physiques et philosophiques des deux siècles passés.Tout y est exprimé en termes simples et concis, accessibles même au littéraire égaré qui éludera sans complexe (et sans perte de sens) les passages trop matheux.Précisons cependant qu‘il s‘agit d‘une lecture exigente et de longue haleine, mais le jeu en vaut la chandelle .

Très bien

As a junior Ph.D. student who hopes to have a career in the research of artificial intelligence (machine learning or deep learning more precisely), I was reading this book as a touch on the opposite of the belief that intelligence is achievable by machines. Apart from several of his dramatic tones towards mocking A.I. (what was that story in the pro- and epi-logue about?), this book has been a very enjoyable experience for me.Roger Penrose is definitely one scientist that holds a very strong opinion on this opposite, and I do have to say that he is undoubtedly good at explaining his arguments. This book did a good job at disseminating a set of fundamental ideas from a physics perspective in relation to some very philosophical and mathematical issues. From my reading, there are two streams of ideas in the book. The first one is from mathematics, including the introduction of algorithms, Turing machines and logical proof systems. The second one is from physics, from classical mechanics to relativity and quantum mechanics and beyond. The interaction of these two streams by itself is worth reading by anyone who is pondering on the fundamental doubts of the mind, intelligence and conciousness.From the first stream, the book’s main argument rests on the Turing halting problem and Gödel’s incompleteness theorems. From these theorems, he argues that machines could not be like humans since it could not know the truthness of these self-referencing statements. I am not yet convinced by this seemingly sound argument, because it rests on the fact that there is certain statement about the system itself that it could not know true or false. We humans could perceive that these incomplete statements are true, because we are not these systems therefore they are not self-referencing statements for ourselves. We do not have an answer to whether we ourselves are free from these incomplete limitations, since if we had the answer it would violate the incompleteness theorems. Who knows, maybe some aliens would think of us as no difference from we think of the machines, and apply a form of Cantor’s diagonalization to say that “look, humans cannot have mind because they cannot understand these true statements that are obvious to us”! As a result, the presumption that humans are free from incompleteness is one most ridiculous hidden idea in the book.In the second stream, the book became much more constructive. It is a great journey to explore the searching of an explanation for the mind through the vast space of knowledge in physics. However, throughout the arguments, the ideas could only belong to a set of speculations. This is not a surprise since he argues for the necessity of a correct quantum gravity (CQG) theory to explain the human mind, which should ultimately unify quantum mechanics and general relativity under a single mathematical framework. It is the fact that no such theory yet exists that shakes down many of his arguments and made them merely speculations. As a result, this book in my opinion does a very bad job at opposing artificial intelligence in both streams.In general, the book is still very much enjoyable just because it contains a grand set of fundamental knowledge. It is particularly so reading from a critic point of view. Roger Penrose also has two later books in the same string of thought, which undoubtedly may explain his ideas better and may resolve some of this book’s issues. I am looking forward to reading them as valuable thought excercises, but may be after a few books from some other human endeavors.