Showing papers by "Roger Penrose published in 1994"

Shadows of the Mind

Abstract: This book attempts to take a firm grip on a corner of the slippery issue of consciousness. It is directly related to Roger Penrose's earlier, hugely successful work, The Emperor's New Mind. Although much space is devoted to painstaking replies to the criticisms made of the earlier book, this is not simply a sequel. It contains a number of new ideas, some of which are still being actively debated seven years after the book was first published.

Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness

Abstract: From the Publisher: A New York Times bestseller when it appeared in 1989, Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind was universally hailed as a marvelous survey of modern physics as well as a brilliant reflection on the human mind, offering a new perspective on the scientific landscape and a visionary glimpse of the possible future of science. Now, in Shadows of the Mind, Penrose offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artificial intelligence. But perhaps more important, in this volume he points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind. Penrose contends that some aspects of the human mind lie beyond computation. This is not a religious argument (that the mind is something other than physical) nor is it based on the brain's vast complexity (the weather is immensely complex, says Penrose, but it is still a computable thing, at least in theory). Instead, he provides powerful arguments to support his conclusion that there is something in the conscious activity of the brain that transcends computation - and will find no explanation in terms of present-day science. To illuminate what he believes this "something" might be, and to suggest where a new physics must proceed so that we may understand it, Penrose cuts a wide swathe through modern science, providing penetrating looks at everything from Turing computability and Godel's incompleteness, via Schrodinger's Cat and the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-testing problem, to detailed microbiology. Of particular interest is Penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in The Emperor's New Mind, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet. But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in Shadows of the Mind is Penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying dee

On the second law of thermodynamics

Abstract: The second law of thermodynamics has two distinct aspects to its foundations. The first concerns the question of why entropy goes up in the future, and the second, of why it goes down in the past. Statistical physicists tend to be more concerned with the first question and with careful considerations of definition and mathematical detail. The second question is of quite a different nature; it leads into areas of cosmology and quantum gravity, where the mathematical and physical issues are ill understood.

Shadows of the mind. A search for the missing science of consciousness

Abstract: From the Publisher: A New York Times bestseller when it appeared in 1989, Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind was universally hailed as a marvelous survey of modern physics as well as a brilliant reflection on the human mind, offering a new perspective on the scientific landscape and a visionary glimpse of the possible future of science Now, in Shadows of the Mind, Penrose offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artificial intelligence But perhaps more important, in this volume he points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind Penrose contends that some aspects of the human mind lie beyond computation This is not a religious argument (that the mind is something other than physical) nor is it based on the brain's vast complexity (the weather is immensely complex, says Penrose, but it is still a computable thing, at least in theory) Instead, he provides powerful arguments to support his conclusion that there is something in the conscious activity of the brain that transcends computation - and will find no explanation in terms of present-day science To illuminate what he believes this "something" might be, and to suggest where a new physics must proceed so that we may understand it, Penrose cuts a wide swathe through modern science, providing penetrating looks at everything from Turing computability and Godel's incompleteness, via Schrodinger's Cat and the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-testing problem, to detailed microbiology Of particular interest is Penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in The Emperor's New Mind, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in Shadows of the Mind is Penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying dee

Is Conscious Awareness Consistent with Space-Time Descriptions?

Abstract: It is a fact of nature that certain objects inhabiting this physical world are capable of evoking conscious awareness. Among such objects are healthy living human brains (at least when attached to human bodies). We do not know what other physical systems might be capable of this feat. There is a point of view which asserts that a sufficiently powerful computer, suitably programmed, could also evoke awareness. Indeed, it is not infrequently maintained that this conclusion would be a necessary implication of any completely scientific viewpoint. It is argued that the brain’s function is simply “information processing” — the activity that computers also indulge in, sometimes very much more effectively than human brains. Although there are many activities in which the brain remains a more effective instrument than any computer system constructed to date, it is only a matter of time — so the argument runs -before computers will vastly exceed the capabilities of brains in all significant respects. Of course, opinions might differ widely as to the timescales involved. Some say that we shall be superseded in less than forty years (cf. Moravec 1988), whilst others argue that it will be many centuries, perhaps even millenia, before computers will overtake us, though eventually they must do so — if we do not destroy ourselves first!