{"product_id":"shadows-of-the-mind-a-search-for-the-missing-science-of-consciousness-9780195106466","title":"Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness","description":"A \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller when it appeared in 1989, Roger Penrose's \u003cem\u003eThe Emperor's New Mind\u003c\/em\u003e 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 \u003cem\u003eShadows of the Mind\u003c\/em\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e 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 machines (computers programmed from artificial intelligence) to the implications of Godel's theorem maintaining that conscious thinking must indeed involve ingredients that cannot adequately be stimulated by mere computation. Of particular interest is Penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in \u003cem\u003eThe Emperor's New Mind\u003c\/em\u003e, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet. But perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in \u003cem\u003eShadows of the Mind\u003c\/em\u003e is Penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying deep within the brain's neurons. (He argues that microtubules--not neurons--may indeed be the basic units of the brain, which, if nothing else, would dramatically increase the brain's computational power.) Furthermore, he contends that in consciousness some kind of global quantum state must take place across large areas of the brain, and that it within microtubules that these collective quantum effects are most likely to reside.\u003cbr\u003e For physics to accommodate something that is as foreign to our current physical picture as is the phenomenon of consciousness, we must expect a profound change--one that alters the very underpinnings of our philosophical viewpoint as to the nature of reality. \u003cem\u003eShadows of the Mind\u003c\/em\u003e provides an illuminating look at where these profound changes may take place and what our future understanding of the world may be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-2208245\"\u003eRoger Penrose\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/22\/1996\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.47lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.14w x 0.97d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195106466\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0195106466\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-PHI\"\u003ePhilosophy\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-PHI015000\"\u003eMind \u0026amp; Body\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SCI\"\u003eScience\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SCI074000\"\u003ePhysics | Atomic \u0026amp; Molecular\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-COM\"\u003eComputers\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-COM004000\"\u003eArtificial Intelligence | General\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoger Penrose\u003c\/strong\u003e is the Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematic at the University of Oxford. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Emperor's New Mind\u003c\/em\u003e, which was a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller and was awarded the UK's 1990 COPUS Prize for science writing. In 1988, he received the internationally prestigious Wolf Prize for physics, shared with Stephen Hawking, for their joint contribution to our understanding of the universe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44526429831405,"sku":"9780195106466","price":58.57,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_be80625c-85bb-4177-942a-74f3a202dd57.jpg?v=1701363039","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/es\/products\/shadows-of-the-mind-a-search-for-the-missing-science-of-consciousness-9780195106466","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}