The Emperor's New Mind
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The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics is a 1989 book by mathematical physicist Roger Penrose.
Penrose presents the argument that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled by a conventional Turing machine-type of digital computer. Penrose hypothesizes that quantum mechanics plays an essential role in the understanding of human consciousness. The collapse of the quantum wavefunction is seen as playing an important role in brain function.
The English version of the book is 602 pages long. The majority of the book is spent reviewing, for the scientifically-minded layreader, a plethora of interrelated subjects such as Newtonian physics, special and general relativity, the philosophy and limitations of mathematics, quantum physics, cosmology, and the nature of time. Penrose intermittently describes how each of these bears on his developing theme: that consciousness is not "algorithmic". Only the later portions of the book address the thesis directly, and Penrose admits that his ideas on the nature of consciousness are quite speculative.
The book does not discuss the implications of quantum computers for his theory of consciousness, as it somewhat predated developments in the field of quantum computation. Following the publication of this book, Penrose began to collaborate with Stuart Hameroff on a biological analog to quantum computation involving microtubules, which became the foundation for his subsequent book, .
Penrose won the Aventis prize in 1990 for this book.
See also
- The Emperor's New Clothes, the 19th century fairy tale which inspired the book's title
- , a 2004 book by Penrose
- Quantum mind
- Alan Turing, creator of the Turing test
- Raymond Smullyan (Is God a Taoist?; An Epistemological Nightmare)
External links
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