A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence
- Downloads：3806
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-13 09:31:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeff Hawkins
- ISBN：B08VWV2WDK
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Leonardo
，
I would like to thank Net Galley and the author Jeff Hawkins for giving me the opportunity to preview this advance copy。I’ll begin by stating that I admire the author from the standpoint of his industry insight and history in the tech industry from his days at Palm Computing。His topic in this this case offers his view on where brain research and the future of artificial Intelligence and ultimately the survival of the human species and the knowledge it develops is leading。The content contains sci I would like to thank Net Galley and the author Jeff Hawkins for giving me the opportunity to preview this advance copy。I’ll begin by stating that I admire the author from the standpoint of his industry insight and history in the tech industry from his days at Palm Computing。His topic in this this case offers his view on where brain research and the future of artificial Intelligence and ultimately the survival of the human species and the knowledge it develops is leading。The content contains scientific terminology as the subject matter requires， but it is presented in an understandable， readily accessible level that is easy to follow。The ideas the author proposes are opinionated， but he presents them in a manner of trying to open the reader to the possibilities rather than shoving them down your throat。 He admits that he may not be 100% accurate in his forecasts and projections， but his history in this area is rather good so it would be inappropriate to not consider what he has to say。The ideas and story are told in a logical progression that walks the reader through a journey of discovery and insight。 It creates many thought provoking ideas。 Everyone will not agree with what is said， but it will make you think。Overall， a very good book with many thoughtful projections that will give the reader some optimism for the future。 。。。more
Aravind Battaje
，
The first half of the book is a very good read， but the second half can be skipped。I loved the first part， especially because my work is very similar， in the intersection of computer science and neuroscience。 I loved the insights about neocortex， and the Thousand Brains Theory is very convincing， although bordering on being hand-wavy。 Hawkins promptly acknowledges this fact though。 For example， while talking about reference frames， he says "how can I speak confidently about a theory if it hasn't The first half of the book is a very good read， but the second half can be skipped。I loved the first part， especially because my work is very similar， in the intersection of computer science and neuroscience。 I loved the insights about neocortex， and the Thousand Brains Theory is very convincing， although bordering on being hand-wavy。 Hawkins promptly acknowledges this fact though。 For example， while talking about reference frames， he says "how can I speak confidently about a theory if it hasn't been tested experimentally？"。 He justifies that with "constraints" he has observed over the many years， and how reference frames would solve the problem。 It is still a far shot from really understanding the principles of intelligence。 But it serves as a 100，000 feet view。 There is a LOT more work to be done to touch the ground。Another thing to note for the first part: although the treatment is very high-level and lacking technical detail， Hawkins provides a bunch of nice suggested readings in the back。The second and third part of the book get progressively wishy-washy。 In the concluding remarks， Hawkins questions "At one point I debated whether I should end [writing the book] right there [at part 1]"。 I think he really should have。 To me， it feels like he wrote that part just to say， "hey I think of this too"。 It is riddled with obvious thoughts and speculations about machine intelligence， and our purpose in the universe。 You would be better off reading other books on that topic。 Having said all that， I still rate this book 5/5 because the first part is very appealing and I would recommend this to everyone in the intelligence research community。 。。。more
Yates Buckley
，
By no means a perfect book but it is one of the first hypothesis of models for cortical function （in the human brain） that is convincing。 It is by no means complete but a huge step in my opinion， having studied neuronscience just to try to understand what “intelligence” is。The book follows with discussions about existential risk of AI that are insightful， however they miss a context of others that research this area so they are not complete。If the author had submitted his ideas about existential By no means a perfect book but it is one of the first hypothesis of models for cortical function （in the human brain） that is convincing。 It is by no means complete but a huge step in my opinion， having studied neuronscience just to try to understand what “intelligence” is。The book follows with discussions about existential risk of AI that are insightful， however they miss a context of others that research this area so they are not complete。If the author had submitted his ideas about existential risk to other philosophers and risk experts i think he would have discovered that his view， while insightful， is missing the broader context。Nevertheless this is a must read， even as ideas to disagree with。 。。。more
Catalin
，
Brilliant， intriguing and inspiring！If you're at all interested in how our brains work， artificial intelligence and the future of an intelligent species， I totally recommend reading this book。 Brilliant， intriguing and inspiring！If you're at all interested in how our brains work， artificial intelligence and the future of an intelligent species， I totally recommend reading this book。 。。。more
Kunal Sen
，
I have been involved with AI/Machine Learning since late 1970s。 Even though my professional involvement stopped a while ago， I never stopped reading about AI， Cognitive Science， Neuroscience， Consciousness， and many other related fields。 Over the years as my exposure to this area has increased， so did my list of open questions for which I could not get a satisfactory answer。 Looking back， all these annoying gaps and open questions ultimately boil down to one fact – we still don’t have a broad th I have been involved with AI/Machine Learning since late 1970s。 Even though my professional involvement stopped a while ago， I never stopped reading about AI， Cognitive Science， Neuroscience， Consciousness， and many other related fields。 Over the years as my exposure to this area has increased， so did my list of open questions for which I could not get a satisfactory answer。 Looking back， all these annoying gaps and open questions ultimately boil down to one fact – we still don’t have a broad theory of how our brain can produce a mind。 There is a mountain of experimental data， and there are many successful theories of how each small piece work， but there is nothing yet that gives us a broad framework to fit all these pieces together。The situation is similar to where biology was before the introduction of Darwin’s theory of evolution。 We knew a lot about specific animals， their properties and their behavior， how different organs work etc。 Yet， we did not understand the whole system of life， where each of these isolated facts can be tied together。In this ambitious book that’s exactly what the author is trying to do。 He created a basic framework that may explain the underlying architecture of any brain， especially mammalian and more specifically human brain。 It is too early to say if this is the theory we have been waiting for。 However， judging by how many of my accumulated list of questions it could potentially answer gives me tremendous hope that this could the basic seed。 Since there is so much experimental data about the brain already available， it could be easier to confirm or reject this theory without too many new experiments。This theory could not only help us better understand the architecture of the brain but could also allow us to build better AI。 There are many areas of Artificial General Intelligence （AGI） where we have no solution path。 This theory shines a tentative light towards such solutions。Irrespective of whether the theory proves to be correct or not， it is a remarkably thought-provoking book， written in a lucid style that almost anyone should be able to understand。 If you are interested in our brain， and I cannot imagine why anyone would not be， then this is a must read。The final few chapters of the book deal with more speculative areas such as the future of humanity， ultimate preservation of knowledge， whether AI could be an existential threat， and many other similar thoughts。 While each of these chapters are very interesting and thought-provoking on their own， I am not sure if they had a room in this book。 It seemed like a distraction to me， except for the discussion around the question -- what is more important to preserve， our genes or our knowledge？ 。。。more
John Adams
，
Awesome！ I love your writing style， I suggest you join NovelStar’s writing competition this April。
Joseph
，
Old ideas about neural networks + grating self-agrandizement + endless repetition + unrelated musings about culture + unrelated musings about aliens = new book about neural networks？
Ryan
，
Jeff Hawkins and his lab have some really valuable ideas and approaches so I was excited about his new book， but I can’t recommend it， even to readers unfamiliar with Hakwins。 The information available here can be better gained by reading his first book On Intelligence， listening to his interviews with Ginger Campbell， and reading some of his recent papers。 Those sources contain more detailed explanations and a bit less of his ego and condescension。 The first half recaps his bio and On Intellige Jeff Hawkins and his lab have some really valuable ideas and approaches so I was excited about his new book， but I can’t recommend it， even to readers unfamiliar with Hakwins。 The information available here can be better gained by reading his first book On Intelligence， listening to his interviews with Ginger Campbell， and reading some of his recent papers。 Those sources contain more detailed explanations and a bit less of his ego and condescension。 The first half recaps his bio and On Intelligence and adds a short explanation of some new findings， the “thousand brains theory of intelligence” which basically says the neocortex contains large numbers of models working together to resolve inputs。 He does have more specific ideas， but I feel Hawkins fails to convey them in this book。 Hawkins spends the second half musing from a soap box on theoretical topics in religion， memetics， the future of AI， and our extraterrestrial legacy。 You’ll feel spoken down to even if you agree with nearly all of his points。 Read Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens and Homo Deus instead for more thoughtful discussions of these topics on the big picture past and future of humanity。 。。。more
Hachem
，
I just started reading the book。 It seems very interesting and contains a lot of important information。 But I have a question。 In chapter 4: "The brain Reveals Its Secret"， page 46。 when the author explains how a cortical column makes the prediction of next input when a person listens to a melody。 The author says " In each minicolumn， multiple neurons respond to the same input pattern。 They are like the runners on the starting line， all waiting for the same signal。 If their preferred input arriv I just started reading the book。 It seems very interesting and contains a lot of important information。 But I have a question。 In chapter 4: "The brain Reveals Its Secret"， page 46。 when the author explains how a cortical column makes the prediction of next input when a person listens to a melody。 The author says " In each minicolumn， multiple neurons respond to the same input pattern。 They are like the runners on the starting line， all waiting for the same signal。 If their preferred input arrives， they all want to start spiking。 However， if one or more of the neurons are in the predictive state， our theory says， only those neurons spike and the other neurons are inhibited。 Thus， when an input arrives that is unexpected， multiple neurons fire at once。 If the input is predicted， then only the predictive state neurons become active。" How neurons know that the next input is their preferred one？ How they predict the next input after they received it？ For example， if the neuron received A，B， thus the prediction will be C， then this prediction will be compared with the next input to verify if it matches or not。 But what the author wrote is in the reverse order， or probably I miss understood what he means。 Kindly， if someone can explain me the idea， or can please forward this message to the author or if he/she can send me his personal email My email is : ahhachem6@gmail。com 。。。more
Samson Tan
，
Exhilarating and easy to read！
Meghana Potta
，
Reference frames all the way down。I'm on the fence with A Thousand Brains。 Having enjoyed Numenta talks and podcasts surrounding Hawkins's working theory of the neocortex。 Hawkins states that cortical columns create reference frames for each observed object || to spatial learning mediated by the head cells， grid cells， and place cells of the Hippocampus。 These reference frames are not limited to the modeling of physical objects but abstract concepts as well。 Each cortical column spawns a candida Reference frames all the way down。I'm on the fence with A Thousand Brains。 Having enjoyed Numenta talks and podcasts surrounding Hawkins's working theory of the neocortex。 Hawkins states that cortical columns create reference frames for each observed object || to spatial learning mediated by the head cells， grid cells， and place cells of the Hippocampus。 These reference frames are not limited to the modeling of physical objects but abstract concepts as well。 Each cortical column spawns a candidate model to explain the evidence yielding a situation of Democracy in the Brain， justifying the title。 He answers questions such as， Why don’t we consciously feel the prediction of touching a coffee cup？ Why do we have a singular perception when we have thousands of models？ How does this new model sit with the existing Hierarchy of Feature Detectors theory？ I especially enjoyed his take on Thinking as a form of movement。 If everything we know is stored in reference frames then to recall store knowledge we need to activate appropriate locations in the appropriate reference frame。 Where the book falters for me is the latter half。 Hawkins tends to digress quite a bit about the current and future implications of machine intelligence。 I would much rather enjoy hearing more technical details of his working theory。 I'm also unsure how I feel about the line of moral arguments made on the basis of the old vs new brain dichotomy given that there's rising evidence against the Triune Brain Model。 Nonetheless， a fascinating theory that is extremely appealing。 。。。more
Seike Liu
，
The theory of reference frame is amazing， the second part was ok but the last part I just flipped through。Although disappointed and distracted at the end， the content in part one is really fascinating， the model of prediction， the map metaphor， how our brain reaches consensus and how we learned new knowledge and process them， reminds me also a lot of the computer architecture lectures I had。
Terri
，
I love reading about the brain; about neuroscience， consciousness， and emotions， and there are a few books （non-fiction） I have read in this category that have absolutely changed my life。 （At the top of this list is “The Brain That Changes Itself”， by Norman Doidge）。 And I now have another to add to this list - “A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins。While I definitely did not agree with all of the authors suggestions， and found several of them downright terrifying （par I love reading about the brain; about neuroscience， consciousness， and emotions， and there are a few books （non-fiction） I have read in this category that have absolutely changed my life。 （At the top of this list is “The Brain That Changes Itself”， by Norman Doidge）。 And I now have another to add to this list - “A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins。While I definitely did not agree with all of the authors suggestions， and found several of them downright terrifying （particularly in Part Two and Three） this book was mind-blowing in it’s scope， opening my eyes （and my thousand brains） to a whole new way of thinking about intelligence - how it is constructed， modeled and stored in the human brain - and what this new thinking means for future machine intelligence （AI） and its potential and ultimate place in the long term survival of the human race。 Heady stuff。 （Pun intended！）Written in a way that is much more accessible to the lay-person than a typical book on such subjects， the first part of the book describes a new theory on how intelligence is constructed， based on the neocortex （the wrinkled wrapper around the brain， a 2。5 mm layer that is the newest layer of the brain， evolutionally speaking）。 In this theory， Hawkins provides a fascinating look at neurons， the brains nerve cells， and how they are aligned along the neocortex in rows， but more importantly， as far as intelligence is concerned， in columns。 These cortical columns， of which there are about 150，000， are each identically structured with general-purpose cells capable of modeling and manipulating objects or concepts， learning as they go， and using this learning to continuously form predictions。 This is achieved through the use of reference frames， conceptual maps in essence， that are cross-tagged dynamically with thousands of objects as we learn and connect them to form our ongoing mental representation of reality。 Simulations of these cortical-column-based modelers can form the basis for new and evolving forms of machine intelligence， providing the much-needed impetus， Hawkins believes， to fulfill the promise of the exploding field of AI。 This is explored in Part two of this astounding book in some detail， along with Hawkins thoughts on what truly intelligent machines， constructed in this way， （that is， self-learning and independent）， can be used to achieve along with what risks to humankind may be involved in the wide-scale adoption of these super-robotic intelligent beings。 This section is more speculative， less grounded on science and facts， and definitively more controversial， both in its content and its treatment of ethical questions。 There were many areas here that made me cringe， ethically， particularly in the treatment of “consciousness”， including both what it is and what it implies。 For example， - Hawkins determines there is no ethical quandary in turning off a “conscious” robot （assuming such a robot could be constructed） as they would have no feelings， （fear or survival instinct）。 In my mind， extending this premise to other conscious-but-not-feeling creatures leads to some pretty scary ethical decisions。Hawkins closes with a discussion of the old-brain vs new conflict， the long term survival of the human race， human or robotic colonization of other planets， intergalactic communication， and our obligation to preserve knowledge as the legacy of the human race。Phew。 This is a book to devour， think about， sift through the ideas， and take away some nuggets to be pulled out， again and again， to reconsider。 In my case at least， a great many of those nuggets are mind-altering。 A big thank you to NetGalley， the publisher， and the author for an advance review copy of this book。 All thoughts presented here are my own。 。。。more
Mike Lisanke
，
The author sounded pompous throughout the book when speaking about himself， his observations， his background， and his understanding and beliefs。 IMO he makes many assumptions and presumes facts from current theory which is tenuous at best。 The author spends very little time developing his teams theory of 1000 Brains and supporting it with actual evidence。 The author also wonders through many subject areas from neuro-science to artificial intelligence to the policy discussion of mankind （as if an The author sounded pompous throughout the book when speaking about himself， his observations， his background， and his understanding and beliefs。 IMO he makes many assumptions and presumes facts from current theory which is tenuous at best。 The author spends very little time developing his teams theory of 1000 Brains and supporting it with actual evidence。 The author also wonders through many subject areas from neuro-science to artificial intelligence to the policy discussion of mankind （as if anyone today can manage the progress of our species into the future） and into projects like populating and terraforming Mars to long voyages into stellar space with genomic modifications to survive in stasis。 He describes at one point how we should create an archive to back-up our clearly unique （to him） ability to comprehend our universe （assuming we are 1st or only one currently） As if this hasn't been accomplished yet （because he assumes we would have found it by now）。 The number of assumptions the author makes is truly amazing; he reminds me of Elon Musk who has re-introduced ever wild-ass idea in history to wonderous applause of genius （only for us to realize there are very real reasons some things haven't been done yet）。 。。。more
Wolf
，
Excellent！ One of my favorite books！ Very exciting read and quite easy to understand for someone with basically very little prior experience with neuroscience。 The first part is stellar。 The second part as well。 The third part， while much more subjective， does bring up some interesting topics like gene editing and humanity's estate plan。 Overall， this book did a great job with clarity， and I am sure that in due time it will receive the attention it deserves as what is a truly revolutionary and f Excellent！ One of my favorite books！ Very exciting read and quite easy to understand for someone with basically very little prior experience with neuroscience。 The first part is stellar。 The second part as well。 The third part， while much more subjective， does bring up some interesting topics like gene editing and humanity's estate plan。 Overall， this book did a great job with clarity， and I am sure that in due time it will receive the attention it deserves as what is a truly revolutionary and fascinating take on the brain and how we learn。 。。。more
Cem Birler
，
After reading "On Intelligence" I knew that I need to read Jeff Hawkins' new book and unsurprisingly I enjoyed the new book as much as I enjoyed the previous one。 After reading "On Intelligence" I knew that I need to read Jeff Hawkins' new book and unsurprisingly I enjoyed the new book as much as I enjoyed the previous one。 。。。more
Richard Thompson
，
I really liked the Thousand Brain theory of how the mind works -- multiple parallel columns that contain models of the world with different objects/concepts held in reference frames that resolve into a single concept by a voting mechanism。 It rang true， but would have been even more convincing if Mr。 Hawkins had given us a bit more scienctific rigor in describing the basis for his conclusions。 I understand that it is supposed to be a book for a popular audience but he could have dug a little dee I really liked the Thousand Brain theory of how the mind works -- multiple parallel columns that contain models of the world with different objects/concepts held in reference frames that resolve into a single concept by a voting mechanism。 It rang true， but would have been even more convincing if Mr。 Hawkins had given us a bit more scienctific rigor in describing the basis for his conclusions。 I understand that it is supposed to be a book for a popular audience but he could have dug a little deeper without losing most of us。The second two parts of the book were a lot less persuasive and interesting。 The discussion of artificial intelligence in the second part started out promising。 I agree that current deep learning/neural network approaches to artificial intelligence are likely to run into walls that will keep them from moving to a true general artificial intelligence， and I agree that an approach based on Hawkins' Thousand Brains model could yield interesting results。 We should try it。 But I was less good with some of Hawkins's other thoughts about AI。 He was a bit too dismissive about the threat of AI， and I didn't buy some of his arguments for why AI is going to be benign and controllable and maybe not so awesomely smart after all。 Then there was the third part of the book which was just Hawkins' prognostications about the future， which didn't have much to do with his Thousand Brains model and were essentially no better informed than my own guesses about where things are going。 So the end of this book was disappointing。 You can stop at the end of the section on AI。 。。。more
Ron Edwards
，
Wow。 Just great。Jeff has obviously spent a lot of time thinking and learning his craft and us able to convey complex ideas in a masterfully simple way。 I am a lay reader and was worried I would be biting off more than I could chew by venturing into this book。 Not so， it is wonderfully readable。 As a bonus I especially enjoyed Jeff's well thought out arguments on the future of artificial intelligence and our future as a species。 It helped me to clarify in my own mind the sense of frustration I ha Wow。 Just great。Jeff has obviously spent a lot of time thinking and learning his craft and us able to convey complex ideas in a masterfully simple way。 I am a lay reader and was worried I would be biting off more than I could chew by venturing into this book。 Not so， it is wonderfully readable。 As a bonus I especially enjoyed Jeff's well thought out arguments on the future of artificial intelligence and our future as a species。 It helped me to clarify in my own mind the sense of frustration I have always had with dystopia futures。 An excellent read， but more importantly I hope an excellent contribution to those of you bringing our future。 Can't recommend it highly enough。 。。。more
Jamie D。
，
I was particularly interested in how the author explains thinking as movement。 Imagine trying to learn the layout of a house。 You must move from room to room to learn the contents and location of each room。 He argues that this is how are brains work。 I found that fascinating。
Peter O'Kelly
，
Some resources to consider -- reviews:t• https://www。kirkusreviews。com/book-re。。。t• https://www。publishersweekly。com/978-。。。t• https://www。lesswrong。com/posts/ixZLT。。。t• https://www。zdnet。com/article/a-love-。。。t• https://plugaru。org/2021/03/10/a-thou。。。t• https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。Interview:t• https://www。technologyreview。com/2021。。。 Some resources to consider -- reviews:t• https://www。kirkusreviews。com/book-re。。。t• https://www。publishersweekly。com/978-。。。t• https://www。lesswrong。com/posts/ixZLT。。。t• https://www。zdnet。com/article/a-love-。。。t• https://plugaru。org/2021/03/10/a-thou。。。t• https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。Interview:t• https://www。technologyreview。com/2021。。。 。。。more
Max
，
The first third was a neat little intro to neuroscience in general。 Would have been nice for me to read it 10 years ago。 The actual thesis doesn't need a book though。 One chapter would have been sufficient。 Half to two thirds of the book are a weird tangent on existential risk， machine intelligence and extraterrestrial search for life。 I like those topics， but I did not expect the author to cover these topics。 I don't see really why he thought it necessary to put them into this book。What I found The first third was a neat little intro to neuroscience in general。 Would have been nice for me to read it 10 years ago。 The actual thesis doesn't need a book though。 One chapter would have been sufficient。 Half to two thirds of the book are a weird tangent on existential risk， machine intelligence and extraterrestrial search for life。 I like those topics， but I did not expect the author to cover these topics。 I don't see really why he thought it necessary to put them into this book。What I found very disappointing is his argument on existential risk by AI。 It's very handwavy saying it's no biggie。 He is very confident of his rebuttal as he mentions again and again how he showed that there is no reason to worry about AGI。 He does not bother to go into the common arguments of intelligence explosion and other concepts like e。g。 the orthogonality thesis。 The author seems very optimistic that an intelligent agent will have "reasonable" goals。 The same is extrapolated to extraterrestrial life。 Well， the confidence that he signaled made me doubt his other statements that he is so confident about。 A mixed big all in all。 Not worth to read the book wrt the actual thesis。 Nice intro to neuroscience if you need one。 And regarding the future stuff on AI， etc。， there are plenty of better books with more nuanced analyses。 。。。more
Ryan Boissonneault
，
A Thousand Brains offers a new， compelling way to think about intelligence and provides the groundwork for the development of more sophisticated AI。 As an all-encompassing theory of consciousness， however， it falls seriously short。 Check out The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence and the Future of AI for the full review。 A Thousand Brains offers a new， compelling way to think about intelligence and provides the groundwork for the development of more sophisticated AI。 As an all-encompassing theory of consciousness， however， it falls seriously short。 Check out The Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence and the Future of AI for the full review。 。。。more
Flaviu
，
I personally loved it and will most likely keep it on my kindle for regular re-reads of certain chapters， but giving a broad recommendation of it is difficult。Jeff is a very pragmatic thinker。 Some ideas and proposals might not be to everybody's taste。 There's also a slight tinge of nihilism in the last part of the book that will probably turn many readers off。 That being said， if you're in any way fascinated by neuroscience you should definitely give this one a read， but keep an open mind about I personally loved it and will most likely keep it on my kindle for regular re-reads of certain chapters， but giving a broad recommendation of it is difficult。Jeff is a very pragmatic thinker。 Some ideas and proposals might not be to everybody's taste。 There's also a slight tinge of nihilism in the last part of the book that will probably turn many readers off。 That being said， if you're in any way fascinated by neuroscience you should definitely give this one a read， but keep an open mind about it。 。。。more
Philbro
，
Jeff Hawkins has likely solved the "easy" problem of consciousness。 That is， he has likely figured out the algorithm by which the mammalian neocortex operates - the root of intelligence。 By some accounts， this also solves the "hard" problem of consciousness - what consciousness itself is。Let me say this again: Jeff Hawkins has likely solved humanity's longest and greatest philosophical and scientific question。 Thus， if you like books， and I imagine you do， this is arguably the most important boo Jeff Hawkins has likely solved the "easy" problem of consciousness。 That is， he has likely figured out the algorithm by which the mammalian neocortex operates - the root of intelligence。 By some accounts， this also solves the "hard" problem of consciousness - what consciousness itself is。Let me say this again: Jeff Hawkins has likely solved humanity's longest and greatest philosophical and scientific question。 Thus， if you like books， and I imagine you do， this is arguably the most important book written since Darwin's "On the Origin of Species"。The Thousand Brains theory of intelligence - that the neocortex is composed of many thousands of columns of connected neural structures based on older grid and place cells， which create and link together models of the world， and also vote together to construct hierarchically more nested models - is brilliant。 The number of empirical constraints it solves is incredibly satisfying。 Let me cite just three examples。1） What and Where Pathways。 Without getting into details （Hawkins provides some of these in the book and points you to the appropriate papers for detailed background information）， what/where pathways in the brain are explained if "reference frames" attach to objects in the what pathway， but attach to our bodies in the where pathway。 The simplicity is breathtaking and powerful。2） The Binding Problem。 Hawkins has solved the perceptual binding problem。 That is， when cortical columns agree on an object via consensus voting， they will naturally have different sensory inputs， thus they contribute diverse sensory models to a complete perception。3） The neocortex is built atop non-intelligent behavioral primitives。 If the cortex is so powerful， could it one day theoretically operate the human body without the older， non-intelligent parts of the brain？ No。 The Thousand Brains theory shows that the voting process underpinning the power and flexibility of our intelligence comes at the cost of being able to be fooled。 This is a feature not a bug - there is no way to model your environment in realtime without this cost。 The Thousand Brains theory thus makes sense of mysterious empirical studies such as "Size-contrast illusions deceive the eye but not the hand" by Aglioti et al。I hope you're starting to see why this book is so important， and why the Thousand Brains theory is so powerful in its explanatory capacity。 These outstanding puzzle pieces just seem to fall into place。So much for what David Chalmers calls the easy problem of consciousness - how the brain operates。As for Chalmers' hard problem - e。g。 even if we know how the brain works， what even is "redness"？ etc。 - I will only note， Hawkins is a thorough physicalist when it comes to consciousness， such that this and his previous book insist on using the word "intelligence" when one might want to see the word "consciousness"。 Unlike his previous book， Hawkins confronts this notion and dedicates a chapter to it here， in which the hard problem is recognized。 As a physicalist who acknowledges the hard problem myself， I nonetheless find Hawkins' commentary here unsatisfying。 For example， is the qualia of green a cortical map of green experiences with dimensions corresponding to green surface orientations？ I'm not convinced。 However， as Hawkins notes， qualia indeed seem "out there"。 In other words， qualia have the quale of location， an aspect nicely satisfied by reference frames at the core of the Thousand Brains theory。 A theory which， as testified to in the beginning of this review， is brilliant and satisfying in its own right。Even if you consider the hard problem to remain standing after reading A Thousand Brains， it's hard to argue that Hawkins hasn't largely solved the easy problem。 In the end， that may indeed be the harder problem to solve anyway。Read this book。 Your grandchildren will be learning it as brain gospel。 。。。more
Kayleigh Williams
，
3。5Only the first part of this book actually deals with the thousand brain theory， after that the author goes way off tangent， his discussions on AI is still relevant to neurology and thus the book however the entire 3rd section is about aliens and space travel and has nothing to do with the thousand brain theory。Though the theory is interesting I feel like he didn't go nearly in-depth enough， also based on this book all the discoveries Numenta has made have been by him and him alone， at no poin 3。5Only the first part of this book actually deals with the thousand brain theory， after that the author goes way off tangent， his discussions on AI is still relevant to neurology and thus the book however the entire 3rd section is about aliens and space travel and has nothing to do with the thousand brain theory。Though the theory is interesting I feel like he didn't go nearly in-depth enough， also based on this book all the discoveries Numenta has made have been by him and him alone， at no point does he credit his colleagues/employees。 He describes all the ideas being his and his alone as if the 100+ other people who work there have been twiddling their thumbs for the past few decades。 The notion that he is solely responsible for all of the discoveries spoken about in this book （and that they all came to him while he sat in his office staring at a coffee cup） is frankly unrealistic and thus unbelievable。A few specific thoughts:We have goals that aren't based on old brain emotions though - I want to learn Chinese， I want to read this book instead of this book etc。 thus AI could still have some goals， just simple short-term goals“To support my point， consider that the largest loss of indigenous life was not directly inflicted by human invaders， but by introduced diseases—bacteria and viruses for which indigenous people had poor or no defenses” - Humans purposely spread these diseases so actually goes against his argument“It is understandable that people believed in a flat Earth five hundred years ago， because the spherical nature of the planet was not widely understood， and there was little to no evidence that the Earth was not flat” - 500 years ago most people didn't believe the world was flat as there was plenty of evidence to prove it wasn't - the concept that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way round was what was widely believed “fighting over territory， fighting for mating rights， forced copulation， and stealing resources。 All built-in behaviors” - rape is a built in behaviour？？“Some dinosaur species evolved into today’s birds， but most went extinct” - That's still extinction， all dinosaurs went extinct。 If an animal evolves far enough to be classified as a new animal and there are none of the original left that animal is extinct“being lost forever is the same as never existing” - No it's not。 Our lives aren't for future people。 Our existence is not dependent on others remembering us。 We are our own free thinking intelligent beings why is our knowledge of ourself not enough why does our existent only become valid if another says so“If you look at Earth this way， then it doesn’t make sense to try to preserve species or to preserve Earth。 We cannot stop the Earth’s most basic geological features from changing， and we can’t stop species from evolving and going extinct” - then why should we bother trying to stop our species from going extinct？“Every environmentalist would be happy to see the extinction of some living things—say， the poliovirus” - The poliovirus isn't a living thing， no virus is“I want to emphasize again that I am not prescribing what we should do。 My goal is to encourage discussion” - Yet you wrote an entire book that is very biased （at no point does he provide or even entertain the thought of gene survival over knowledge survival） 。。。more
Amit Verma
，
This science book is full of wonderful information。 It focuses on neuroscience specially on neocortex。 It tries to come up with theory of how it works。Its arguments and analogies appear impressive and book is written in such a simple language that everyone can read it。It has very wide reach into realms of science。 It describes brain mind integration， AI， future of mankind， effect of old brain on neocortex， consciousness and all aspects of effects of new theory。book is higly readable and enjoyabl This science book is full of wonderful information。 It focuses on neuroscience specially on neocortex。 It tries to come up with theory of how it works。Its arguments and analogies appear impressive and book is written in such a simple language that everyone can read it。It has very wide reach into realms of science。 It describes brain mind integration， AI， future of mankind， effect of old brain on neocortex， consciousness and all aspects of effects of new theory。book is higly readable and enjoyable and focuses on real situations and practical applications of neuroscience。A great read for science lovers。 。 。。。more
Vitória Fernandes
，
Thanks to NetGalley and basic books for the digital copy of the book for an honest review。The book is divided into 3 parts， and they are: Part 1: A New Understanding of the Brain; Part 2: Machine Intelligence; Part 3: Human Intelligence。 The first part was， by far， my favorite。 In that section the author focus on the a thousand brains theory itself， in a simplified way， which allows people without previous knowledge on the field to understand the basics of the theory。 it left me wanting a little Thanks to NetGalley and basic books for the digital copy of the book for an honest review。The book is divided into 3 parts， and they are: Part 1: A New Understanding of the Brain; Part 2: Machine Intelligence; Part 3: Human Intelligence。 The first part was， by far， my favorite。 In that section the author focus on the a thousand brains theory itself， in a simplified way， which allows people without previous knowledge on the field to understand the basics of the theory。 it left me wanting a little more details about h9ow they got to some conclusions and also more about experiments that corroborate their theory。 There is a suggested readings section in the end of the book to expand on some topics in case you are interested。 I think it would be interesting to reread this book a some years from now to see if what he says in here holds up and stands the test of time。 The second part， which I also enjoyed quite a bit， is about AI and how the a thousand brains theory can help in that field。 I particularly liked the discussion about what consciousness is and what really is an intelligent machine。 i didn't love the third part as much。 It becomes highly speculative， in a non convincing way， even though it brings some interesting discussions， such as what the merger of brain and machine could mean。 If neuroscience and AI are topics that you are interested in then this is worth the read （at least the first 2 parts）。O livro é dividido em 3 partes， sendo elas （em tradução livre）: Parte 1: Um Novo Entendimento do Cérebro; Parte 2: Inteligência de máquinas; Parte 3: Inteligência Humana。 A primeira parte foi， de longe， a minha preferida。 Nesta parte o autor explica a sua "a thousand brains theory" （ou teoria dos mil cérebros， em tradução livre） de forma bem simplificada， o que permite que pessoas que não sejam da área científica consigam compreender。 Me deixou com um gostinho de quero mais sobre alguns detalhes， pois por ser teórico não traz muitos experimentos que comprovem o que supões ser verdade， mas ao final do livro tem sugestões de leituras complementares para aprofundar um pouco nos temas abordados ao longo do livro。 Seria interessante reler o livro daqui uns anos e ver se o que ele propões consegue se manter com o tempo e avanço científico。 Na segunda parte， que também gostei bastante， ele traz um pouco sobre inteligência artificial e como sua teoria pode ser aplicada neste campo。 Gostei principalmente das discussões sobre o que e conciência e o que realmente é inteligência em uma máquina。 Já a terceia parte não me agradou tanto。 Ele soa altamente especulativo e， embora traga algumas discussões interessantes， como a o que poderia acontecer na fusão de cérebros e máquinas， ele não conseguiu me convencer。Se neurociência e inteligência artificial são assustos que te interessam vale a pena a leitura， pelo menos das duas primeiras partes。 。。。more
Keith Martin
，
A Thousand Brains is a mixed bag。 The first half describes Hawkins' theory of how the neocortex works， and there's a great deal there that is appealing。 As a theory， it's relatively simple and self-consistent， and it fits the available data， at least in broad strokes。 The theory operates at an intermediate level of abstraction: it's higher-level than the bottom-up feature analysis of David Marr， and it's lower-level than the top-down Society of Mind of Marvin Minsky。 To borrow a phrase from Sili A Thousand Brains is a mixed bag。 The first half describes Hawkins' theory of how the neocortex works， and there's a great deal there that is appealing。 As a theory， it's relatively simple and self-consistent， and it fits the available data， at least in broad strokes。 The theory operates at an intermediate level of abstraction: it's higher-level than the bottom-up feature analysis of David Marr， and it's lower-level than the top-down Society of Mind of Marvin Minsky。 To borrow a phrase from Silicon Valley， it's a "Middle Out" approach。I'm actually rather offended that Hawkins' never mentions Minsky。 Hawkins practically steals the language of Minsky's Society of Mind （thousand brains， reference frames， etc。）， but neglects to give credit， even in the annotated bibliography （which， let's admit it， is mainly an advertisement for Hawkins' company's papers， where presumably the actual details of this theory can be found）。 It seems like Hawkins either has a massive chip on his shoulder or an over-inflated ego。 This is all very frustrating， because Hawkins' hand-wavy model is probably correct， and the first half of the book is a good read （albeit， very light on technical details）。 Unfortunately， the second half of the book is a waste of time。 Hawkins switches into prognostication mode and makes a bunch of fairly obvious arguments about the implications of machine intelligence。 Anyone interested in these topics should read Yuval Noah Harari -- Homo Deus is a much richer （and better written） examination of the same topics。I recommend the first half of the book to anyone who is interested in how to understand and reproduce human-level intelligence。 But save some time and skip the second half。 。。。more
GONZA
，
The premise is that neuroscience has always interested me， but I am not an expert。 That said， the book is divided into three parts， and the first two （respectively the new theory of a Thousand Brains and its application to AI） seemed to me extremely interesting， scientifically founded and mandatory to continue to deepen in the appropriate places。 Unfortunately in the third part the author has turned into a kind of prophet of doom with some statements that I found unclear and above all unfounded， The premise is that neuroscience has always interested me， but I am not an expert。 That said， the book is divided into three parts， and the first two （respectively the new theory of a Thousand Brains and its application to AI） seemed to me extremely interesting， scientifically founded and mandatory to continue to deepen in the appropriate places。 Unfortunately in the third part the author has turned into a kind of prophet of doom with some statements that I found unclear and above all unfounded， but it is probably a problem due to my global ignorance on the subject。 La premessa d'obbligo é che le neuroscienze mi hanno sempre interessato， ma non sono un'esperta。 Detto questo il libro é diviso in tre parti， e le prime due （rispettivamente la nuova teoria dei 1000 cervelli e la sua applicazione all'AI） mi sono sembrate estremamente interessanti， scientificamente fondate e obbligatoriamente da continuare ad approfondire nei luoghi appositi。 Purtroppo nella terza parte l'autore si é trasformato in una specie di profeta di sventura con delle affermazioni che io ho trovato poco chiare e soprattutto poco fondate， ma appunto， é probabilmente un problema dovuto alla mia ignoranza globale sull'argomento。 THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW！ 。。。more
Jeff
，