A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence
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- Create Date：2021-05-13 02:16:04
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：Jeff Hawkins
- ISBN：1541675819
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Summary
An author， neuroscientist， and computer engineer unveils a theory of intelligence， of understanding the brain and the future of AI。 For all of neuroscience's advances， we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence？ Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses maplike structures to build a model of the world-not just one model， but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know。 This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world， why we have a sense of self， and the origin of high-level thought。
Reviews
Tuija Aalto
，
A Thousand Brains was a remarkable listen。 Part one made me feel like I now understand how cortical columns vote for options as to what is the brain experiencing at any given moment， and how this all is automated by the hundreds of thousands of reference frames updated regularly by the brain's new part neocortex， a complicated networked structure， yet only size of a large napkin， if spread flat。 Part two of the book turned my thoughts about machine intelligence around - I now look forward to adv A Thousand Brains was a remarkable listen。 Part one made me feel like I now understand how cortical columns vote for options as to what is the brain experiencing at any given moment， and how this all is automated by the hundreds of thousands of reference frames updated regularly by the brain's new part neocortex， a complicated networked structure， yet only size of a large napkin， if spread flat。 Part two of the book turned my thoughts about machine intelligence around - I now look forward to advances in artificial general intelligence - glory will be the day when we have machines， nearly as intelligent as five-year-old-human children， roaming among us， and doing all the heavy lifting and some of the hazardous tasks。 I didn't expect what Hawkins ended with in part three: he suggests we seriously consider sending an autonomous robot crew to terraform Mars， and wants us to consider， what can be done to rid humans from their subservience， through the "old brain"， to the genes。 The genes， as we know， do not care about intelligence or knowledge any further than how they allow them to reproduce。 So， brain theory， heavy duty futurism and moral considerations for the future of humankind。 In no way is this light reading。 。。。more
Ʀaðǫ ʦwetkǫf
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Corticocentric view on human Intelligence。 It has some good ideas and some naive ones。 Most of the parts could be twice shorter。
Georgia
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Three are a million and one things to be learned from this book， among them the foundings of our intelligence and the importance of preserving what we have learned。 Richard Dawkins was right！ Don't read this before bedtime or you will not be able to sleep from the magnitude of your discoveries。 Three are a million and one things to be learned from this book， among them the foundings of our intelligence and the importance of preserving what we have learned。 Richard Dawkins was right！ Don't read this before bedtime or you will not be able to sleep from the magnitude of your discoveries。 。。。more
Sebastian Gebski
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I've decided to read this book mainly because I was looking for something on mapping modern artificial intelligence on the learnings of neuro-morphology。 I can't say I've found what that， but the book was interesting enough。There are three distinctive parts here。1。 the first one is about the anatomy of a human brain - it wasn't fascinating， a lot of information is already covered in many sources （e。g。 the role of the neocortex， "old brain"， etc。）， but the final theory （about the reference frames I've decided to read this book mainly because I was looking for something on mapping modern artificial intelligence on the learnings of neuro-morphology。 I can't say I've found what that， but the book was interesting enough。There are three distinctive parts here。1。 the first one is about the anatomy of a human brain - it wasn't fascinating， a lot of information is already covered in many sources （e。g。 the role of the neocortex， "old brain"， etc。）， but the final theory （about the reference frames and how the same model works for all the senses） is actually quite interesting; however， it's just a theory - in fact the author doesn't have much to back it up （despite the fact that it sounds reasonable 。。。）2。 the second one is about the artificial intelligence we face these days and how does it refer to human intelligence - this part is far less detailed than e。g。 in "Army of None"， but it's not a big deal - all that was important was covered quite nicely。 What I was missing was some research about actual attempts of re-applying our knowledge about the human brain in building AI。3。 the third one felt most chaotic because， in fact， it has covered few very different considerations: cloning the human brain， looking for contact w/ extraterrestrial civilizations （srsly！）， the role of genes in the development of （artificial） intelligence。In the end， it was a solid book - a nice primer for someone who'd like to understand the nature of what we call 'artificial intelligence' these days。 As long as you'll be able to survive the whole first part which is a bit lengthy :）Solid 3。7 stars。 。。。more
Chelsea Omel
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Well written in a compelling style that was easy to follow for a non-expert in the topic。 Overall， it provided a lot of food for thought and I frequently think about the content in relation to seemingly unrelated work， which to me is a sign of a good book， even if I still have questions about the theory itself。
Scott
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book is really great update to Jeff Hawkin’s first book “On Intelligence” and a great introduction to Jeff’s lifelong dedication to figuring out how brains really work。 I had the pleasure of working for Jeff at Palm and hearing his “Brains 101” talk that he would periodically give to the company。 But I only read On Intelligence two decades later。 It blew my mind - really， no pun intended。 The brain is not really like AI at all and while it shares some characteristics of computers， really wo This book is really great update to Jeff Hawkin’s first book “On Intelligence” and a great introduction to Jeff’s lifelong dedication to figuring out how brains really work。 I had the pleasure of working for Jeff at Palm and hearing his “Brains 101” talk that he would periodically give to the company。 But I only read On Intelligence two decades later。 It blew my mind - really， no pun intended。 The brain is not really like AI at all and while it shares some characteristics of computers， really works in a very different way。 Read that book if you have any interest in understanding how our brain works in detail！This book is written two decades later than the first。 It really is a book in three parts。 The first section is a recap and expansion of his brain theories about how brains work and the model that your brain creates of the world。 It’s less detailed than his first book - but describes how the pieces of data in your brain are pulled together to create your model （really models） of your world。 Some may want to skip the first book because of this but for me I’m glad I read the first to understand it at a more detailed level before learning about how models are managed in the brain。 The second part is really an explanation of why current Ai and machine learning is lacking compared to the brain。 Today’s Ai does not really understand or model what it is processing， unlike the brain。 For many problems， this is fine and perhaps better than a brain。 But it’s so limited relative to a more brain-like approach that can learn and adapt to new situations。 The third part of the book steps back further and takes a more philosophical view about where we should take non-biological intelligence， whether we should fear it and more。 I really like the book。 For those that like to understand how things work， read his first book first。 For those that want a higher level view of brains and the implications， skip to this one。 Either way， you will not think about your own mind or why we are here the same。 。。。more
frē
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Bijzonder boekje geschreven door een fascinerend man， een voorbeeld van een zéér brede denker。 Het start met recent hersenonderzoek en eindigt met de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven met behulp van door de mens gemaakte intelligente machines。 Much wow。
Giangy Giang
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Jeff Hawkins is an amazing authour and scientist。 This book once again forced me to read everything at once， just like his earlier work "On Intelligence"。 Yet this is a very updated version of his point of view on the feasibility of machine intelligence。 Recommended readings: How Emotions Are Made。 Jeff Hawkins is an amazing authour and scientist。 This book once again forced me to read everything at once， just like his earlier work "On Intelligence"。 Yet this is a very updated version of his point of view on the feasibility of machine intelligence。 Recommended readings: How Emotions Are Made。 。。。more
Phianna Rekab
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Unanswered and unproven scientific theory is not that different from science fiction。 Science fiction encourages curiosity and intrigue。 The speculation usually accompanying science fiction should be used as foresight by scientists and technologists who would benefit from a variety of perspectives in what could go wrong and what could go right and for that matter not be dismissive of the genre。Otherwise， neuroscience + AI = technology’s holy grail。 Nothing else technology-wise holds so much prom Unanswered and unproven scientific theory is not that different from science fiction。 Science fiction encourages curiosity and intrigue。 The speculation usually accompanying science fiction should be used as foresight by scientists and technologists who would benefit from a variety of perspectives in what could go wrong and what could go right and for that matter not be dismissive of the genre。Otherwise， neuroscience + AI = technology’s holy grail。 Nothing else technology-wise holds so much promise for an amazing future from augmenting physical disabilities， delaying dementia， crime prevention and management， and assistive technologies。 Well worth the time to read。 。。。more
Eren Buğlalılar
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Started as a fine popular science piece on how the brain models the objects and ideas by turning the electrical signals into "reference frames"。 But ended as a meagre "populist science" attempt to explain wars， social injustice and climate change as the undesired results of our evolutionary "old" brain， which is the part that evolved before the neocortex and drives our basic evolutionary instincts。 I don't know what to say。 Didn't Hawkins have any friends with at least a sociology degree who wou Started as a fine popular science piece on how the brain models the objects and ideas by turning the electrical signals into "reference frames"。 But ended as a meagre "populist science" attempt to explain wars， social injustice and climate change as the undesired results of our evolutionary "old" brain， which is the part that evolved before the neocortex and drives our basic evolutionary instincts。 I don't know what to say。 Didn't Hawkins have any friends with at least a sociology degree who would say "Erm sir， this goes deeper than you may think"。 After decades of discussions within the social sciences about the social classes， structures， language and culture vs nature debates， you'd expect that at least some of them would become part of the general knowledge of the physical sciences community。 But it did not。Fact 1Your engineering or science degree and your decades of experience in neuroscience/artificial intelligence/computer programming may create the illusion that you have cracked open the mysteries of the social experience。 You are probably wrong。Fact 2There's still a huge knowledge gap between the social scientists and engineers， computer scientists， neurologists， neuro-psychologists in the form of lack of a general idea about each other's main achievements and findings。 Here's my hypothesis: While a social science PhD is less likely to foster any illusions in its owner about solving the problem of， say， "The Use of GAN networks in Natural Language Processing" and poke her to write a book about the subject， a PhD in computer science， on the contrary， is more likely to boost the self-confidence of its owner to the extent that he can write a book about the relationship between our "old" brain and the instability it brings to our societies and ignore the mountain of social science literature on the subject。 。。。more
Ronald Diehl
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Hawkins & Co。’s efforts to make fundamental theoretical breakthroughs in neuroscience and then immediately translate those breakthroughs into a commercialized general purpose technology are truly extraordinary， and it’d be impossible to exaggerate how rare undertakings of this caliber are in the annals of science， technology， and business。 With Hawkins， the trope of Alan Turing and Steve Jobs being rolled into one person has essentially been realized。In A Thousand Brains， he yet again cuts throu Hawkins & Co。’s efforts to make fundamental theoretical breakthroughs in neuroscience and then immediately translate those breakthroughs into a commercialized general purpose technology are truly extraordinary， and it’d be impossible to exaggerate how rare undertakings of this caliber are in the annals of science， technology， and business。 With Hawkins， the trope of Alan Turing and Steve Jobs being rolled into one person has essentially been realized。In A Thousand Brains， he yet again cuts through epistemic noise， blazes a scientific trail far from the madding crowd， and pushes the theoretical envelope in a way that literally only he can。 The result， amusingly， is that by comparison he ends up making most philosophers of mind seem like bumbling fools and Silicon Valley’s AI hype-peddlers appear to be about as intellectually sophisticated as Bitcoin bros。While there’s no way of knowing what the social， economic， and technological impacts of Hawkins’s work will be during his lifetime， I nevertheless reckon that he’s a living genius and that his work with Numenta is basically a miracle。 。。。more
Marctar
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Not quite as eye-opening as On Intelligence （which is one of my favorite books）。The part about reference frames definitely made me think， and I'm glad that Jeff has updated the model。 It also made me want to read the papers to get the details。I was hoping that the whole book would be about。。 well， a new theory of intelligence。 That it would walk me through the details in Numenta's papers so I wouldn't have to read them。 Instead， Hawkins wrote about more futurist issues。 While these were interest Not quite as eye-opening as On Intelligence （which is one of my favorite books）。The part about reference frames definitely made me think， and I'm glad that Jeff has updated the model。 It also made me want to read the papers to get the details。I was hoping that the whole book would be about。。 well， a new theory of intelligence。 That it would walk me through the details in Numenta's papers so I wouldn't have to read them。 Instead， Hawkins wrote about more futurist issues。 While these were interesting， it felt like a separate book。 Some of the ideas reminded me of the discussions in some of Ray Kurzweil's books， especially things like Estate Planning for Humanity。 Again， interesting， just not what I was hoping for， given the title and the general flow of On Intelligence。 。。。more
Ken Nickerson
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Mostly harmless。 Do not bend， fold or staple。 Be kind。 Wear sunscreen。Mostly harmless。 Do not bend， fold or staple。 Be kind。 Wear sunscreen。 [Mostly harmless。 Do not bend， fold or staple。 Be kind。 Wear sunscreen。]
Alejandro Fuentes
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As a person not familiar with the neuroscience field， the thousand brains history was very well explained。 The book is very interesting， it explains the theory and ends with some beliefs of the author about how the understanding of the brain can help in the future in topics regarding machines/robots and others
Daniel
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There are 2 parts of the book。 The first part is excellent。 It described the thousand brain theory。 So our brain is divided into 150，000 neural columns。 Each contains a model of the outside world， denoting the coordinates， contents of the place and direction。 It doesn’t matter what the signals were （sound， light， touch， taste， smell）; they were all just electrical potentials。 Each neuron can have tens of thousands of exams， a third around the neuron body and the rest extending to other cells。 We There are 2 parts of the book。 The first part is excellent。 It described the thousand brain theory。 So our brain is divided into 150，000 neural columns。 Each contains a model of the outside world， denoting the coordinates， contents of the place and direction。 It doesn’t matter what the signals were （sound， light， touch， taste， smell）; they were all just electrical potentials。 Each neuron can have tens of thousands of exams， a third around the neuron body and the rest extending to other cells。 We can only learn about something by movement; to see something in 3D we need use staccato eye movements to really see it; to learn the shape of something we need to move our fingers across the thing。 The brain can simultaneously access tens of thousands of information to know where we are and what we are seeing。 Hawkins does not believe in consciousness as distinct from normal brain activity。 He thinks it is just a series of perceptions and memories。 The second part of the book first switched to how AI is only trained on static information and is not general intelligence。 General intelligence requires neural networks that approximates the human brain。 He does not think human will be killed by AI （Skynet）。 Then he switched abruptly and talked about genes。 So genes just want to be copied and there are too many people on earth already。 It is Neo-Malthusianism with a climate change twist。 So we can feed a lot more people now and discovered more and more sources of energy。 Now， this success is going to doom us all！ More people， more green house gas emission， and voila catastrophe！ So contraception is key to solve the overpopulation problem。 I think Hawkins should just keep to the brain theory because he is excellent in that。 。。。more
Denis Romanovsky
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I'm kind of dissapointed。 I was expecting a scientific book， but got a popular science in its worst。 The author tried to write about everything， and that's the problem。 Starting with a new theory of brain， which is really not bad， may be a bit too shallow from time to time， the author did a great job explaining the mind for dummies！ Then he analyzed and explained problems of current approach to AI which is absolutely reasonable。 But then he tried to explain life， humanity and role of intelligenc I'm kind of dissapointed。 I was expecting a scientific book， but got a popular science in its worst。 The author tried to write about everything， and that's the problem。 Starting with a new theory of brain， which is really not bad， may be a bit too shallow from time to time， the author did a great job explaining the mind for dummies！ Then he analyzed and explained problems of current approach to AI which is absolutely reasonable。 But then he tried to explain life， humanity and role of intelligence in the universe。 And this is where it became absolutely shallow and boring。。。As the result， the book defocused me from the best and leaved with some strange poor aftertaste。 First too parts of the book worth the read， though！ 。。。more
James Stuart
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Great ideas and general functioning principles for cortical columns as self-sufficient pattern recognizers and guides to movement。Pity there's not enough technical details on implementation of the decribed mechanisms and their computer simulations to be fully convincing。 But there are papers by Numenta that go into these details。 Great ideas and general functioning principles for cortical columns as self-sufficient pattern recognizers and guides to movement。Pity there's not enough technical details on implementation of the decribed mechanisms and their computer simulations to be fully convincing。 But there are papers by Numenta that go into these details。 。。。more
Pete Castleton
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Big disappointment。 Hawkins is a bit of a hero of mine， but this rambling pop-sci book does nothing to advance his reputation。 While he and his team have made substantial contributions to theoretical neuroscience and the potential next wave of a more generalized AI， this book provides few details other than a steady stream of self-congratulatory remarks。 He lauds Vernon Mountcastle， who pioneered cortical columns as the source of intelligent computation， but provides little description of his wo Big disappointment。 Hawkins is a bit of a hero of mine， but this rambling pop-sci book does nothing to advance his reputation。 While he and his team have made substantial contributions to theoretical neuroscience and the potential next wave of a more generalized AI， this book provides few details other than a steady stream of self-congratulatory remarks。 He lauds Vernon Mountcastle， who pioneered cortical columns as the source of intelligent computation， but provides little description of his work。 He devotes almost a whole paragraph to Geoffrey Hinton， who ignited the current advancements of Deep Learning through his work on back-propagation。 Hawkins says that Hinton is now disillusioned with AIs success， and has recently introduced the 'capsule' as a mechanism to overcome the limitations of Deep Learning， which Hawkins somehow finds similar to his own research， which it is not。 The last third of the book is a bunch of proclamations about communication with extraterrestrial life and the dangers of climate change。 What was he thinking？ 。。。more
Zane Williamson
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A must read。 This theory of how the brain works is spot on。 Jeff even goes beyond his Thousand Brains theory to expound upon how important it is to build on this theory to help preserve our species and future。
Cindy
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I felt a kinship with Hawkins when he talked about finding out as a younger man that academic labs study very specific parts of the brain （or specific diseases）， and not the workings of the brain as a whole。 Unlike him， I did not absorb that information， invent the Palm Pilot， and then found my own whole-brain research lab。 My journey involved taking a philosophy of the mind course， learning about the "hard problem"， and giving up on the brain altogether。 But now I'm thankfully out of the dark a I felt a kinship with Hawkins when he talked about finding out as a younger man that academic labs study very specific parts of the brain （or specific diseases）， and not the workings of the brain as a whole。 Unlike him， I did not absorb that information， invent the Palm Pilot， and then found my own whole-brain research lab。 My journey involved taking a philosophy of the mind course， learning about the "hard problem"， and giving up on the brain altogether。 But now I'm thankfully out of the dark ages and fully enjoying a book-driven brain renaissance。I have to rate this five stars， even despite the manifesto in the second half of the book。This guy might have figured out how the neocortex works。 I'm talking about the process of how the brain takes in sensory information， processes sensory information， and then uses that information to make conclusions and predictions。 It's called the Thousand Brain Theory of Intelligence， and it has to do with maps， "movement"， and voting。 I was thinking this theory could work together with Graziano's theory to explain consciousness （I'm currently reading Graziano's book）， and I was surprised to see Hawkins actually mention this。The second half of the book is a lot。 Maybe too much。 There's a large focus on investing in preserving our knowledge （and putting it in orbit around the sun） just because future extraterrestrials may think it's cool。 I agree with him， but I don't think it's a priority for most people， and I'm not even sure that it ought to be。 He talks about our old brain and how a lot of the behavior that threatens our species originates from it。 That makes sense。 The old brain helps genes replicate， but doesn't necessarily think in the long term。 He proposes that we should strive to preserve knowledge and not genes。 I think it would be hard to get people on board with this in any capacity。 When it comes to preserving the human race， making it a goal to prevent future death and human suffering would probably be much more effective in propelling a response than focusing on the safeguarding of knowledge。 People have more sympathy for concrete things like human beings than for more abstract things like potential aliens and knowledge。 This sympathy can actually help us avoid extinction。 In most cases， it's easier to work with human nature to achieve a goal than against it。 I'm not sure if it would be wise to invest large amounts of resources into preserving our knowledge beyond the extinction of our species。。。especially since the aliens who could find that knowledge would probably already possess it， and since humans don't really have much emotional or general motivation to do that。 Although I could be wrong， and I don't want to be limiting to anyone。 There are portions in which Hawkins talks about the next generation of AI， which is definitely something tech companies that want to stay relevant should look into。 He doesn't think AI （intelligence itself） is an existential risk， and his argument is worth reading。 What he says about uploading your brain is also very interesting and something I haven't considered at all。 He mentions that he wants to stimulate discussion with this section of the book， and I do think it's an effective discussion stimulus。 The book is very logically and systematically laid out， with numbered sections and arguments that support specific conclusions。 People will be annoyed by the author's certitude。 His confidence is based largely on a couple of experiments and the fact that his theory doesn't conflict with a lot of research and present theories。 I'd be a little more cautious if it were my book， but I found his main theory and even his speculations fascinating。 Definitely worth a read， even if you stop after the first half。 。。。more
Leonardo
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Awesome！ I love your writing style， I suggest you join NovelStar’s writing competition this April。
Joseph
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Old ideas about neural networks + grating self-agrandizement + endless repetition + unrelated musings about culture + unrelated musings about aliens = new book about neural networks？
Ryan
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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
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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
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