In this Book
- Is the Universe a Hologram?: Scientists Answer the Most Provocative Questions
- Book
- 2017
- Published by: The MIT Press
summary
Science today is more a process of collaboration than moments of individual "eurekas." This book recreates that kind of synergy by offering a series of interconnected dialogues with leading scientists who are asked to reflect on key questions and concepts about the physical world, technology, and the mind. These thinkers offer both specific observations and broader comments about the intellectual traditions that inform these questions; doing so, they reveal a rich seam of interacting ideas. The persistent paradox of our era is that in a world of unprecedented access to information, many of the most important questions remain unsolved. These conversations (conducted by a veteran science writer, Adolfo Plasencia) reflect this, with scientists addressing such issues as intelligence, consciousness, global warming, energy, technology, matter, the possibility of another earth, changing the past, and even the philosophical curveball, "is the universe a hologram?"The dialogues discuss such fascinating aspects of the physical world as the function of the quantum bit, the primordial cosmology of the universe, and the wisdom of hewn stones. They offer optimistic but reasoned views of technology, considering convergence culture, algorithms, "Beauty ? Truth," the hacker ethic, AI, and other topics. And they offer perspectives from a range of disciplines on intelligence, discussing subjects that include the neurophysiology of the brain, affective computing, collaborative innovation, and the wisdom of crowds.Conversations with Hal Abelson, Ricardo Baeza-Yates, John Perry Barlow, Javier Benedicto, José Bernabéu, Michail Bletsas, Jose M. Carmena, David Casacuberta, Yung Ho Chang, Ignacio Cirac, Gianluigi Colalucci, Avelino Corma, Bernardo Cuenca Grau, Javier Echeverria, José Hernández-Orallo, Hiroshi Ishii, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Henry Jenkins, Anne Margulies, Mario J. Molina, Tim O'Reilly, John Ochsendorf, Paul Osterman, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Rosalind W. Picard, Howard Rheingold, Alejandro W. Rodriguez, Israel Ruiz, Sara Seager, Richard Stallman, Antonio Torralba, Bebo White, José María Yturralde
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xv-xvi
- How This Book Came About
- pp. xvii-xxiv
- Powerful Ideas Dealt with in the Book
- pp. xxv-xxviii
- I. The Physical World
- pp. 1-4
- 5. The Challenge of Climate Change
- pp. 55-64
- 8. Wisdom Hewn in Ancient Stones
- pp. 89-100
- 11. The Seamless Coupling of Bits and Atoms
- pp. 123-130
- II. Information
- pp. 131-134
- 20. Encryption as a Human Right
- pp. 223-234
- III. Intelligence
- pp. 261-264
- 23. “Affective Computing” Is Not an Oxymoron
- pp. 265-272
- 24. Mind, Brain, and Behavior
- pp. 273-284
- 29. There Will Be No End of Work
- pp. 327-336
- 31. Measuring the Intelligence of Everything
- pp. 343-358
- 32. Touching the Soul of Michelangelo
- pp. 359-370
- IV. Epilogue
- pp. 371-374
- Name Index
- pp. 393-398
- Subject Index
- pp. 399-404
Additional Information
ISBN
9780262339308
Related ISBN(s)
9780262036016
MARC Record
OCLC
985461246
Pages
432
Launched on MUSE
2017-05-13
Language
English
Open Access
No