I am a strong reductionist; that is I believe that by understanding the principles involved in any physical phenomena, including the human mind, it is possible to deduce the functioing of that system. This philosophy is becoming less common, especially since the advent of Quantum Mechanics.
One day, I want to write a program that creates a consious being in software. In The Mind's Eye there is a chapter entitled "A conversation with Einstein's Brain", by Hofstafter, which presents a compelling argument that inanimate objects such as books, if suitably configured, could be intelligent, and indeed conscious. In another chapter, "Prelude... Ant Fugue", Hofstadter presents arguements for an ant colony being conscious, completely independant of the intelligence (or lack thereof) of the individual ants. Somewhere (can anyone give me a reference? I think it was in the newsgroup sci.cognitive) I read a great article on how structures in John Conway's Game of Life could be conscious. I strongly believe that these conjectures are correct, and that we will have artificial life in silicon at some point in the future.
Another dream of mine is the ability to connect directly to the brain with some sort of electronic interface. I know there are objections that the anatomical position of even basic functions like vision varies with the individual, but I believe that these problems can be overcome. With such an interface, if it could be made sophisticated enough, one could experience the world from another's perspective. This would go a long way towards avoidance of conflict. The possibilities for entertainment, education and the control of complex machinery are immense.
The minds of people could be connected with the "minds" of artificial intelligences, which could have all sorts of consequences.
The next stage is to network the minds of many individuals (biological and artificial), possibly creating a sort of superbeing. It is my belief that this could be the next major step in evolution.
"The Emperor's New Mind", Penrose R, Vintage, London 1990. ISBN: 0-09-977170-5. Although not widely regarded, this book is still very interesting reading, even if his theory about consciousness was not all that believable.
"Shadows of the Mind", Penrose R, Vintage, London 1995. ISBN: 0-09-958211-2. More or less a successor to "Emperor", but can be read on its own. I have not read it through as yet, but Penrose, despite significant controversy, might be on the right track.
"The Astonishing Hypothesis", Crick F, MacMillan, New York 1994. ISBN: 0-684-19431-7. The "astonishing" hypothesis is bascically that reductionism will solve the mysteries of the mind.
"The Mind's I", Hofstadter D R and Dennett, D C, Bantom, New York 1981. ISBN: 0-553-34584-2. Subtitled "Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul". A series of interesting and thought provoking short stories by a variety of authors. Entertaining. Highly recommended.
"The Computational Brain", Churchland P S and Sejnowski T J, MIT Press, Massachusetts 1992. ISBN: 0-262-53120-8 (paperback), 0-262-03188-4 (hardback). The authors are respectively a philosopher and a biologist, so there is lots of biology to back up the philosopical ideas. A bit heavy going because of the biological detail.
"Consciousness Explained", Dennett D C, Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1991. ISBN: 0- 316-18066-1. Dennett claims that attempting to find one seat of consciousness (the "Cartesian Theater") is a flawed concept.
"The Matter Myth", Davies P and Gribbin J, Viking, London 1991. ISBN: 0-670-84315-6. More on the weird nature of the universe, a topic that may be linked with consciousness. Quite readable.
"Does God Play Dice", Stewart I, Penguin, London 1990. ISBN: 0-14-012501-9. Again more on chaos and the unusual nature of the universe, with a little on consciousness at the end.
"The Mind of God" (Science and the Search forUltimate Meaning), Davies P, Penguin London 1992. ISBN: 0-14-017618-7. Some interesting math; very readable.
See also the Science Fiction story "I Will Fear No Evil" on my Sci-Fi page.
The Game of Life is an example of a system of cellular automata, wherein simple rules produce a system with surprising complexity and structure.
Scientific American Vol 223 No 4 (October 1970, pp 120-123), Gardner M, in the "Mathematical Games" column.
Atrificial Life Lab, Rucker R, Waite Group, Corte Madera 1993. ISBN: 1-878739-48-4. Includes MS Windows program "Boppers". Aimed at the general reader (non technical). I was a bit disappointed with this, but I have not had time to investigate it thoroughly.
"The Emergence of Intelligence", Calvin W H, Scientific American, published on the World Wide Web. William has several other interesting links as well.
Here is a large list of Psychology Links by Topic.
Newsgroups: alt.consciousness , sci.cognitive .
Last updated: 8th/December/1997