Anyone going to read this over the holidays? (Unfortunately we can't just download the knowledge instantly into our brains ... yet).
I picked up this book a few days ago. I'm still working on it (not quite halfway through it) and my feelings so far are mixed. There's some really great stuff in there; the beginning covers how cognition occurs in a hierarchical, fractal-like pattern, which is mirrored by the physical structure of the brain. Kurzweil posits that the neocortex is made up of repeated units of interconnected, recursively structured "pattern recognizers," which are essentially the basic units responsible for thought. I enjoyed that part quite a bit, but I admit I've lost some interest since then. That seems to really be the crux of this book, he doesn't really posit that many new ideas. Although he does mention how these cognition strategies have been used to program 'intelligent' software like the framework for Siri, I'm really hoping he'll go into greater detail later. The New York Times had a really great, albeit very critical, review of the book. I can't seem to find it now, but it's worth a read. According to the reviewer, Kurzweil's theory about the hierarchy of the neocortex has been around since the 50s and 60s. What he's really arguing is really just a meager addition to what Jeff Hawkins posits in his book On Intelligence. I haven't read that book so I can't say, but I definitely plan to read it later. The reviewer also criticized Kurzweil for not backing up many of his points with research. I'd have to agree on this one, it definitely seems like Kurzweil asserts a lot of 'facts' without adequately supporting them. Then again, there are other times where he does show how his theory is well documented. I just wish he would be more consistent. Anyway, the book is interesting and I would recommend it, but I would encourage the reader to use a bit of skepticism and bear in mind that a lot of what Kurzweil discusses is not groundbreaking (although I am by no means an expert in this field so I am taking the New York Times review at its word). This is the first book I've read by Kurzweil, but it's intrigued me enough that I think I'll explore his other work in the future.
Hm. I just ordered it so I'll have to wait a few days before I can start reading it. However, I'm not really surprised that his theory is something that has been explored more competently before. Kurzweil is an engineer and technology expert - he is not a neuroscientist - so I was skeptical about how ground-breaking it was going to be. Either way, I'm a really big fan of his his 2005 book The Singularity Is Near. I definitely recommend checking that out.
Just put a hold on this from the local library. Comments soon to follow.