The Emperor's New Mind
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Roger Penrose |
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| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Artificial Intelligence |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
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Publication date
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November 9, 1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 480 |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardcover) |
| OCLC | 19724273 |
| 006.3 20 | |
| LC Class | Q335 .P415 1989 |
| Followed by | Shadows of the Mind |
The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics is a 1989 book by mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose.
Penrose argues that human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modeled by a conventional Turing machine, which includes a digital computer. Penrose hypothesizes that quantum mechanics plays an essential role in the understanding of human consciousness. The collapse of the quantum wavefunction is seen as playing an important role in brain function.
The majority of the book is spent reviewing, for the scientifically minded layreader, a plethora of interrelated subjects such as Newtonian physics, special and general relativity, the philosophy and limitations of mathematics, quantum physics, cosmology, and the nature of time. Penrose intermittently describes how each of these bears on his developing theme: that consciousness is not "algorithmic". Only the later portions of the book address the thesis directly.
Penrose states that his ideas on the nature of consciousness are speculative, and his thesis is considered erroneous by experts in the fields of philosophy, computer science, and robotics.
Following the publication of this book, Penrose began to collaborate with Stuart Hameroff on a biological analog to quantum computation involving microtubules, which became the foundation for his subsequent book, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness.
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