The Social Singularity · How Decentralization Will Allow Us to Transcend Politics, Create Global Prosperity, and Avoid the Robot Apocalypse

The Social Singularity · How Decentralization Will Allow Us to Transcend Politics, Create Global Prosperity, and Avoid the Robot Apocalypse
Authors
Borders, Max
Publisher
W. W. Norton Company
Tags
philosophy , psychology , science , self help
ISBN
9780393348781
Date
2013-05-06T00:00:00+00:00
Size
0.27 MB
Lang
en
Downloaded: 53 times

Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun.

*Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking* offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders" meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering readers insight into how and why each tool was built.

Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and *reductio ad absurdum* lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: *Trapped in the Robot Control Room* , *Beware of the Prime Mammal* , and *The Wandering Two-Bitser*. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned readers alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to "think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions."

A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, *Intuition Pumps*  offers intrepid thinkers—in all walks of life—delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.