The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
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# The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
There are so many implications surrounding technology it's hard not to delve into some philosophical areas. We've read some good books with lots of interesting ethical and social implications. This book is about a new theory of the mind that would certainly change how we understand and use technology.
I can't yet tell how directly he discusses technology in this one, but Andy Clark has influenced our understanding of our use of technology going back to the 90's when he and David Chalmers proposed the extended mind thesis, and much of Clark's research involves environmental and technological aspects and influences on the mind. E.g., this is a good introduction to the extended mind - Is your phone part of your mind?.
As always, feel free to join even if you don't get the chance to dive into this book or aren't very familiar with any of these subjects. It'll be the same informal discussion format. You will not be called on to analyze, synthesize, or critique anything!
From bookshop.org:
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A brilliant new theory of the mind that upends our understanding of how the brain interacts with the world
"This thoroughly readable book will convince you that the brain and the world are partners in constructing our understanding." --Sean Carroll, _New York Times _bestselling author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion
For as long as we've studied human cognition, we've believed that our senses give us direct access to the world. What we see is what's really there--or so the thinking goes. But new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have turned this assumption on its head. What if rather than perceiving reality passively, your mind actively predicts it?
Widely acclaimed philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark unpacks this provocative new theory that the brain is a powerful, dynamic prediction engine, mediating our experience of both body and world. From the most mundane experiences to the most sublime, reality as we know it is the complex synthesis of sensory information and expectation. Exploring its fascinating mechanics and remarkable implications for our lives, mental health, and society, Clark nimbly illustrates how the predictive brain sculpts all human experience. Chronic pain and mental illness are shown to involve subtle malfunctions of our unconscious predictions, pointing the way towards more effective, targeted treatments. Under renewed scrutiny, the very boundary between ourselves and the outside world dissolves, showing that we are as entangled with our environments as we are with our onboard memories, thoughts, and feelings. And perception itself is revealed to be something of a controlled hallucination.
Unveiling the extraordinary explanatory power of the predictive brain, _The Experience Machine_is a mesmerizing window onto one of the most significant developments in our understanding of the mind.
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