A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence

Description

For all we hear of neuroscience's great advances, the field has generated more questions than answers. We know that the brain combines sensory input from all over your body into a single perception, but not how. We think brains "compute" in some sense, but we can't say what those computations are. We believe that the brain is organized as a hierarchy, with different pieces all working collaboratively to make a single model of the world. But we can explain neither how those pieces are differentiated, nor how they collaborate. Neuroscientist and computer engineer Jeff Hawkins argues that it's so hard to answer questions about the brain because our basic picture of how the brain works is wrong. In A Thousand Brains, Hawkins takes a radically new approach to the brain, with stunning implications. Hawkins' proposal, called the Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence, is that your brain is organized into thousands upon thousands of individually computing units, called cortical columns. These columns all process information from the outside world in the same way, and each builds a complete model of the world. But because every column has different connections to the rest of the body, each has a unique frame of reference. Your brain sorts out all those models by conducting a vote. The fundamental job of the brain, therefore, is not to build a single thought, but to manage the thousands of individual thoughts it has every moment. With this powerful new framework, Hawkins is able to reassess some of neuroscience's most stubborn problems, like why pain needs to be painful to be useful, how we can understand that our perspective of a thing changes as we move around it, and why we might be conscious but individual pieces of our body aren't. And once you understand how the brain works, it is a lot easier to make one yourself. Hawkins is, above all, an engineer, and A Thousand Brains outlines how a new understanding of intelligence could lead to truly intelligent AI. Hawkins explores how we might create machines that can learn on their own, why we need not fear superintelligent systems, and how human and machine intelligence may someday merge. Combining cutting-edge theoretical neuroscience with an ambitious program for tomorrow's digital minds, A Thousand Brains heralds a revolution in the study of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word.

Jeff Hawkins is the cofounder of Numenta, a neuroscience research company; founder of the Redwood Neuroscience Institute; and one of the founders of the field of handheld computing. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and author of On Intelligence.

"In this fascinating book, Jeff Hawkins develops a new theory about the nature of human intelligence and the recurrent dispute between our old instinctive reptilian brains and the think box contained in our mammalian neocortex. Hawkins also explores the consequences of creating truly intelligent robots, which he suggests is achievable within several decades." --John Thornhill, Financial Times "A Thousand Brains takes us on a journey from the evolution of our brain to the extinction of our species. Along the way Hawkins beautifully describes neuroanatomy and landmark discoveries in neuroscience... Hawkins keeps the reader constantly engaged."--New York Times Book Review "Brilliant....It works the brain in a way that is nothing short of exhilarating."--Richard Dawkins "A Thousand Brains eloquently expresses the ultimate goal of thousands of scientists: to understand the mechanics of the human mind. Jeff Hawkins uses wonderfully clear and fast-moving prose to give an accessible overview of a theory of human intelligence that is likely to be very influential in the future."--Michael Hasselmo, Director, Boston University Center for Systems Neuroscience "Intriguing.... Insightful stuff for readers immersed in the labyrinthine world of neuroscience."--Kirkus "Jeff Hawkins' book is that rare beast: A new theory about one of the oldest mysteries, the mystery of intelligence. The book is thoughtful and original, erudite and visionary. A must read for anyone interested in how the next breakthroughs in artificial intelligence will emerge from the recent (and not so recent) discoveries in neuroscience."--Anthony Zador, professor of neuroscience, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory "Neuroscience has been exploring the wilderness of the brain for well over a century. With A Thousand Brains, at last we have a map. Jeff Hawkins takes on questions most neuroscientists don't even dare ask, and finds answers in a new theory that explains now only how we make sense of the world, but how we are deceived. In a world threatened by the disintegration of truth into conspiracy and delusion, everyone should read this remarkable book."--Henry Markram, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, founder of the Human Brain Project