Roger Penrose: Shadows of the Mind

Replies to Critics: Beyond the Doubting of a Shadow PDF | HTML

Managing Editor: David Chalmers

In his book Shadows of the Mind, Roger Penrose suggests that deep problems in artificial intelligence, physics, and the philosophy of mind are closely connected. He presents a detailed argument, using Gödel's theorem, for the conclusion that human thought cannot be simulated by any computation. This leads him to the conclusion that physics is noncomputable, and he presents suggestions about how noncomputability may enter into a theory of quantum gravity. Finally, he argues that this may take effect at the level of the mind through quantum collapse processes in microtubules, protein structures found in the skeleton of a neuron.

In this symposium, nine researchers in computer science, philosophy, psychology, mathematics, and molecular biology address Penrose's positions at some length, concentrating on his Gödelian arguments against artificial intelligence and on his proposal that quantum processes in microtubules are essential to the functioning of the mind.

Bernard J. Baars
Can Physics Provide a Theory of Consciousness? PDF | HTML

David J. Chalmers
Minds, Machines, and Mathematics PDF | HTML

Solomon Feferman
Penrose's Gödelian Argument PDF | HTML

Stanley Klein
Is Quantum Mechanics Relevant to Understanding Consciousness? PDF | HTML

Tim Maudlin
Between the Motion and the Act... PDF | HTML

John McCarthy
Awareness and Understanding in Computer Programs PDF | HTML

Daryl McCullough
Can Humans Escape Gödel? PDF | HTML

Drew McDermott
[STAR] Penrose is Wrong PDF | HTML

Hans Moravec
Roger Penrose's Gravitonic Brains PDF | HTML