Recent Readings

Long time since I posted on this blog; caught up in the end-semester and exam rush, then went home to enjoy a vacation. I read three books in the last two months - not impressive considering that I had a month off, but have been watching too many movies lately. So, as is the norm, here goes a few word on these books.

1. The Large, the Small and the Human Mind
   This arises from a series of lectures given by the renowned astrophysicist, Roger Penrose, on matters relating to human consciousness and a scientific explanation for the same. He starts by explaining the physics of the large (relativity) and that of the small (quantum mechanics) in a delightful way. However, the central theme of the book is how conscious thought and intelligence arise? Are these things beyond the scope of science? Are these computable? If not, then is there a grand new theory waiting to be explored to explain intelligence? Penrose goes on to say that our science is incomplete till we have an understanding of the human mind, which will give us a window into the unknown third of the triad of worlds:
   • The Platonic world, which is the world of mathematical laws , of truths.
     
   • The Physical world, which is physical world around us. The laws of physics explain this and are modelled with Maths. So, is Physics just Mathematics?
   • The Mental world, which comprises human intelligence and consciousness. Can these be completely explained with Physics and Mathematics? Or is it something in itself? (As an aside, coming to think of it maths is just a mental construct - creating something of a cycle between the three worlds. So, where does the cycle break? )
   
   Penrose then goes on to claim that human consciousness and intelligence are non-computable and they can't be explained by the current laws of physics. One thing that physics lacks today is a unifying theory of the quantum and the macroscopic world theories. Penrose doesn't find the uncertainty principle as a fundamental law of nature (explanations like the many worlds interpretation are esoteric), but just an approximation to a more fundamental law. Something wrong or missing in our physics cannot explain the transition from quantum-scale to large-scale phenomenon, where different set of laws apply. He conjectures that this transition process (which he call Objective Reduction (OR)) is non-computable. He then goes on to claim that the non-computability of the human mind can be explained through this unknown theory of OR and appying it to the physiology of the brain. Seems incredible and an attempt to solve a vexed problem. But as Stephen Hawking notes in his comments, it seems to be a case to taking two unknown problems and saying that they are related. Penrose discusses the problem in great length in 'Shadows of the Mind', which is now the object of my reading.
   
   
2. Freakonomics
   
   • 'What do school teachers have in common with Sumo wrestlers ?'
     
   • 'What do drug dealers live with their moms ?'
   • 'How do the names of children affect their future ?'
   These are weird questions Stephen Levitt tries to answer using the economist's favourite tool - numbers.
   Ofcourse any attempts to answer such questions are bound to be speculative. But Levitt asks smart and intelligent questions and tries to glean answers from the numbers; this makes for interesting reading. Even if it does not conclusively answer the questions raised, atleast it does provide data which questions conventional wisdom. Although Levitt claims that the book has no unifying theme, this thread seems to run through the book - questioning conventional wisdom. But what interests me is the fact there is so much data around from which information can be extracted using statistical tools.
   One of the most interesting parts of the book and the one that Levitt clearly cherishes the most is his research in linking the falling US crime rate in the 90's to the legalization of abortion in the US about two decades earlier.
   
   
3. The Fourth Estate
   Reading pure enteraintment fiction after quite some time. This is a real, fast-paced book built around the rivalry of two business magnates. Jeffrey Archer maintains the tempo in this business story by narrating the parallel lives of Richard Armstrong and Keith Townsend. However, the end let me a bit dejected. Why was it that only Armstrong met his doom? My sympathies lay with the Armstrong, who rose from rags to riches.
   

That's the first blog for the new year and I will be more regular with my posts here and also on my much neglected Machine Learning blog.