838: Consciousness and Machines, with Jennifer K. Hill

In this book, Daniel Kahneman takes readers on a tour of the mind, explaining how the two systems of thought shape our judgments and decisions. System 1 is fast, automatic, and emotional, while System 2 is slower, effortful, and logical. Kahneman discusses the impact of cognitive biases, the difficulties of predicting future happiness, and the effects of overconfidence on corporate strategies. He offers practical insights into how to guard against mental glitches and how to benefit from slow thinking in both personal and business life. The book also explores the distinction between the 'experiencing self' and the 'remembering self' and their roles in our perception of happiness.

Deep Learning Illustrated is a comprehensive guide to deep learning, offering a unique visual and interactive approach. It explains deep learning techniques through straightforward analogies, vivid illustrations, and hands-on Python code in Jupyter notebooks. The book covers essential theory, including artificial neurons, training, optimization, convolutional nets, recurrent nets, generative adversarial networks (GANs), and deep reinforcement learning. It also focuses on practical applications such as machine vision, natural language processing, image generation, and game-playing algorithms, using libraries like Keras, TensorFlow, and PyTorch.

In this book, Donald Hoffman challenges the notion that our senses report back objective reality. He argues that evolution has sculpted our minds for fitness, not to accurately represent reality, leading to a mismatch between our perceptions and the true nature of the world. Hoffman introduces the concept of 'Fitness Beats Truth' and uses analogies like the computer desktop to explain how our consciousness interacts with the world in a way that is useful but not necessarily reflective of underlying reality. He also proposes 'Conscious Realism,' suggesting that conscious agents create the perception of an objective reality, rather than the other way around.

In this book, Gardner outlines his groundbreaking theory of multiple intelligences, which posits that individuals possess a range of cognitive abilities rather than a single general intelligence. The theory is detailed in his seminal work 'Frames of Mind' (1983), and this reader provides further insights and applications of the theory in various educational and practical contexts.