5 ms·

Such a joy to see Sir Roger Penrose awarded with this honor. One of my favorite contemporary intellectuals. If anyone hasn't seen it, I recommend his recent ap

Such a joy to see Sir Roger Penrose awarded with this honor. One of my favorite contemporary intellectuals. If anyone hasn't seen it, I recommend his recent appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orMtwOz6Db0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orMtwOz6Db0

wenc 6y ago
I somehow always had the impression that Roger Penrose was a numerical computation guy (Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse). I did not realize he had this vast of scope of a contributions in physics. Certainly quite impressive.
- melling 6y ago
  He has also written a few books. https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Penrose/e/B000AQ045A%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Penrose/e/B000AQ045A%3Fref=dbs_...
  - mongol 6y ago
    Has anyone read his writings on consciousness? When I was young and still believed in free will I imagined that consciousness used quantum mechanics as a way to generate free will. I later learned that Penrose had theories that sounded similar. But have not read about it.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - petters 6y ago
      Here is an interesting discussion of this work by physicists: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2756 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2756
    - codebolt 6y ago
      I've read both. The first was the most impactful to me personally. The way he uses Gödels theorems to argue against the computability of consciousness is actually quite ingenious and it's presented in such a straightforward way that I could easily grasp it from first principles. I also find the criticisms I've seen against it to be knee-jerkish and flimsy. Orch OR seems like a shot in the dark, and while certainly an interesting thought experiment I'd like to see more evidence before I buy in to it.
      - mannykannot 6y ago
        There have been many responses to the Gödelean argument that miss the point, but I have been persuaded that it is vulnerable on the basis of its assumption that a logical system must be sound if it is to be a candidate for capturing a human's reasoning powers. Minsky, among others, pointed out that our ability to believe falsehoods, and to hold contradictory beliefs, opens the possibility, if not the expectation, that human reasoning is not sound.
    - pbhjpbhj 6y ago
      IIRC be wrote about that in The Emperor's New Mind a formative book for me (even though I was still at highschool when I read it) but one I haven't really returned to now I've a more academic understanding of the subject matter. To-do!
  - ThomasBHickey 6y ago
    Another list: https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82139094/ https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82139094/
- dnautics 6y ago
  penrose tilings is a contributions to pure mathematics, too
  - pbhjpbhj 6y ago
    Veritasium YouTube channel has a good video on Penrose tiles that my kids just watched, https://youtu.be/48sCx-wBs34 https://youtu.be/48sCx-wBs34 .
seiferteric 6y ago
Yes so exciting to see this. His book the Road to Reality is revolutionary to me and I have not even finished it (still digesting). Every time I hear him speak it seems I learn some new perspective on the universe that fundamentally changes my thinking, really inspiring person.
ecoled_ame 6y ago
Now we’ve got to listen to his Orch OR theory about how microtubules are quantum computers of consciousness! as a biologist I’m so excited for this theory to catch on and refine our notions of neuronal information processing beyond synaptic theory.

wenc 6y ago

I somehow always had the impression that Roger Penrose was a numerical computation guy (Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse). I did not realize he had this vast of scope of a contributions in physics. Certainly quite impressive.

melling 6y ago
He has also written a few books. https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Penrose/e/B000AQ045A%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Penrose/e/B000AQ045A%3Fref=dbs_...
- mongol 6y ago
  Has anyone read his writings on consciousness? When I was young and still believed in free will I imagined that consciousness used quantum mechanics as a way to generate free will. I later learned that Penrose had theories that sounded similar. But have not read about it.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - petters 6y ago
    Here is an interesting discussion of this work by physicists: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2756 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2756
  - codebolt 6y ago
    I've read both. The first was the most impactful to me personally. The way he uses Gödels theorems to argue against the computability of consciousness is actually quite ingenious and it's presented in such a straightforward way that I could easily grasp it from first principles. I also find the criticisms I've seen against it to be knee-jerkish and flimsy. Orch OR seems like a shot in the dark, and while certainly an interesting thought experiment I'd like to see more evidence before I buy in to it.
    - mannykannot 6y ago
      There have been many responses to the Gödelean argument that miss the point, but I have been persuaded that it is vulnerable on the basis of its assumption that a logical system must be sound if it is to be a candidate for capturing a human's reasoning powers. Minsky, among others, pointed out that our ability to believe falsehoods, and to hold contradictory beliefs, opens the possibility, if not the expectation, that human reasoning is not sound.
  - pbhjpbhj 6y ago
    IIRC be wrote about that in The Emperor's New Mind a formative book for me (even though I was still at highschool when I read it) but one I haven't really returned to now I've a more academic understanding of the subject matter. To-do!
- ThomasBHickey 6y ago
  Another list: https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82139094/ https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82139094/
dnautics 6y ago
penrose tilings is a contributions to pure mathematics, too
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  Veritasium YouTube channel has a good video on Penrose tiles that my kids just watched, https://youtu.be/48sCx-wBs34 https://youtu.be/48sCx-wBs34 .

seiferteric 6y ago

Yes so exciting to see this. His book the Road to Reality is revolutionary to me and I have not even finished it (still digesting). Every time I hear him speak it seems I learn some new perspective on the universe that fundamentally changes my thinking, really inspiring person.

ecoled_ame 6y ago

Now we’ve got to listen to his Orch OR theory about how microtubules are quantum computers of consciousness! as a biologist I’m so excited for this theory to catch on and refine our notions of neuronal information processing beyond synaptic theory.