THE ACCLAIMED BESTSELLER BY THE AUTHOR OF THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT
STEVEN PINKER
ITTY, LUCID AND ULTIMATELY ENTHRALLING' OBSERVER
Just with Paypal
Book Details
Price
|
2.00 |
|---|---|
Pages
| 676 p |
File Size
|
5,076 KB |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 0-14-0J4491-3 |
Copyright©
| Stephen Pinker, 1997 |
Steven Pinker, a native of Montreal, studied experimental psychology
at McGill University and Harvard University. After serving on the faculties
of Harvard and Stanford universities he moved to the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, where he is currently Professor of
Psychology and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience.
Pinker has studied many aspects of language and of visual cognition,
with a focus on language acquisition in children. He is a fellow of several
scientific societies, and has been awarded research prizes from the
the National Academy of Sciences and the American Psychological
Association, a teaching prize from MIT, and book prizes from the
American Psychological Association, the Linguistics Society of America
and the Los Angeles Times. His classic The Language Instinct is also
available in Penguin.
....
STANDARD EQUIPMENT
Why are there so many robots in fiction, but none in real life?
I would pay a lot for a robot that could put away the dishes or
run simple errands. But I will not have the opportunity in
this century, and probably not in the next one either. There are, of course,
robots that weld or spray-paint on assembly lines and that roll through
laboratory hallways; my question is about the machines that walk, talk,
see, and think, often better than their human masters. Since 1920, when
Karel Capek coined the word robot in his play R.U.R., dramatists have
freely conjured them up: Speedy, Cutie, and Dave in Isaac Asimov's I,
Robot, Robbie in Forbidden Planet, the flailing canister in Lost in Space,
the daleks in Dr. Who, Rosie the Maid in Thejetsons, Nomad in Star Trek,
Hymie in Get Smart, the vacant butlers and bickering haberdashers in
Sleeper, R2D2 and C3PO in Star Wars, the Terminator in The Terminator,
Lieutenant Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the
wisecracking film critics in Mystery Science Theater 3000.
This book is not about robots; it is about the human mind. I will try to
explain what the mind is, where it came from, and how it lets us see,
think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion, and philosophy.
On the way I will try to throw light on distinctively human
quirks. Why do memories fade? How does makeup change the look of a
face? Where do ethnic stereotypes come from, and when are they irrational?
Why do people lose their tempers? What makes children bratty?
Why do fools fall in love? What makes us laugh? And why do people
believe in ghosts and spirits?
....
Table of Contents
Preface ix
1 Standard Equipment 3
2 Thinking Machines 59
3 Revenge of the Nerds 149
4 The Mind's Eye 211
5 Good Ideas 299
6 Hotheads 363
7 Family Values 425
8 The Meaning of Life 521
Notes 567
References 589
Index 629
Screenbook
....
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England
Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
First published in the USA by W. W. Norton 1997
First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane The Penguin Press 1998
Published in Penguin Books 1998
1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2
The notices on page 627 constitute an extension of this copyright page
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives pic