After Thought: The Computer Challenge to

Human IntelligenceBy: James Bailey

Book Review by Grace Gilles CS110

Reassigning the Tasks of the MindBailey discusses how, during the industrial revolution,

tasks were first industrialized on the human scale and then fully revolutionized, beyond the human scale.

He speculates that while the electronic or computing revolution has made this first transition, the second is yet to come. That is, at some point, computer capabilities will surpass what humans can even comprehend.

He predicts that computers will be able to make predictions in the life and social sciences and that, because their “thought processes” will be different from those of humans, even the most brilliant scientists will not be able to verify the work of these machines.

The Book of NaturePart I: Place

The ancient Greeks used geometry to determine the place of everything within the universe. They used fictitious or abstract reference points to place bodies.

Geometric diagrams and proofs were favored during this period, rather than the earlier algebraic equations.

The development of science in this phase was the result of the combination of many smaller efforts of different scientists.

Descartes theorized that there were two types of sciences: those that could be sequentialized and computed by the sequential human mind and those that could not.

The Book of NaturePart II: Pace

Technological advances allowed the focus of science to shift from “place” to “pace” with the principle language becoming that of physics.

Scientists’ use of equation and variables allowed them to apply a single formula to many situations, creating a set of “universal laws”

Computers improved in speed but not in technique.Lewis Fry Richardson attempted to predict the results or

arms races using differential equations and is now known as the father of weather prediction.Attempted to design a parallel computing system for

forecasting weather worldwide.

This is the current part of the book of nature – scientists are focusing on patterns and networks in computing, using new “intermaths” and parallel evolution.

These new “intermaths” are inherently parallel, competitive, sprawling, and emergent. By processing large amounts of data, they are able to adjust

and “learn from their own feedback.The butterfly effect poses problems – when a small

variation in initial data can have a profound affect on the result.

The Book of NaturePart III: Pattern

The AftermathBailey suggests that while humans consciously prefer to

think sequentially, our subconiscious and electronic circuits are more suited to operate in parallel.

He speculates the creation of an artificially intelligent machine would be “the last invention a man need ever make”(217).

Once a person has been trained to think sequentially, it is difficult to introduce the pattern of parallel thought. Thus, some experts suggest teaching students about parallel methods of thinking first in order to help them adapt to this new phase of computing.