How the Mind Works Book: A Fascinating Summary

[00:00:00] Hi, welcome to Bookie. To unlock science fiction movies reflected a public fear, that

[00:00:26] robots would one day become too intelligent and powerful, resulting in them rebelling

[00:00:31] against human beings.

[00:00:34] Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, once proposed the famous three laws of robotics

[00:00:39] in his short story Runaround.

[00:00:42] The three laws are as follows.

[00:00:44] First, a robot may not injure a human being,

[00:00:47] or through an action allow a human being to come to harm. Second, a robot must obey orders given

[00:00:53] it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law. Third, a robot must

[00:01:00] protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

[00:01:07] Over time, however, this fear has unexpectedly abated.

[00:01:12] People are beginning to understand that malicious crime, much like vision, motion coordination

[00:01:17] and common sense, does not come naturally to artificial intelligence but requires programming. When examining ourselves, we

[00:01:26] will find that every function is based on very complex programming. This includes our

[00:01:31] vision, actions, common sense, violence, morality and ability to love. Computers lack the complex

[00:01:39] minds of human beings. According to Pinker, the mind is a system of organs of computation.

[00:01:46] It is the result of natural selection, produced as our ancestors went through the process

[00:01:51] of overcoming the challenges to survival.

[00:01:55] In other words, the mind is not the brain, but the result of the brain's actions.

[00:02:00] So, how exactly did our minds gain consciousness and evolve?

[00:02:04] What capabilities do we possess?

[00:02:07] This book How the Mind Works will take you on a journey to help you understand the science

[00:02:11] of the mind.

[00:02:13] The author of this book is Stephen Pinker, a world-renowned linguist and cognitive psychologist.

[00:02:19] He is a professor of experimental psychology at Harvard University, and a celebrated TED

[00:02:25] speaker.

[00:02:26] Pinker has dedicated himself to studying children's language acquisition for many years.

[00:02:32] His book The Language Instinct, appeared on the list of 100 best science books of the

[00:02:37] 20th century by the magazine Scientific American.

[00:02:41] Pinker once worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a professor of psychology,

[00:02:47] and eventually became director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience there. Pinker was

[00:02:52] twice listed on foreign policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers, and was named one

[00:02:58] of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Based on his research in psychology, sociology,

[00:03:05] biology and other fields, Pinker deconstructs the fantastically complex

[00:03:10] design of the human mind. He also explains that the mind is the fundamental

[00:03:15] reason why humans were able to claim our place at the top of the biological food

[00:03:19] chain. This bookie will give you a detailed description of the mind through the exploration of two

[00:03:26] key areas.

[00:03:27] These include the origins of the mind and the mind's abilities.

[00:03:32] Let's examine them one by one.

[00:03:35] Behind all the human behaviors we take for granted, there is a fantastically complex

[00:03:40] design.

[00:03:41] As human beings, we run into engineering problems every day.

[00:03:45] Even the simple act of a four-year-old child following a request to put away their toys

[00:03:50] involves the use of much more precise mechanisms than that required by the moon landing.

[00:03:56] It is no exaggeration that all human behavior is the result of our mind's actions.

[00:04:01] Let's look at the first theory, the computational theory of mind.

[00:04:07] As we mentioned earlier, the mind is the result of the brain's actions.

[00:04:12] So, what special characteristic does the brain have that allows us to observe, think, feel, and act?

[00:04:19] This special ability is the act of information processing, which is also called computation.

[00:04:26] Computers were first programmed to simulate a hypothetical mental computer.

[00:04:30] Of course, our brains are much more complicated than computers.

[00:04:35] An essential concept for understanding the computational theory of mind is the computer

[00:04:40] metaphor.

[00:04:41] In the simplest terms, the human brain is comparable to a computer, and all

[00:04:45] human cognitive activities can be understood as a special kind of computation. This is

[00:04:51] essentially identical to a computer's computing principles, for the brain also relies on the

[00:04:56] process of information input, information processing, and information output. After external information is inputted, it is stored

[00:05:06] in the memory. Memory functions as an internal bulletin board. When various notifications

[00:05:12] are posted on the bulletin board, a background program will start to run and respond accordingly.

[00:05:18] Of course during this process, the background program will also trigger additional notifications,

[00:05:24] and proceed to post these notifications on the bulletin board,

[00:05:27] which will in turn trigger other background programs to run.

[00:05:31] After all external inputs have been processed, an output result will be obtained.

[00:05:37] This is how our minds are perceived to work, according to the computational theory of mind.

[00:05:43] So, why do we use the computational theory to explain how the mind works?

[00:05:49] The most typical basis for this theory is the existence of artificial intelligence.

[00:05:54] An important characteristic of artificial intelligence is mind computation.

[00:05:59] It has been proven that simple artificial intelligence functions can be achieved by installing external

[00:06:05] perceptrons on computers, and setting internal algorithms.

[00:06:10] Our minds process information in the same way as artificial intelligence.

[00:06:15] In order for the mind to work, the brain needs to process information received in different

[00:06:19] forms to finally realize an output.

[00:06:22] The book introduces an experiment. Volunteers were

[00:06:26] asked to sit in front of a video screen on which pairs of letters flashed briefly. If

[00:06:31] the pair of letters were the same, such as AA, they were asked to press one button. If

[00:06:37] the letters were different, such as AB, they were asked to press another button. There

[00:06:43] was also an additional variable, sometimes the matching letters were both uppercase or

[00:06:48] lowercase, and sometimes one was uppercase and the other lowercase.

[00:06:52] In other words, the former were physically identical, and the latter were physically

[00:06:57] different.

[00:06:58] As it turned out, when the letters were identical, people pressed the buttons more quickly and

[00:07:03] accurately than when they were different.

[00:07:06] This might be because the participants treated the letters as visual forms, and could simply

[00:07:11] match them more quickly according to their physical characteristics.

[00:07:15] When the letters were physically different, the case conversion took an extra tenth of

[00:07:19] a second of reaction time.

[00:07:21] However, when the variable changed, so that the letters were

[00:07:25] no longer paired what appeared one after the other, the difference disappeared. The reaction

[00:07:30] time of the volunteers was the same, whether the letters were physically identical or different.

[00:07:36] Evidently, when compared with the previous experiment, the mind was able to automatically

[00:07:41] convert a visual representation into an alphabetic representation.

[00:07:47] Pinker points out that our minds have at least four major forms of representation, and the

[00:07:52] visual representation illustrated in this experiment is just one of them.

[00:07:57] We can form stereo vision in the brain through our eyes.

[00:08:00] Although objects can only present two-dimensional images on the retina, with the help of details

[00:08:05] such as motion, shadow and shape, we can construct a three-dimensional representation

[00:08:10] of the real world.

[00:08:12] Another example is the letter experiment we just mentioned, which showed us the process

[00:08:17] of filtering and processing information through vision.

[00:08:21] After our eyes receive new information, some of it will be discarded.

[00:08:25] The mind will then combine the remaining information with our existing experience to reassemble

[00:08:30] into new cognition.

[00:08:32] Pinker explained that, this is because the mind provides us with a cognitive framework

[00:08:37] for observing the world, which acts as a filter for what we see.

[00:08:41] Therefore, people with different mental models may have different feelings,

[00:08:45] or draw completely different conclusions, even when they observe the same thing.

[00:08:51] The second form is phonological representation. Its role in the mind is somewhat similar to

[00:08:57] playing an audio clip on a record player. Phonological representation relies heavily on

[00:09:03] short-term memory.

[00:09:05] A third form is grammatical representation, nouns and verbs, phrases and clauses, syllables, and so on,

[00:09:13] all arranged into hierarchical trees.

[00:09:16] The fourth form is mentalese, the language of thought in which our conceptual knowledge is processed.

[00:09:22] After listening to this book you may forget almost

[00:09:25] everything about the wording, grammar and intonation, but you will hopefully remember

[00:09:30] the core knowledge of this book. Mentalese will help you capture the content and gist

[00:09:35] of this book.

[00:09:38] Using the different commands input by these four mental representations, our brain will

[00:09:42] mobilize the mind for computation and processing, and

[00:09:46] finally respond accordingly.

[00:09:49] So how did our mind come to manifest such sophisticated and delicate design? Where do

[00:09:54] our minds come from? We will find out in our next section, The Theory of Natural Selection.

[00:10:02] The core idea of natural selection theory is that the human mind is the result of genetic

[00:10:07] evolution.

[00:10:08] Throughout billions of years of evolution, we have discarded useless genes, and passed

[00:10:13] on those that aid our survival and reproduction.

[00:10:17] The result is humankind's advanced and complex minds.

[00:10:21] In fact, the biological characteristics of all creatures are the result of natural selection.

[00:10:27] For example, the speed of cheetahs, the eyesight of eagles, and the scales of pangolins.

[00:10:33] Each species has evolved an information processing device and physical properties to solve its

[00:10:38] own problems.

[00:10:40] The natural selection process produced thousands of different evolutionary paths.

[00:10:45] The path taken by humans was somewhat different, because our genes have preserved and developed the weapon that was most suitable for us, our minds.

[00:10:54] Why are the minds of humans more evolved than those of other animals?

[00:10:59] To respond, Pinker in vision four factors. The first factor is vision.

[00:11:06] Compared to other animals, our vision is more three-dimensional, so we can more accurately

[00:11:11] calculate the distance between ourselves and pray.

[00:11:14] At the same time, we have transformed our sensitivity to color into a survival skill.

[00:11:20] For example, we know that the color of ripe fruits is very bright and the color of rotten fruits is unpleasant.

[00:11:28] The second favorable factor is group living.

[00:11:32] A cluster of animals is more likely to be found by predators, but the likelihood that any one individual will be picked off is decreased.

[00:11:40] For example, in another book he entitled What a Fish Knows, it is illustrated how a large

[00:11:45] school of fish has a high degree of consistency in a visual sense, which can confuse predators.

[00:11:51] As a result, it is difficult to catch prey from large schools of fish, such as sea bass,

[00:11:57] dogfish and marit fish.

[00:11:59] At the same time, living together means there are more eyes, ears, and noses to detect predators,

[00:12:06] so they can recognize threats more quickly and easily.

[00:12:10] Another example, that we mentioned in our bookisapiens, a brief history of humankind,

[00:12:15] when a green monkey in a troop spots an eagle or a lion, it will immediately warn its companions,

[00:12:21] so that other green monkeys can quickly avoid danger. In addition to this,

[00:12:26] living together can improve foraging efficiency among animals. They can share and defend the

[00:12:32] surplus of food that competitors haven't found. Besides good vision and group living,

[00:12:38] the third requirement for intelligence is the hand. Why is this? Primates evolved in trees and have hands to grasp branches.

[00:12:47] Monkeys use all four limbs to run along the treetops, and chimpanzees use simple tools

[00:12:52] to dig out termites and bash nuts. It is because of the increased use of our hands that our

[00:12:58] bodies began to change the use of our arms, and eventually adopted upright posture.

[00:13:04] According to Darwin, three particularly

[00:13:06] important factors in human evolution are tool use, bipedalism, and hunting, all of which

[00:13:12] require the use of our hands.

[00:13:15] Hunting is the fourth defining factor in our intelligence. We all know that meat provides

[00:13:20] far more calories and nutrients than plants. This is especially true in winter,

[00:13:26] when there is typically a shortage of plants. To survive, humans needed to increase the proportion

[00:13:32] of meat in our diet through hunting. Additionally, by hunting in large numbers,

[00:13:37] males had a larger surplus of food to exchange with females for mating, and could give the

[00:13:42] remaining meat to their offspring.

[00:13:45] In this way, they were able to replicate their genes on a larger scale.

[00:13:50] Of course, no one knows for sure whether these four factors formed the basis for the ascent

[00:13:55] of human intelligence.

[00:13:56] However, Pinker asserts that these traits do explain why our ancestors were the only

[00:14:01] species out of 50 million to follow this evolutionary route.

[00:14:06] The following is what we want you to take away from this section, the evolution of the mind.

[00:14:12] First, our minds are not our brains, but our brains' actions. Second, we can use the computational

[00:14:19] theory of mind, and the theory of natural selection to explain the origin and evolution of the mind.

[00:14:26] The core belief of the computational theory of mind is that the human mind works in the same

[00:14:31] way as a computer. It interprets external information received by the brain through

[00:14:36] different representations, then processes it, and finally produces an output. Our minds have at

[00:14:42] least four major formats of representation, namely visual representation,

[00:14:48] phonological representation, grammatical representation and mental ease.

[00:14:53] The key idea of natural selection theory is that the human mind is the result of genetic

[00:14:58] evolution.

[00:15:00] Four factors contributed to the evolution of the human mind, and they are vision, group

[00:15:05] living, hands and hunting.

[00:15:08] Today we are just sharing limited bookie.

[00:15:11] To unlock more key insights of world-class bestseller, please download our app.

[00:15:17] Just search for B-O-O-K-E-Y at Apple Store or Google Play.

[00:15:22] You will get 7 days free trail with more features.