Superminds

The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together

Thomas W. Malone, Cedar Mill Lib., 006.3 2018

A few engaging chapters followed by 200+ pages of tendentious editorializing.

The important points:

• Programs are fast but do not have "general intelligence"
• Groups of people connecting with and to computers are vastly more capable than individuals or computers alone.
• Connectivity is the key, and the reason why humans form large groups, and have large neocortexes (to keep track of relationships).

The book AIQ makes many of the same points in a more enjoyable way. Superminds does have some unique material.

The focus of the book is on "designed" experiments rather than "discovery".

Early in the book, a description of a group generated proof of the Density Hales Jewett Theorem

https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth

https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2014/6/175183-neuromorphic-computing-gets-ready-for-the-really-big-time/abstract Neuromorphic Computing - analog circuits that emulate neurons. Carver Mead suggested this. But chips don't physically rewire themselves, and NxN switch arrays are power-hungry and slow.