 Cover of the hardcover edition | |
| Author | Roger Penrose |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Joel Nakamura |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Artificial intelligence, mathematics, quantum mechanics |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 1st edition |
Publication date | 1994 (1st ed.) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print, e-book |
| Pages | 457 pages |
| ISBN | 0-19-853978-9 (1st ed.) |
| OCLC | 30593111 |
| 006.3 20 | |
| LC Class | Q335 .P416 1994 |
| Preceded by | The Emperor's New Mind |
| Followed by | The Road to Reality |
Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness is a 1994 book by mathematical physicist Roger Penrose that serves as a followup to his 1989 book The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and The Laws of Physics.
Penrose hypothesizes that:
- Human consciousness is non-algorithmic, and thus is not capable of being modelled by a conventional Turing machine type of digital computer.
- Quantum mechanics plays an essential role in the understanding of human consciousness; specifically, he believes that microtubules within neurons support quantum superpositions.
- The objective collapse of the quantum wavefunction of the microtubules is critical for consciousness.
- The collapse in question is physical behaviour that is non-algorithmic and transcends the limits of computability.
- The human mind has abilities that no Turing machine could possess because of this mechanism of non-computable physics.