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Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking
Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking | Daniel C. Dennett
2 posts | 3 read | 2 reading | 4 to read
“The best new book I’ve read.”—Richard Dawkins, New York Times Book Review Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders" meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will. With patience and wit, Dennett deftly deploys his thinking tools to gain traction on these thorny issues while offering readers insight into how and why each tool was built. Alongside well-known favorites like Occam’s Razor and reductio ad absurdum lie thrilling descriptions of Dennett’s own creations: Trapped in the Robot Control Room, Beware of the Prime Mammal, and The Wandering Two-Bitser. Ranging across disciplines as diverse as psychology, biology, computer science, and physics, Dennett’s tools embrace in equal measure light-heartedness and accessibility as they welcome uninitiated and seasoned readers alike. As always, his goal remains to teach you how to "think reliably and even gracefully about really hard questions." A sweeping work of intellectual seriousness that’s also studded with impish delights, Intuition Pumps offers intrepid thinkers—in all walks of life—delicious opportunities to explore their pet ideas with new powers.
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Though Dennett claims this is about thinking tools and discussing thinking problems ("boom crutches"), the Boston Globe is more accurate: "an excellent introduction to Dennett's body of thought." Thus, Intuition Pumps is less "how to think" and more "how to think like Dennett thinks" That being said, there are some valuable thought experiments here to get the mind going about important subjects like evolution, consciousness, and free will.

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Lindy
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Litsy is a cordial corner of the interwebs, but other places could use more civility. I liked today's short post about intelligent criticism. https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism...

ReadingEnvy I always like to quote, "to know how to criticize is good; to know how to create is better." 8y
Lindy @ReadingEnvy That's a great quote. I think creativity is an essential aspect of being human. 8y
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