Consciousness Explained
Daniel Dennett
7 people recommended it in 5 threads, 2014–2020.
1 commenter pushed back on it — worth reading the threads.
What people on Hacker News said
For what it's worth, Daniel Dennett spends considerable time in _Consciousness Explained_ (and his other books) deconstructing both why Searle's Chinese Room argument is misleading, and also why is seems intuitively appealing (he calls it an "intuition pump").
I don't agree with a lot of what he lays out, and it doesn't quite accomplish the title, but it challenges a lot of common intuitions about consciousness in a way I found productive.
It's great, now I'm equipped to annoy my friends with arguments like 'dogs are not sentient but computers could be.'
Where it comes up
- The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind 2018 · 3 recommendations
- Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before? 2020 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models? 2017 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life? 2015 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What book are you reading right now? 2014 · 1 recommendation