Friday, September 3, 2010

Your Brain is (Almost) Perfect, a book worth reading


Read Montague's Your Brain is (Almost) Perfect: How We Make Decisions is a fascinating exploration of the way in which our minds make decisions.  Using numerous analogies to computational models constructed by visionaries like Alan Turing, as well as comparisons to utilitarian decision-making theories, Montague explores various issues of interest, including how humans can override their own survival instincts in the right scenarios.

The book is somewhat technical; I found myself on several tangents in order to get some background information on some of Montague's examples, but it was an interesting and worthwhile journey.

An interesting piece is Montague's take on efficiency.  Similar in some ways to the utilitarian calculus of "maximize benefit, minimize harm".  Montague describes efficiency as "the best long-term returns from the least immediate investment"....a fascinating way to discuss the behavior of procrastinators. (ha!)

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