My Summer Reading List
Looks like a pretty good list.  I saw another reference to <i>The Box</i> somewhere recently (actually, I think it was here on HN) and I kinda want to read that.<p>FWIW, I'll share a short list of my own, including stuff I've already read, am reading, or plan to read soon:<p>1. <i>How To Create A Mind</i> - Ray Kurzweil. (already read) Not a literal "how to" on creating a mind, but an interesting read from an AI pioneer.  Coming at it as an "AI layman", I found it thought provoking and suggestive of other topics to explore and books to read.  Which leads to:<p>2. <i>On Intelligence</i> - Jeff Hawkins. (reading now) - I've seen some reviews of the Kurzweil book suggest that his material is very derivative of Hawkins' HTM, and - to be fair - Kurzweil does mention Hawkins' work in HTCAM.  Since I'd been planning to read <i>On Intelligence</i> for, like, forever anyway, now seemed like a good time to go ahead and read it, to compare/contrast it and the Kurzweil book.  So far I can see that they are going down some similar paths, and between the two of them, I feel like they may be onto something.  This is really whetting my appetite for getting more into AI stuff again.<p>3. <i>NOS4A2</i> - Joe Hill (already read) - very fun bit of summer fiction.  A neat re-invention of the vampire tale.  This was my first Joe Hill novel, and I enjoyed it.  The Stephen King influence does show through pretty strongly, but this is still very original in it's own right.  Joe Hill may never becomes as prolific or famous as his father (or maybe he will, who knows?) but he's a pretty good writer.  Fun book if you're looking for fiction and like "horror" themed stories.<p>4. <i>Summa Technologiae</i> - Stanislaw Lem (reading now) - it's hard to give a good description of this, as I haven't read much of it.  How about I just give the Wikipedia link, and you can get the summary from there. I'll just say that I'm enjoying this so far.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_Technologiae" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_Technologiae</a><p>5. <i>Who Owns The Future</i> - Jaron Lanier (reading now) - I had already bought this and had it queued up, and then the author came up in a recent HN thread (<a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6067921" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6067921</a>), which prompted me to move it up the stack a bit.  I <i>think</i> I disagree with the author on a number of things, but the thing is, it's probably <i>good</i> to read books by people you disagree with, to help avoid tunnel vision.<p>6. <i>Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think</i> - Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler - (planning to read) - I get the feeling that Lanier would consider his work something of a counterpoint to this one, as he touches on the idea of "Abundance" in what seems to be a dismissive way, early in WOTF. From the description on Amazon.com:<p><i>We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. This bold, contrarian view, backed up by exhaustive research, introduces our near-term future, where exponentially growing technologies and three other powerful forces are conspiring to better the lives of billions. An antidote to pessimism by tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler.</i><p>7. <i>Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization</i> - K. Eric Drexler - (planning to read) - I know, there's sort of a theme going on here.  A lot about the future and what effect technology will or won't have.  This particular title focus specifically on nanotech.  From the Amazon description:<p><i>K. Eric Drexler is the founding father of nanotechnology—the science of engineering on a molecular level. In Radical Abundance, he shows how rapid scientific progress is about to change our world. Thanks to atomically precise manufacturing, we will soon have the power to produce radically more of what people want, and at a lower cost. The result will shake the very foundations of our economy and environment.</i><p>8. <i>Infinite Progress: How the Internet and Technology Will End Ignorance, Disease, Poverty, Hunger, and War</i> - Byron Reese (planning to read) - Another book on this theme about technology and the future.  From amazon:<p><i>For years we've been inundated with bleak forecasts about the future. But in this electrifying new book, author Byron Reese debunks the pessimistic outlook as dangerous, and shows instead how technology will soon create a dramatically better world for every person on earth, beyond anything we have dared to imagine.
With the art of a storyteller, Reese synthesizes history, technology, and sociology into an exciting, fast-moving narrative that shows how technological change has had dramatic effects on humanity in the past. He then looks forward at the technological changes we know are coming--from genetics, nanotechnology, robotics, and many other fields--and explores how they will vastly increase wealth, prolong our lifespans, redefine human rights, and alter the social fabric of the world.<p>Reese explains how the Internet, human ingenuity, and technological innovation will help us forever end the five historic plagues of human existence: ignorance, disease, poverty, hunger, and war. With a rational and researched optimism, Reese sees the future not as a world in a downward spiral, but as destined for progress beyond our imaginations.</i><p>9. <i>Creative Intelligence: Harnessing the Power to Create, Connect, and Inspire</i> - Bruce Nussbaum (planning to read) - This caught my eye at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago, and is queued up waiting to be read.  From the amazon.com description:<p><i>Offering insights from the spheres of anthropology, psychology, education, design, and business, Creative Intelligence by Bruce Nussbaum, a leading thinker, commentator, and curator on the subjects of design, creativity, and innovation, is first book to identify and explore creative intelligence as a new form of cultural literacy and as a powerful method for problem-solving, driving innovation, and sparking start-up capitalism.  Nussbaum investigates the ways in which individuals, corporations, and nations are boosting their creative intelligence — CQ—and how that translates into their abilities to make new products and solve new problems. Ultimately, Creative Intelligence shows how to frame problems in new ways and devise solutions that are original and highly social.</i><p>10. <i>Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking by Daniel C. Dennett</i> (planning to read) - c'mon, it's Daniel Dennett!<p>11. <i>Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking</i> - Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander (planning  to read) - c'mon, it's Douglas Hofstadter!