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Conscious Robots: If We Really Had Free Will, What Would We Do All Day?
"Easy to understand and persuasive", "Lives up to all the hype", "An absolutely necessary book", "Should be taught in schools", "Dynamite, this is a brilliant book 107 minutes to change the way you think about everything. In March 2017, Jeff Bezos announced he'd be spending $1 billion a year of his $75 billion Amazon fortune on the Blue Origin Space Rocket company. Which suggests he hasn't read Conscious Robots. By reading, you will
Why we’re so convinced that we’re in charge when we’re really just carrying out evolution’s instructions.How "being a robot" explains why life, as Buddha suggested, is "inherently unsatisfactory", despite our luxurious homes, successful careers and loving families.What taking a "happy pill" would feel like - it's more than just a mild sedative.When heroin is a friend, and when it is a foe.How humans will one day take control of their conscious minds, get happy and stay happy (provided someone has spent $75 billion on neurochemical research). It won't be free will, but it will be what we would do with free will if we really had it. Praise for Conscious "One of the closest-to-the-truth arguments I have read in a while.""Tells it like it is with no punches pulled.""Offers another resolution of the Fermi Paradox that made me smile.""A unique, concise argument.""Bad-Ass."
Why we’re so convinced that we’re in charge when we’re really just carrying out evolution’s instructions.How "being a robot" explains why life, as Buddha suggested, is "inherently unsatisfactory", despite our luxurious homes, successful careers and loving families.What taking a "happy pill" would feel like - it's more than just a mild sedative.When heroin is a friend, and when it is a foe.How humans will one day take control of their conscious minds, get happy and stay happy (provided someone has spent $75 billion on neurochemical research). It won't be free will, but it will be what we would do with free will if we really had it. Praise for Conscious "One of the closest-to-the-truth arguments I have read in a while.""Tells it like it is with no punches pulled.""Offers another resolution of the Fermi Paradox that made me smile.""A unique, concise argument.""Bad-Ass."
107 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 25, 2019
" A Man can surely do what he wills, but cannot determine what he wills."-Schopenhauer
This is a very short, weirdly structured little book that argues that we are genetic slaves.
And Kwatz argues it well.
As I have read a lot on this subject, there was nothing new here but that was not a problem for me. His arguments are simple and easy to understand for anyone starting out in this line of inquiry.
"We are survival machines-robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth that still fills me with astonishment. Although I have known it for years, I never seem to get fully used to it."-Richard Dawkins
Well, that is because our evolutionary wiring wants us to believe that we have some say in why we do what we do, we are wired to believe the illusion of free will. We don't get "used" to knowing we are robots, because our automatic wiring won't let us. Evolution's little mechanism that keeps us motivated, it keeps us striving, wanting, and having. Trapped inside our survival machines, we can't stop doing things for survival purposes and thinking that we are doing them by choice.
The purpose of our survival machine is to spread our genes. The "purpose" of our conscious "individual" self is to feel good as long as we stay alive, but our feelings are as much determined by wiring, neurons, and chemical interactions in the brain as the need to survive and reproduce and thus outside of our control or choice. "Feeling good" is designed to be transitory, comparative, so that our discomfort, misery forces us to act on the world in the hope of feeling good again. The vicious circle called life.
Kwatz had weird "pop quizzes" peppered throughout the book, and the whole structure/layout seemed designed more like a pamphlet than a book. Strange. But minor annoyances.
Overall, a good argument against free will, one that provides ample evidence for why Buddha's adage "Life is inherently unsatisfying" is such a profound truth.
This is a very short, weirdly structured little book that argues that we are genetic slaves.
And Kwatz argues it well.
As I have read a lot on this subject, there was nothing new here but that was not a problem for me. His arguments are simple and easy to understand for anyone starting out in this line of inquiry.
"We are survival machines-robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth that still fills me with astonishment. Although I have known it for years, I never seem to get fully used to it."-Richard Dawkins
Well, that is because our evolutionary wiring wants us to believe that we have some say in why we do what we do, we are wired to believe the illusion of free will. We don't get "used" to knowing we are robots, because our automatic wiring won't let us. Evolution's little mechanism that keeps us motivated, it keeps us striving, wanting, and having. Trapped inside our survival machines, we can't stop doing things for survival purposes and thinking that we are doing them by choice.
The purpose of our survival machine is to spread our genes. The "purpose" of our conscious "individual" self is to feel good as long as we stay alive, but our feelings are as much determined by wiring, neurons, and chemical interactions in the brain as the need to survive and reproduce and thus outside of our control or choice. "Feeling good" is designed to be transitory, comparative, so that our discomfort, misery forces us to act on the world in the hope of feeling good again. The vicious circle called life.
Kwatz had weird "pop quizzes" peppered throughout the book, and the whole structure/layout seemed designed more like a pamphlet than a book. Strange. But minor annoyances.
Overall, a good argument against free will, one that provides ample evidence for why Buddha's adage "Life is inherently unsatisfying" is such a profound truth.
June 3, 2017
I was about to give this book 5 stars because it got me seriously thinking about this topic. However, deduct one star for its linear way of thinking. Its worldview is very dichotomous. Will is either free or not free, and cannot be anything in between, cannot be a mixture of both. I think it is both. On the large scale, our decisions are determined by our upbringing and genetics; but in terms of daily trivial decisions, there is some randomness to it. So as a whole, our decisions are a constant plus a random number, not entirely constant.
The author also relied too much on logic alone. No scientific evidence or data was used to support it. He also wrote 'we make decisions solely based on feelings', yes but that was a way of the past. These days people are moving over to data-driven decision making. Indeed, what we think or feel for the data is still feeling, but it is not entirely heuristic, and it is supported by facts and numbers.
He defined a conscious human's objective as 'being happy all the time', which is arbitrary and not supported by facts. From this assumption he yielded many conclusions, but the assumption itself was not well established. What if a conscious human's objective is not being happy at all times, but being happy in total over a lifetime? For the author, the only alternative to being happy at all times is 'succumbing to evolution and being miserable at all times'. That's not the case. There is a medium. Not necessarily a happy one, but there is one. That's why these years we see more and more people who work hard to achieve self-realization (not happy all the time) and also not having kids (not succumbing to evolution either). You can do both. It's possible and being done.
Overall it's a book worth reading, because the author raised a debatable viewpoint.
The author also relied too much on logic alone. No scientific evidence or data was used to support it. He also wrote 'we make decisions solely based on feelings', yes but that was a way of the past. These days people are moving over to data-driven decision making. Indeed, what we think or feel for the data is still feeling, but it is not entirely heuristic, and it is supported by facts and numbers.
He defined a conscious human's objective as 'being happy all the time', which is arbitrary and not supported by facts. From this assumption he yielded many conclusions, but the assumption itself was not well established. What if a conscious human's objective is not being happy at all times, but being happy in total over a lifetime? For the author, the only alternative to being happy at all times is 'succumbing to evolution and being miserable at all times'. That's not the case. There is a medium. Not necessarily a happy one, but there is one. That's why these years we see more and more people who work hard to achieve self-realization (not happy all the time) and also not having kids (not succumbing to evolution either). You can do both. It's possible and being done.
Overall it's a book worth reading, because the author raised a debatable viewpoint.
November 13, 2019
An excellent, concise number of short essays and anecdotes on the illusion of free-will. After all, if we had free-will, "what would we do all day"? In Conscious Robots, the author breaks down the fictitious idea that we are the engineers of our thoughts, and displays, with clear acumen, how our brain's have evolved to solve problems. However, at the same time, our brains consist of matter that apply to the laws of cause and effect. Since our brains are a product of evolution, our very nature adheres to the laws of causality and other physical processes, yet the entire notion of free-will is generally accepted by a lot of people, oddly. If we really had free-will, wouldn't we be able to spontaneously change our moods to fit the occasion? Unfortunately, we can't. We're not in control of our moods or our own thoughts: they arise in the mind naturally like bubbles from a glass of water, which can either propel us forward, or take us down to hellish depths. Ultimately, we are hard-wired (determined) to ensure our own survival. We're like sensitive, spongy machines that are fooled into thinking, "I am in control, and I'm responsible for my achievements and failures." But if we could merely sit for a moment and notice how our thoughts pop up randomly, without warning, perhaps we could focus more on diseases of the brain and how to treat them. Anyway, I'd highly recommend this book for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and biology. It will challenge your views on free-will (it did for me), so try not to be put off by it, but embrace it out of respect, curiosity and wonder.
May 9, 2017
Super interesting thoughtful read. There's a utopian ending that hints at a mYsterious possibility for happiness but it isn't created. Yet. Or maybe the purpose is to propel the robot onward on the journey to find it?
There are a lot of books out there that explore this from a spiritual perspective but this was refreshingly built on a ground that a more scientific individual could relate to. Give it a shot.
There are a lot of books out there that explore this from a spiritual perspective but this was refreshingly built on a ground that a more scientific individual could relate to. Give it a shot.
May 23, 2020
Depressing AF
This book has ruined my human experience. Mix this book with a little meditative knowledge analyzing your own thoughts and you have pure freedom. Freedom from all hope of improvement. This book has single-handedly freed me from ever reading another bulls!t self help book. Thank you, Mr. Kwatz. 'Twas a fun read.
This book has ruined my human experience. Mix this book with a little meditative knowledge analyzing your own thoughts and you have pure freedom. Freedom from all hope of improvement. This book has single-handedly freed me from ever reading another bulls!t self help book. Thank you, Mr. Kwatz. 'Twas a fun read.
November 25, 2017
Nothing new there for people who read books on philosophy and neurobiology. But otherwise this is a must-read for everyone, at least to get them thinking about the important things instead of the materialistic crap most everyone is obsessed with.
January 21, 2018
Short and Sweet
This book did a really great job at explaining how our minds work. Realizing we can’t control how we feel all the time but we can control what we do with how we feel makes life that much more bearable! Would you crank the pleasure machine up to 11?
This book did a really great job at explaining how our minds work. Realizing we can’t control how we feel all the time but we can control what we do with how we feel makes life that much more bearable! Would you crank the pleasure machine up to 11?
June 6, 2017
Short, But SO thought provoking
Regardless of your beliefs, this book will cause you to think about what it really IS to be a human being
Regardless of your beliefs, this book will cause you to think about what it really IS to be a human being
November 12, 2017
Depressing reality
What sucks about this book is I believe some of it to be true. In my journey of enlightenment, it is harsh to read such a prospective.
What sucks about this book is I believe some of it to be true. In my journey of enlightenment, it is harsh to read such a prospective.
April 11, 2018
A waste of time and money!
After reading the first chapter many thoughts came to mind right after I realized I was wasting my time. Here are a few of those thoughts: This writer creates knots and tangles for his own amusements; smoke and mirrors without the mirrors; takes incredulity to a whole new level. Mr. Kwatz says that we don't have free will because we make choices according to what we want. Well, duh? And when we do that we re nothing more than robots. What? He says that we make choices after we decide which choice will benefit us most, that there always has to be a benefit and thus we have no free will. Well, Mr. Kwatz, I just wiggled my toes and it brought me zero benefit, it proved that I have free will..
After reading the first chapter many thoughts came to mind right after I realized I was wasting my time. Here are a few of those thoughts: This writer creates knots and tangles for his own amusements; smoke and mirrors without the mirrors; takes incredulity to a whole new level. Mr. Kwatz says that we don't have free will because we make choices according to what we want. Well, duh? And when we do that we re nothing more than robots. What? He says that we make choices after we decide which choice will benefit us most, that there always has to be a benefit and thus we have no free will. Well, Mr. Kwatz, I just wiggled my toes and it brought me zero benefit, it proved that I have free will..
September 3, 2017
nothing more than a rant...its not a book, but an ongoing rant, much of it misinformed. Taking recourse of evolution, Paul argues that while our bodies are survival machines for our genes, our conscious minds have only one purpose - to be happy. (because happiness of the individual is the way that genes ensure survival of the species.)
Poor arguments throughout, the desire being to decimate free will, and to advocate for a plug-me-to-the-matrix sort of existence!
Poor arguments throughout, the desire being to decimate free will, and to advocate for a plug-me-to-the-matrix sort of existence!
October 18, 2018
Nothing new, with a lot of argumentative fallacies and logical leaps. My hopes reading this book, was at least to trigger some thoughts. Well it triggered as much as the “Friends” episode where Joey was arguing with Phoebe about the existence of unselfish good deeds and at least I had more fun watching it… I give it a second star only because there were some facts that I didn’t know and had to check them so I learned something.
March 8, 2021
Our decisions, feelings, emotions. Feel-good factors., guilt, culture, what we are embedded with. Sometimes you learn as you age but the introspection can happen earlier of you read a book like this. I guess we all know but are on a treadmill that we are scared of falling off in ALL our aspects of life. And when we are bored we lash out at each other. If only we could embrace our true essence, imagine the future. If only we had bigger thoughts and ideas. Imagine.
May 13, 2017
Interesting read
Short but interesting read. Want to feel insignificant? This is a guide to the galaxy of being as insignificant as nipples on a bull! But interesting none the less.
Short but interesting read. Want to feel insignificant? This is a guide to the galaxy of being as insignificant as nipples on a bull! But interesting none the less.
November 16, 2017
I am not a number, I am a free man
Certainly made me think. I wasn’t buying into the argument until about half way through. I still think we have free will, to a point. Life is still about choices. You can choose to be happy.
Certainly made me think. I wasn’t buying into the argument until about half way through. I still think we have free will, to a point. Life is still about choices. You can choose to be happy.
August 1, 2021
Here's your dog biscuit.
I did quite a bit of highlighting. Many thoughts that I would like to look further into. A quick read, that leaves you with a lot of questions, but in a good way.
I did quite a bit of highlighting. Many thoughts that I would like to look further into. A quick read, that leaves you with a lot of questions, but in a good way.
July 24, 2017
Great book,
Made me realize that the force was already within, so I will keep evolving.
Their is nothing new under the sun.
Made me realize that the force was already within, so I will keep evolving.
Their is nothing new under the sun.
May 26, 2021
short and sweet
if you're interested in the conspiracy against the human race or the world as will and idea, consider starting with this instead.
if you're interested in the conspiracy against the human race or the world as will and idea, consider starting with this instead.
December 24, 2022
I still disagree. sometimes. not really. not anymore (?)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews