{"product_id":"the-book-of-minds-philip-ball-9780226795874","title":"The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens","description":"\u003cb\u003ePopular science writer Philip Ball explores a range of sciences to map our answers to a huge, philosophically rich question: How do we even begin to think about minds that are not human?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Sciences from zoology to astrobiology, computer science to neuroscience, are seeking to understand minds in their own distinct disciplinary realms. Taking a uniquely broad view of minds and where to find them--including in plants, aliens, and God--Philip Ball pulls the pieces together to explore what sorts of minds we might expect to find in the universe. In so doing, he offers for the first time a unified way of thinking about what minds are and what they can do, by locating them in what he calls the \"space of possible minds.\" By identifying and mapping out properties of mind without prioritizing the human, Ball sheds new light on a host of fascinating questions: What moral rights should we afford animals, and can we understand their thoughts? Should we worry that AI is going to take over society? If there are intelligent aliens out there, how could we communicate with them? Should we? Understanding the space of possible minds also reveals ways of making advances in understanding some of the most challenging questions in contemporary science: What is thought? What is consciousness? And what (if anything) is free will? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Informed by conversations with leading researchers, Ball's brilliant survey of current views about the nature and existence of minds is more mind-expanding than we could imagine. In this fascinating panorama of other minds, we come to better know our own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Philip Ball\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 022679587X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226795874\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/28\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 512\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.94lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/15\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2022 pg. 81\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2023","brand":"Philip Ball","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44044834570495,"sku":"9780226795874","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b6bada47-1f4c-4ea0-a655-cb92e71837ae.jpg?v=1684975172","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-book-of-minds-philip-ball-9780226795874","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}