Author Michio Kaku is well known for his books and television popularizing science. He has recently tackled brain research. His current book, The Future of the Mind, includes popular touches such as references to movies and TV and stories from his own life (wow, he was tough competition in high school science fairs!). The book has been on the New York Times best-seller list, and I thought it was a readable, well-prepared effort; I have watched some of Kaku’s TV shows and in places in the book I can hear his voice in my head as I read. But somehow this book didn’t completely grab me. I skimmed through some of the sections, but since the chapters can stand-alone, that worked well for me.
Dr. Kaku
Kaku mentions Phineas Gage, whose accident in 1848 marked “the origins of modern neuroscience.” When dynamite powder he was tamping down exploded, a metal rod rocketed completely through his head leaving behind massive brain damage, but Gage survived. Kaku mentions the standard story that Gage’s personality was changed much for the worse by his accident. By coincidence, I found an article in Slate.com that says this standard story may be wrong, that the tale of his changed personality comes from a single, vague report immediately after the accident, and his subsequent life demonstrates he recovered to a remarkable extent. But whatever the truth abut Gage, Kaku’s point remains: “it would alter the course of science.”
Kaku is a physicist, so he discusses quantum physics and implications for free will and the Anthropic Principle that the universe is calibrated to encourage life. He delves into philosophy as easily as science. Consciousness was once though to be the purview of philosophers and beyond science, but that is not longer true.
Kaku also includes a long section on various medical devices that rely heavily on modern physics, with the advantages and disadvantages of each. He includes an adequate section on the physical structure and function of the brain, though some of the illustrations seemed to add little to the book.
The most engaging parts of the book cover the latest research and extrapolate the findings into the future: for example, using computers that process brain signals to create real-life “telepathy” and “telekinesis”. It may become possible to enhance intelligence, but fiddling with our brains could have side-effects: strains of enhanced mice are very timid, so perhaps enhanced humans would not have the spirit needed to innovate. Even without side-effects, how would people use enhanced brain functions? You cell phone contains more computing power than the Apollo mission to land on the moon, but do you innovate or watch cute-cat videos?
Near the end of the book, Kaku discusses robots and Artificial Intelligence. After a titillating review of how these technologies could go wrong, Kaku’s conclusion is optimistic: “science has been the engine of prosperity.”
Whether your interests lie in nuts and bolts science or speculations on the future, you’ll find a section of Kaku’s book to enjoy.
PS: The Skeptical Inquirer, a print-magazine that posts many of its articles on-line, has posted Losing Our Minds in the Age of Brain Science.
Authors Sally Satel and Scott O. Lilienfeld note that “neuroimaging has given brain science a strong cultural presence. As one scientist remarked, brain images are now ‘replacing Bohr’s planetary atom as the symbol of science.’” Like Kaku, the authors acknowledge that how the brain “gives rise to subjective feelings is one of the greatest mysteries of science and philosophy.” They are less gee-whiz, saying “neuroimaging is a young science, barely out of its infancy, really. In such a fledgling enterprise, the half-life of facts can be especially brief. To regard research findings as settled wisdom is folly.” Nueroimaging is, indeed, a remarkable advancement, but we seem to be a long way from using brain scans to “improve legal, clinical, and marketing practices, let alone inform social policy.”