HN Books @HNBooksMonth

Braitenberg, "Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology", 1984. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262521121/

This was one of the required books in Leslie Kaelbling's intro AI or robotics courses.

The preview on Amazon might cut a little too early before (IIRC) some seemingly complex behavior emerging from very simple mechanics really clicks.

⬐ lioeters

"The Nature of Code" by Daniel Shiffman is a wonderful book that counts Vehicles as one of its inspirations.

https://natureofcode.com/book/

Makes me think of this book

https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valen...

Valentino Braitenberg:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braitenberg_vehicle

https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valen...

⬐ criddell

Thank you!

⬐ lisper

You bet.

I disagree, but I do find it a very fascinating subject area. I would highly recommend reading through Valentino's "Vehicles"(http://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valent...). It's incredibly short, thought provoking, and somewhat humorous to boot.

He goes over building very simple machines that appear to have emotions, hopes, plans, etc., and goes over they exact topic you're talking about.

I major in cognitive neuroscience, which is exactly what you're asking: how does conscious thought arise from unconscious parts?

I think one book you may benefit from reading is http://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valent.... It's a wonderful and short book with some subtle humor and amazing powers of explanation. After reading it you may very well have a better understanding of how it's possible (and how many different ways it might be possible) for what we see as complex behaviors to emerge.

I've had dozens of friends read this short book, and they've all thanked me for the recommendation and ended up buying a copy for themselves.