FYS 198, Mind and Machine, Fall 2004
Schedule of Readings

This is a schedule of readings and other activities for the course. It is not absolutely definite, but we will try to keep to this schedule as much as possible. There will probably a few additional short readings that are not on this schedule, and there will certainly be other activities. See the course web page at http://math.hws.edu/eck/fys198 for more information. The major books for the course are referred to as follows in the schedule:

• Pinker: The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker
• Cyberiad: The Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem
• Moravec: Robot, by Hans Moravec
• SciAm: Scientific American Book of the Brain
• Dreyfus: On the Internet, by Hubert Dreyfus
• Sacks: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks
• Johnson: Emergence, by Stephen Johnson

Details about the six student presentations will be announced later. There will be some reading associated with each presentation

Note that the readings must be completed before class on the date for which they are listed in the schedule!

The Tentative Schedule

Tuesday, August 31:
           "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," by Alan Turing
Thursday, September 2:
           Pinker, Chapters 1 and 2
           Cyberiad, "How the World was Saved"

Tuesday, September 7:
           Pinker, Chapters 3 and 4
Thursday, September 9:
           Cyberiad, "Trurl's Electronic Bard"
           SciAm, "Visualizing the Mind"

Tuesday, September 14:
           Pinker, Chapter 7
           "AI: Artificial Intelligence" (movie)
Thursday, September 16:
           Cyberiad, "How Trurl's Perfection Led to No Good"
           Handout, "The Story of the Mark III Beast"
           "AI: Artificial Intelligence" (continued)

Tuesday, September 21:
           Pinker, Chapters 8 and 9
Thursday, September 23:
           Student Presentation #1 (Griffin)

Tuesday, September 28:
           Pinker, Chapters 10 and 11
Thursday, September 30:
           First paper is due today

Tuesday, October 5:
           Pinker Chapter 12;
           Moravec, Preface and Chapter 1
Thursday, October 7:
           Student Presentation #2 (Crevier)

Tuesday, October 12:
           Fall Break; no class today
Thursday, October 14:
           Moravec, Chapters 2 and 3

Tuesday, October 19:
           Moravec, Chapters 4 and 5
Thursday, October 21:
           SciAm, "The Neurobiology of Fear"
           Cyberiad, "Prince Ferrix and the Princess Crystal"
                         and "The Trap of Gargantius"

Tuesday, October 26:
           Dreyfus, Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2
           SciAm, "The Split Brain Revisited"
Thursday, October 28:
           Student Presentation #3 (Turkle)

Tuesday, November 2:
           Dreyfus, Chapters 3 and 4 and Conclusion
Thursday, November 4:
           SciAm, "Manic Depressive Illness and Creativity",
                         "The Puzzle of Conscious Experience," and
                         "Can Science Explain Consciousness"

Tuesday, November 9:
           Sacks, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8;
           SciAm, "The Visual Image in Mind and Brain"
Thursday, November 11:
           Student Presentation #4 (Sacks);
           Second paper is due on this date?

Tuesday, November 16:
           Sacks, Chapters 10, 12, 15, 20, and 23;
           SciAm, "Autism" and "Creating False Memories"
Thursday, November 18:
           Student Presentation #5 (Damasio)

Tuesday, November 23:
           Johnson, Part 1
Thursday, November 25:
           Thanksgiving Holiday; No class today

Tuesday, November 30:
           Johnson, Part 2
Thursday, December 2:
           Student Presentation #6 (Levy)

Tuesday, December 7:
           Johnson, Part 3
Thursday, December 9:
           Cyberiad, "Trurl's Machine";
           SciAm, "The Developing Brain"