From: Patrick Wilken (patrick.wilken@infotech.monash.edu.au)
Date: Tue Dec 29 1998 - 14:47:47 MST
It depends a little on how advanced the 16 year old is. "How the Mind
Works" by Steve Pinker is an excellent introduction to both computation
theories of mind and evolutionary theories of mind. The sort of book that
brings up lots of issues that get discussed here: what is free will?; how
do culture and psychology interact?; what exactly is a computational theory
of mind? etc etc.
If you want to go for SF I would highly recommend any of Greg Egan's books.
These cover the gamut of Extropian topics (e.g. uploading, nanotechnology,
alternate universes, bio-high-tech etc.). Sometimes the characterizations
are a little weak, but this is more than made for by the brilliant ideas.
ciao, patrick
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Patrick Wilken http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~patrickw/
Editor: PSYCHE: An International Journal of Research on Consciousness
Secretary: The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/ http://www.phil.vt.edu/ASSC/
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