The Emperor’s New Mind

October 14, 2024 Leave a comment

Author: Roger Penrose | 640 Pages | Genre: Non-Fiction | Publisher: Oxford University Press | Year: 1989 | My Rating: 10/10

“I argue that the phenomenon of consciousness cannot be accommodated within the framework of present-day physical theory.”
― Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind

Sir Roger Penrose’s “The Emperor’s New Mind” is a captivating exploration of the intersection between mathematics, physics, consciousness, and the cognitive mind. Renowned for his contributions to theoretical physics and cosmology, Penrose brings his deep understanding of complex scientific concepts to the realm of cognition and artificial intelligence in this thought-provoking work. He covers a wide range of topics, from classical physics and Gödel’s incompleteness theorem to the puzzles of quantum mechanics and the philosophy of mind. He explains complex scientific ideas with remarkable clarity and delves into the question of what constitutes consciousness and the nature of human thought. He critiques the current state of artificial intelligence and posits that human understanding and awareness transcend mere computation. Through a blend of philosophical inquiry and scientific analysis, he argues against the idea that machines can fully replicate human cognitive processes. The book highlights the unique qualities of human thought, suggesting that there are aspects of consciousness that remain elusive to mechanistic interpretations.

Penrose also explores the implications of his theories for fields such as neuroscience and philosophy, offering insights into the workings of the human brain and the potential limitations of current scientific understanding. He integrates ideas from his previous works, such as the concept of objective reality and the nature of mathematical truths, providing a cohesive framework for his arguments.

The book is also notable for its engagement with the nature of mathematics and reality. Penrose argues that mathematics has an existence independent of the human mind, a stance known as mathematical Platonism. This perspective is central to his critique of artificial intelligence and his belief that the brain’s functioning may be linked to quantum processes. It truly is a profound and insightful exploration of consciousness and the nature of thought, bridging the gap between science and philosophy. It makes one ponder the complexities of the mind and the potential for understanding what makes us human in an age increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence.

This book is a must-read for anyone with a scientific temper, a love for complex and abstract ideas, and a deep interest in the fundamental questions of consciousness, cognitive science, and the philosophy of mind, offering an enriching perspective on the enduring mysteries of human existence.

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Joker: Folie à Deux

October 5, 2024 Leave a comment

Genre: Psychological Thriller | Year: 2024 | Duration: 138 mins | Director: Todd Phillips | Medium: Theatre (PVR-INOX) in 2024 | Trailer: HERE | Language: English | My rating: 5/5

Favorite Dialogue: I HOPE YOU GET CANCER (autograph to a prison guard), signed with a sad smiley.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a bold, unsettling, dark, and subversive sequel that dares to explore madness as both a personal and shared experience. While it may not resonate with everyone (as was evident with nearly empty theatre), the film is an ambitious character study, elevated by outstanding performances from Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. This film is one of the most unique interpretations of the Joker mythos, weaving together psychological drama, abstraction, romance, and musical surrealism into an unforgettable cinematic experience.

Picking up where the first film (2019) left off, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime, is confined in Arkham Asylum in Gotham City, where he meets Harley Quin (Lady Gaga). Arthur Fleck as Joker is nothing less than brilliant, haunting, and unforgettable. He is as disturbing and tragic as ever, but this time with a quieter menace that builds alongside his relationship with Harley. Their twisted relationship serves as the film’s emotional and narrative core. The chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga is one of the film’s strengths, with their performances drawing both fascination and discomfort as they navigate a romance defined by shared trauma and chaos. 

Director Todd Phillips shifts away from the gritty realism of the original, blending genres and taking inspiration from Hollywood musicals. The visuals are striking, often juxtaposing Gotham’s decaying, grimy backdrop with the characters’ vibrant fantasies.

Needless to say, Joker has been (and will always be) my most favorite comic book character, the most kickass supervillain ever created.

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Binny and Family

September 30, 2024 Leave a comment

Genre: Drama | Year: 2024 | Duration: 139 mins | Director: Ssanjay Tripaathy | Medium: Theater (PVR-INOX) in 2024 | Trailer: HERE | Language: Hindi | My rating: 3/5

Favorite Dialogue: Zindagi ki expiry date toh hoti hai par zindagi jeene ki nahin

Binny and Family is an emotional (and often melodramatic) roller coaster family drama depicting teenage angst, the thought divide across three generations, and shifting values of a nuclear non-resident Indian family. The film is mostly set in London and partly in a small town of Bihar, depicting different lifestyles and local flavors of people, cultures, and confused desis overseas, which also gets very well portrayed through the tug of war and conflicted relationship between a teenager and her parents and grandparents.

As a non-resident Bihari hailing from a middle class family, I could relate to several scenes like the makeover of the house prior to visiting parents, temporary changes in day-to-day life, familiar conversations, the subtle difference between ‘lihaaj’ and ‘unexpressed love’ that many like me have with their parents.

For a small size family, the film seemed a bit stretched at times! Some portions could have been edited, especially the school and romance routines, which didn’t fit in with the narrative. There was no chemistry between Binny and her crush, Dhruv (played by Tai Khan). In fact, the friend-zoned BP (played so well by Naman Tripathy) and Binny had better chemistry and could have been explored further in the story. From “Ladki jaat ho. Kuch anhoni ho gaya to kisko muh dikhange hum log” to sporting hat and being a cool grandfather seemed unrealistic within a short span of time.

Pankaj Kapoor, Rajesh Kumar and confident debutantes’ Anjini Dhawan and Naman Tripathi are a delight to watch. Even with ‘all that could have been better and viewing fatigue at times’, it’s still worth watching.

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Men in Black 3

May 3, 2013 Leave a comment

mibGenre: Sci-fi| Year: 2012 | Duration: 103 mins | Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Medium: Theater (DT Cinemas, Saket) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4*/5*

Favorite Dialogue: Agent K: Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to”

MIB3 is the sequel to the 2002 film MIB2 starring Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, and Will Smith as Agent J. Even though its not the best of the three MIBs, its still much better than its predecessor, MIB2, though the gap of ten years between them was equivalent to getting ‘neuralyzed’ had it not been for numerous movie channels on the telly showing repeats of the movies in last ten years. The movie revolves around the escape of a violent alien fugitive, Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement), who lost his arm in a tangle with Agent K back in 1969. When Boris arrives back on Earth after escaping from special prison on the moon, after 40 years, the Boglodite time travels to 1969 to kill-off K prior to their fateful standoff. When Agent J shows-up at MIB headquarters (with a temporal fracture and a craving for chocolate milk, as discovered by Agent O) and discovers that his partner actually died decades before they ever met, he follows Boris’ trail back to the 1969, a day in advance of the standoff in an effort to not only save K and implement a protective earth cover ArcNet, but prevent a full-on Boglodite invasion that the Men in Black had, in the prior version of reality, managed to thwart.

The Agents meet the alien Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), an Arcadian who possesses the ArcNet and is able to see multi-dimensionally in to all possible futures, gives them the ArcNet and instructs them to place it onto the Apollo 11 lunar rocket launch occurring in less than six hours. Boris then snatches Griffin, but the agents, on monocycles (another cool feature of the movie), give chase and recover Griffin. In the end, J & K (Young agent K is played by Josh Brolin) manages to kill both the younger and older versions of Boris, and deploys ArcNet.

This comic sci-fi with funny looking aliens is my Movie of the Day

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Arzee The Dwarf

April 23, 2013 Leave a comment

arzee_the_dwarfArzee The Dwarf

by Chandrahas Choudhury | 184 Pages | Genre: Fiction| Publisher: HarperCollins India| Year: 2009 | My Rating: 8/10

“I am myself in my thoughts too much,
I seek recourse to myself too soon,
My days don’t stand up without a crutch,
I sing my own song out of tune.
I stand before the mirror too long,
Stare big at the eyes that return my gaze,
My shadow seems to me more strong
Than my shrunken heart, that lonely place.
My worries hang about me like clouds,
And my creditors they come calling,
My being is riven by spooks and doubts,
The walls of my house are falling.
In mine own alleys I traipse and turn,
Dreamlike I float through nights and days,
I watch the hours slowly burn,
And do not leave on time my trace.
I myself speak and myself hear,
And myself act and myself see,
My own self extends far and near,
And so I cannot myself be.”

– Chandrahas Choudhury, Arzee The Dwarf

In his debut novel, Chandrahas Choudhury has skillfully captured the nuances of intimate life and dreams of Arzee, who’s a midget, working at an old cinema hall in Mumbai as a deputy projectionist. Even though all the thirteen chapters revolve around him and he’s the protagonist of this novel, Choudhury has not projected him as a larger-than-life hero, which makes his world as interesting as that of a common man, yet one cannot stop feeling sympathy for that man whose all troubles stem from him being a midget or a dwarf. So much so that the characters around him forget his last name Gandhi, and instead address him as ‘Arzee the dwarf’. The beauty of this books lies in its prolific prose and colloquial dialogues portraying time and space, old world charm portrayed through the dying Noor cinema and modern day problems of love, money, and self-image, the memorable characters that even ‘The Babur’ the projection machine, which is Indian mutation of its German name Bauer seems to breath life. The novel ends without a definite ending as if Choudhury was overcautious to continue, leaving the readers to decipher it themselves about the new turns Arzee’s life is to take.

This novel full of pathos and pragmatism is my Read of the Week.

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