Let's start 2014 off right, with a detailed discussion of Kurzweil's book "How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed".

"Ray Kurzweil is arguably todays most influentialand often controversialfuturist. In How to Create a Mind, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilizationreverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines.

Kurzweil discusses how the brain functions, how the mind emerges from the brain, and the implications of vastly increasing the powers of our intelligence in addressing the worlds problems. He thoughtfully examines emotional and moral intelligence and the origins of consciousness and envisions the radical possibilities of our merging with the intelligent technology we are creating.

Certain to be one of the most widely discussed and debated science books of the year, How to Create a Mind is sure to take its place alongside Kurzweils previous classics which include Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Age of Spiritual Machines."

Pretty big claims, lets see if there's anything really new in the book that gets us closer to real GAI.

Plenty of lead time and a long holiday for most, so please do read the book. The Kindle version is quite cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0670025291

There will be quality snacks covered by the $3 fee.