Epstein Secrets

put forward by Daniel Dennett that the Universe is an entirely determined place and any personal sense of free will and creativity is an illusion. In Dennett’s worldview, Andrew Wiles is a special purpose machine that was always destined to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem. I believe this model is flawed. It is

ing certain things are true. Science does not forbid beliefs. It just requires you to be prepared to have one overturned if a better one comes along. Richard Feynman summed this up in a lecture he delivered at Cal Tech: “If you want to discover a theorem,” he said, “first, you guess, then you work out some effect

our abilities which will enrich our lives. But I am reasonably certain that computers will never be the overlords of bacteria. 35 See, for example, Dennett’s From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (New York: W. W. Norton, 2017). 133 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016936 Alex “Sandy” Pentland, an expo

hine and founded what may have been the first Al company—Thinking Machines Corporation—to produce and market it. This was despite a lunch he had with Richard Feynman, at which the celebrated physicist remarked, “That is positively the dopiest idea I ever heard.” Maybe “despite” is the wrong word, since Feynman had

our abilities which will enrich our lives. But I am reasonably certain that computers will never be the overlords of bacteria. 35 See, for example, Dennett’s From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (New York: W. W. Norton, 2017). 133 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016353 Alex “Sandy” Pentland, an expo

hine and founded what may have been the first Al company—Thinking Machines Corporation—to produce and market it. This was despite a lunch he had with Richard Feynman, at which the celebrated physicist remarked, “That is positively the dopiest idea I ever heard.” Maybe “despite” is the wrong word, since Feynman had