Person
Ben Goertzel's book recommendations
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Ben Goertzel appears on, in one place — not just one.
Ben Goertzel’s most recommended books
- Solaris by Stanisław Lem
- The Prometheus Project by Gerald Feinberg
- A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge
- The Transparent Society by David Brin
- Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The phenomenon of science by Valentin Fedorovich Turchin
- True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna
Ben Goertzel is a computer scientist, artificial intelligence (AI) researcher, and businessman. He helped popularize the term artificial general intelligence (AGI). Appearing on podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience and the Lex Fridman Podcast, Goertzel has discussed and recommended various influential science fiction and futurist books that shaped his intellectual development. On The Joe Rogan Experience, he recommended David Brin's The Transparent Society, highlighting its core exploration of surveillance and sousveillance, and praised Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep as a masterwork of science fiction that touches on the technological singularity. During his interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Goertzel discussed Stanisław Lem's novel Solaris as a profound inspiration from his youth. He also brought up Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach to illustrate early inspirations regarding artificial intelligence, paradox, and logic. Furthermore, Goertzel referenced Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov in connection with literary theory on polyphonic fiction, Gerald Feinberg's The Prometheus Project when discussing early futurist thought, and Valentin Turchin's The Phenomenon of Science while exploring concepts of scientific evolution.
Books recommended by Ben Goertzel
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Solaris
Solaris by Stanisław Lem is a classic science fiction novel about a scientific research station hovering above an enigmatic, sentient ocean planet that manifests the deeply repressed psychological traumas of the human crew.
Discussed“I'd say if I had to pick two it would have been H Stanis LM the the Polish writer yeah Solaris”
Where to get it
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The Prometheus Project
The Prometheus Project by Gerald Feinberg is an early futurist work written by a Princeton physicist that explores concepts of nanotechnology, life extension, and artificial general intelligence.
Discussed“then of course that's another book from back then which was by fine bomb Gerald fbom who was a who was a physicist at at at Princeton and that was the Prometheus project”
Where to get it
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A Fire Upon The Deep
A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge is a celebrated hard science fiction novel known for its imaginative world-building, space opera scope, and foundational explorations of the technological singularity.
Recommended“His book uh fire upon the deep one of the great science fiction books”
Where to get it
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The Transparent Society
The Transparent Society by David Brin is a thought-provoking nonfiction book that explores the profound societal implications of ubiquitous information technology, privacy erosion, and ubiquitous surveillance in the modern world.
Discussed“he wrote a book in oh years ago called the transparent society where he said there's two possibilities surveillance and surveillance it's like the power elite watching everyone or everyone watching everyone”
Where to get it
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Gödel, Escher, Bach
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R.
Discussed“when I 10 years after that or something I discovered Douglas Hoffer's book gordal shabbach and that was sort of to the same point of AI and Paradox and logic”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound philosophical novel that explores deep spiritual questions surrounding faith, free will, morality, and the human condition.
Discussed“and I think if if you look in the brothers karamazov in particular the the Russian literary theorist M Bakin wrote about this as a polyphonic mode of fiction”
Where to get it
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The phenomenon of science
Discussed“and of course Valentin churchin uh a Russian writer who who I and a great Russian physicist who I got to know when we both lived in New York in the late 90s and early Arts I mean he he had a book in the late 60s in in Russia which was the phenomenon of science”
Where to get it
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True Hallucinations
True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna is a bizarre and compelling biographical account chronicling the extraordinary experiences of Terence and Dennis McKenna during their expedition into the Amazon rainforest at La Chorrera.
Discussed“he read their their book with true hallucinations”
Where to get it
Books by Ben Goertzel
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Artificial general intelligence
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Mind in time
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Consciousness Explosion
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The structure of intelligence
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Chaotic logic
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From complexity to creativity
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Creating Internet Intelligence
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Probabilistic logic networks
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Intelligence Science I
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #103 – Ben Goertzel: Artificial General Intelligence | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2020-06-22 | 5 |
| #1211 - Dr. Ben Goertzel | The Joe Rogan Experience | 2018-12-04 | 7 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“i mentioned valentin terchin a friend of mine who was the founder of russian ai he wrote a book called the phenomenon of science in the late 60s”