"THINKING is hard," (36) Daniel Dennet, a professor of philosophy at Tufts University. "Thinking about some problems is so hard that it can make your head ache just thinking about thinking about them." He has spent half a century pondering some of the knottiest problems around: the nature of meaning, the (37) of minds and whether freewill is possible. His latest book, Intuition Pumps (自觉泵) and Other Tools for Thinking, is a precis of those 50 years, distilled into 77 (38) and mostly bite-sized chapters.
"Intuition pumps" are what Mr Dennet calls thought experiments that aim to get at the nub of concepts. But the aim of this book is not (39) to show how the pumps work, but to (40) them to help readers think through some of the most profound conundrums.
This pump which Mr Dennet calls a "cascade of homunculi (级联侏儒)", was (41) by the field of artificial intelce. An programmer begins by taking a problem a computer is meant to solve and breaking it down into smaller tasks, to be dealt with by particular (42) . These, in turn, are (43) of sub-subsystems, and so on. In this way, we are in depth of thinking profound problems.
Of course, Mr Dennet’s book is not a (44) solution to such mind-benders; it is philosophy in action. Like all good philosophy, it works by getting the reader to examine deeply held but (45) beliefs about some of our most fundamental concerns, like personal autonomy. It is really not an easy read.
A. consist B. actually C. nature D. concedes E. inspired
F. definable G. composed H. readable I. substance J. merely
K. unspoken L. apply M. suppose N. subsystem O. definitive