Shadows of the Mind
Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penroseby Roger Penrose
Shares rank 25 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
Recommended for its arguments about whether machines can match human understanding and for a clear statement of Penrose's thesis.
Recommended for its arguments about whether machines can match human understanding and for a clear statement of Penrose's thesis.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Arguments on whether AI is possible
“There are good arguments for this (in)possibility, like those presented by Roger Penrose”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Using secondary school maths to demystify AI” Clear account of Penrose's thesis
“putting forward a much clearer view of Penrose's thesis”
Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “LLMs and self-referentiality”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby 老子 and Yang Peng and Jordi Fibla and James Legge | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert M. Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Shadows of the Mindby Roger PenroseThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 2 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“putting forward a much clearer view of Penrose's thesis”
“There are good arguments for this (in)possibility, like those presented by Roger Penrose”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.