Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

Review: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

This book is most unusual.

Its storytelling is quite minimal as it paints in fast brush strokes the story of two geniuses of the 20^th century: Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing. Both men never truly fit into their world. Both men ended up committing suicide. Gödel suffered from paranoia and spent time in a sanatorium. Turing was gay and also would have probably been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome today.

They each asked a great question of the 20^th. Gödel asked if we can ever truly know for sure if something is truly true? (His answer was ‘no’.) Turing asked if humans were anything more than just complicated machines? (His answer was also ‘no’.)

This book explores the implications of such questions and answers in regards to God and faith. What I enjoyed most about this book was that it did not offer answers. The older I get the less interested I am in finding the “right” answers. I find myself much more interested in asking the “right” questions. I would recommend this book to anyone who shares a similar point of view.