This statement is false (Fuzzy Thinking - Bart Kosko)

Member Name: pan

Product:	Fuzzy Thinking - Bart Kosko
Date:	15/10/01 (286 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: interesting subject, good background

Disadvantages: authors monstrous ego

.....This statement is false.....

Well, is it? If it's true, then it's not false. If it's not, then it contradicts itself again. It's this kind of logical paradox that has caused mathematicians and logicians no end of problems. The kind of logic that we use day to day doesn't allow for paradox. Aristotelian logic, (thanks to Aristotle one of those old Greek geezers), excludes paradox and indeterminancy. A thing either is or it isn't. A chair is chair or it isn't. Unfortunately the real world is not Aristotleian, it's fuzzy, indeterminate, messy.

Fuzzy logic is one of a number of non-Aristotelian logics (not that the other types are included in this book). With fuzzy logic a thing can be partially a member of this set and that. A chair can be a chair and a not-chair (so, is that cushion on the floor a chair or not?).

Fuzzy logic allows you to use this fuzziness to reason with. Traditional logical operations such as AND, OR and NOT have their fuzzy equivalents, which Kosko goes into in great detail. He also makes sure that applications of fuzzy logic are covered, and this makes for some of the most interesting aspects of the book.

However Kosko is more than interested in applications of fuzzy logic, he also goes into great detail on the philosophical and historial aspects to his subject. This too makes for interesting reading, though at times Kosko's ego is so huge that it seems to obscure everything else.

In fact it is Kosko's over-powering ego (nothing fuzzy on the front, I can assure you), that is the most irritating aspect of the book. There is no denying that he's a smart guy, and the work he has done in neural networks and fuzzy logic is widely recognised, but there is only so much one can take of his 'I've seen the light!' attitude.

The book is widely discursive, and it even allows Kosko to ruminate on such topics as near death experiences, Zen Buddhism
, the nature of God and alternative ways of looking at political issues.

On the plus side the maths and science is interesting and accessible. His insights into Lotfi Zadeh and the other founders of fuzzy logic make for excellent reading. It's just a shame that there's not more of that stuff.

However, if you want to find out about the subject (and if you're interested in maths and science you really ought to), then this is as good a place as any to start.

Summary: