Shortly after writing the prior blog on "My Thoughts on Heaven" I read on Facebook about a book written by the brother of one of my friends and distant cousin. The theme of this book caught my attention because it seemed to fit right into the theme of my last blog. That prior blog about heaven had been written after my re-discovery of the book, "The Philosophy of the Future State". That was a book written in 1829 by Scottish philosopher, scientist, and author Thomas Dick. This philosophical book presented extensive arguments proving the existence of heaven.

The idea of a Christian science-fiction book written 185 years later which aimed toward proving the same thing but in a very different way was an opportunity of reading I could not resist.

If you have not done so, I recommend you read my previous blog on "My Thoughts On Heaven", read my review below on Alan Scott's book, and then go to Amazon and download and read for yourself "The Living Mind: Finding God in the Machine"by Alan Scott.

Book Review: "The Living Mind: Finding God in the Machine"

When I was a kid I enjoyed reading science-fiction novels such as those written by Asimov and Bradbury. I outgrew such novels many many years ago. But I was intrigued by the idea of a "Christian" science-fiction novel so I commenced reading Alan Scott's "The Living Mind". By so-doing I've rediscovered my love for such reading.

About 30 years ago I worked in a R&D group which had developed a crude (by today's standards) software program using Fortran which, upon input of system data, developed recommended programs for chemical treatment of cooling water or boiler water systems. Our marketing director considered this AI and envisioned the program's expansion to such an extent that he could fire the field technical service staff. But the program was strictly simply automated calculations and pre-selected treatment schemes programmed to match the calculated results. The software could not think and improve itself as could the software in this novel by Alan Scott.

In this allegorical novel, "The Living Mind" the author leads us to think about our creator in comparison to the wishes of this novel's human creators of a super intelligent robot. "Freeboot" was created as artificial intelligence software and morphed into a robot. His creator wrestled with the question of whether or not and if so, how much free will to give this mechanical device just as our Creator had to make that decision when we were created. The Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz lamented that he had no heart and then found "Now I know I've got a heart because it is breaking." In this novel you will learn whether or not Freeboot suffered the same fate. You will enjoy the antics and humor of Leventov (the robot in which Freeboot was installed) as he enter-acts with humans. Leventov is not just a robot, he is a super-human robot who feels something in his heart (if he had a heart) that leads him toward a journey to discover whether or not he has a soul. You will be surprised by the result of that search.

I highly recommend you read "The Living Mind".