A critically acclaimed and successful popular science author presents a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the latest scientific thinking about the controversial question: whether the human mind is unique or whether a machine could be built that would be as intelligent and "alive" as people are? Trefil offers a broad survey of prominent competing viewpoints, explaining each of the major arguments and tracing their evolution. What exactly human thinking is, how different human thinking is from animal thinking, and what makes people conscious are among the issues covered.