Banana

I took both of Prof Arisaka's Fiat Luxes "Can Physics Reveal Mystery of Consciousness?" and "Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Human Creativity?" at the same time; they overlapped a lot, though I guess one focused more on the human brain side and the other on the machine learning side, but man, they have absolutely been the most interesting classes I have ever taken. They're basically about his research and his current theory that combines particle physics and neuroscience and artificial intelligence in defining what consciousness is and how AI can be redesigned to more accurately follow the principles of their biological counterparts and it's a lot and can get kind of technical but it's literally the most fascinating thing ever.

The format of the class is pretty much a one-hour lecture each week, which he records and posts on his website along with the slides. He can get pretty technical at times, and I think he probably assumes a STEM background with his students; the course definitely comes from a hard science perspective and doesn't cater to the philosophical-esque side as much. For homework, there are some recommended books/articles/videos that we can choose from to read/watch each week and write a report, which can take up to around 2 hours per week (I don't know how that compares to other Fiat Luxes), but you can miss up to half of them and still pass.

Only complaint was that at the beginning of the quarter, he missed a bunch of people from his mailing list, so I emailed him to ask about it and didn't get a response, then I later asked him in-person after the next class and he told me to just send him an email, and then I emailed him again and still didn't get a response. It got sorted out by the class after that, though.

But anyway! I really, really liked this class. Even if you can't enroll in it, I'd recommend auditing it if you're into the topic. When all the high-school college counseling advice for the "why school" essays are like "find something unique to the school like a faculty member whose research really aligns with your interests yadda yadda", I think I finally get it now.

Professor Arisaka is a genius. The man is seriously smart and this class is essentially him lecturing about his brand new theory that consolidates his inquiries into neuroscience with his background in particle physics. The class is way less philosophical than what the course title lets on, but it's still every bit as interesting. It is super technical and you will learn a lot of terminology relating to the brain. The only issue is that the material is really confusing and convoluted. "I’ve given up hope of understanding any of this," was something I heard from fellow classmates more than once. Arisaka sometimes falters when students ask him questions and he expresses his own confusions of translating his Japanese thoughts into English. However, he will always try his best to further elaborate and explain material if you ask him, and he's super nice about it. He has a couple of books you have to read, one is easy, the other is extremely difficult. He lets you borrow his copies if you are unable to pay for them. The workload is kind of heavy for a Fiat Lux, two chapters of reading a week, a chapter summary, and you must ask him 3 questions on a google doc pertaining to the course. As long as you show up and do the work, you'll pass. I dropped the course Week 6 because it was my second Fiat Lux and I was starting to fall behind.

TL;DR: Overall, this is a good time. Arisaka is a passionate lecturer. I would probably wait until he's published a paper on the subject (hopefully Spring 2021) to take this class. But no matter what, the material here is fascinating and you will learn something you didn't know.

Class itself was interesting, but the content is extremely advanced. The basis of his lectures comes from a research project he has been working on for the past 10 years. Arisaka works really hard at breaking down the concepts into something understandable for his students, but at the end of the day the content is so complex that it is often still super confusing after he tries to simplify it. Kind of a lot of work for a fiat lux—two chapters of a book, a book summary of those chapters, responses to questions he asks in lecture, and three questions asked to him each week. That all being said, I did learn a lot from the lectures, and it's cool being around such a smart professor as a first year. You also get to see his lab which is neat.

Lots of reading and work, but doing all of it is not required. Pretty interesting material, though it can feel a bit repetitive at times. Definitely gave me a new perspective on a lot of things. Professor often likes to talk about how he is the first person to think of something and how he is some pioneer in neuroscience.

I took this fiat lux the fall of my freshman year and found it very eye opening, but also dense with information. Prof. Arisaka goes into the nitty gritty regarding the science involved, much of which has been skimmed over and simplified in previous educational exposures, but its because he knows so much. Its sometimes had to keep track of all the information, but a lot of it is largely conceptual over memorization, so understanding ideas and causes/effects are more useful then trying to note the exact jargon and vocabulary terms. The main assignments consisted of reading feedbacks and summaries, which are based on your own perception and understanding rather than correctness, and was very much manageable. The final is essentially a slideshow and presentation on a topic of interest spurred by the curriculum so far, and those of my quarter ranged from more physics based time travel to, biology and neuroscience topics such as why do we need sleep. Definitely make sure you fact check and use critical thinking, as your audience is a clear expert in the field, and he was not afraid to applaud or criticize the presenter on their information's correctness. If you're interested and willing, definitely sign up. I witnessed some students zone out or draw (literally the whole time), which I thought was disrespectful to the professor and a waste of their own time.
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Selling required textbooks!:
Just Six Numbers - Martin Rees
Life Ascending: Ten Great Inventions of Evolution - Nick Lane
I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self - Rodolfo R. Llinas

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I bought these retail, but other saw that other students repurchased from others. You don't need to pay full price for a good grade!