Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist (MIT Press)
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Walter Dixon
-
By:
-
Christof Koch
About this listen
What links conscious experience of pain, joy, color, and smell to bio-electrical activity in the brain? How can anything physical give rise to nonphysical, subjective, conscious states? Christof Koch has devoted much of his career to bridging the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the physics of the brain and phenomenal experience.
This engaging book - part scientific overview, part memoir, part futurist speculation - describes Koch's search for an empirical explanation for consciousness. Koch recounts not only the birth of the modern science of consciousness but also the subterranean motivation for his quest - his instinctual (if not romantic) belief that life is meaningful.
Koch describes his own groundbreaking work with Francis Crick in the 1990s and 2000s and the gradual emergence of consciousness (once considered a fringy subject) as a legitimate topic for scientific investigation.
Koch gives us stories from the front lines of modern research into the neurobiology of consciousness as well as his own reflections on a variety of topics. All are signposts in the pursuit of his life's work - to uncover the roots of consciousness.
CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title published by The MIT Press.
“I loved every minute of it.” - Nature
“Science writing at its best.” - Times Higher Education
“Destined to takes its place as a timeless masterpiece in the history of science.” - Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine
©2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2017 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Being You
- A New Science of Consciousness
- By: Anil Seth
- Narrated by: Anil Seth
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to “be you” - that is, to have a specific, conscious experience of the world around you and yourself within it? There may be no more elusive or fascinating question. Historically, humanity has considered the nature of consciousness to be a primarily spiritual or philosophical inquiry, but scientific research is now mapping out compelling biological theories and explanations for consciousness and selfhood.
-
-
Not engaging, nothing new
- By Tristan on 11-22-21
By: Anil Seth
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Conscious
- A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
- By: Annaka Harris
- Narrated by: Annaka Harris
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience.
-
-
Perhaps a better definition?
- By Eratosthenes on 06-19-19
By: Annaka Harris
-
The Feeling of Life Itself
- Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain.
-
-
Constant references to illustrations
- By Mark on 11-03-21
By: Christof Koch
-
The Consciousness Instinct
- Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind
- By: Michael S. Gazzaniga
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do neurons turn into minds? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness.
-
-
Not recommended
- By PMonaco on 01-19-19
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
Confuses Consciousness with Ego
- By Rahul Yadav on 07-11-19
-
Being You
- A New Science of Consciousness
- By: Anil Seth
- Narrated by: Anil Seth
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to “be you” - that is, to have a specific, conscious experience of the world around you and yourself within it? There may be no more elusive or fascinating question. Historically, humanity has considered the nature of consciousness to be a primarily spiritual or philosophical inquiry, but scientific research is now mapping out compelling biological theories and explanations for consciousness and selfhood.
-
-
Not engaging, nothing new
- By Tristan on 11-22-21
By: Anil Seth
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Conscious
- A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
- By: Annaka Harris
- Narrated by: Annaka Harris
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience.
-
-
Perhaps a better definition?
- By Eratosthenes on 06-19-19
By: Annaka Harris
-
The Feeling of Life Itself
- Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain.
-
-
Constant references to illustrations
- By Mark on 11-03-21
By: Christof Koch
-
The Consciousness Instinct
- Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind
- By: Michael S. Gazzaniga
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do neurons turn into minds? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness.
-
-
Not recommended
- By PMonaco on 01-19-19
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
Confuses Consciousness with Ego
- By Rahul Yadav on 07-11-19
-
Galileo's Error
- Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness
- By: Philip Goff
- Narrated by: Maxwell Caulfield
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Understanding how brains produce consciousness is one of the great scientific challenges of our age. Some philosophers argue that consciousness is something "extra", beyond the physical workings of the brain. Others think that if we persist in our standard scientific methods, our questions about consciousness will eventually be answered. And some suggest that the mystery is so deep, it will never be solved.
-
-
Good but basic
- By ginger on 01-23-20
By: Philip Goff
-
I Am a Strange Loop
- By: Douglas R. Hofstadter
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of our greatest philosophers and scientists of the mind asks where the self comes from - and how our selves can exist in the minds of others. I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop" - a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain is the one called "I". The "I" is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
-
-
The Self That Wasn't There
- By SelfishWizard on 01-09-19
-
Livewired
- The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
- By: David Eagleman
- Narrated by: David Eagleman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The answers to these questions are right behind our eyes. The greatest technology we have ever discovered on our planet is the three-pound organ carried in the vault of the skull. This book is not simply about what the brain is; it is about what it does. The magic of the brain is not found in the parts it’s made of but in the way those parts unceasingly reweave themselves in an electric, living fabric.
-
-
Very interesting but the book shpold have had
- By Adi on 12-05-20
By: David Eagleman
-
Your Brain Is a Time Machine
- The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
- By: Dean Buonomano
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, brain researcher and best-selling author Dean Buonomano draws on evolutionary biology, physics, and philosophy to present his influential theory of how we tell and perceive time. The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological flow and enables "mental time travel" - simulations of future and past events.
-
-
Great book on an underrated subject
- By Neuron on 05-09-17
By: Dean Buonomano
-
The Case Against Reality
- Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes
- By: Donald Hoffman
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Challenging leading scientific theories that claim that our senses report back objective reality, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman argues that while we should take our perceptions seriously, we should not take them literally. How can it be possible that the world we see is not objective reality? And how can our senses be useful if they are not communicating the truth? Hoffman grapples with these questions and more over the course of this eye-opening work.
-
-
Don't buy - visual examples missing, no pdf
- By Richard Pickett on 08-26-19
By: Donald Hoffman
-
The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
-
-
ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
- By serine on 05-12-16
By: Sean Carroll
-
Reality+
- Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy
- By: David J. Chalmers
- Narrated by: Grant Cartwright
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already.
-
-
A book that could have been an email
- By Peter C. on 04-15-22
-
A Thousand Brains
- A New Theory of Intelligence
- By: Jeff Hawkins, Richard Dawkins - foreword
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell, Richard Dawkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses map-like structures to build a model of the world - not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought.
-
-
Starts out good, ends up a train wreck
- By Warren on 03-15-21
By: Jeff Hawkins, and others
-
Consciousness and the Brain
- Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts
- By: Stanislas Dehaene
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does the brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state.
-
-
I had no idea we knew this much.
- By Tristan on 01-18-16
-
The Ravenous Brain
- How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning
- By: Daniel Bor
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Consciousness is our gateway to experience: it enables us to recognize Van Gogh’s starry skies, be enraptured by Beethoven’s Fifth, and stand in awe of a snowcapped mountain. Yet consciousness is subjective, personal, and famously difficult to examine: philosophers have for centuries declared this mental entity so mysterious as to be impenetrable to science. In The Ravenous Brain, neuroscientist Daniel Bor departs sharply from this historical view, and proposes a new model for how consciousness works.
-
-
Effectively demystifies consciousness
- By Gary on 11-18-12
By: Daniel Bor
-
The Future of the Mind
- The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind
- By: Michio Kaku
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the first time in history, the secrets of the living brain are being revealed by a battery of high-tech brain scans devised by physicists. Now what was once solely the province of science fiction has become a startling reality. Recording memories, telepathy, videotaping our dreams, mind control, avatars, and telekinesis are not only possible; they already exist.
-
-
More breadth than depth
- By Gary on 03-20-14
By: Michio Kaku
-
The Hidden Spring
- A Journey to the Source of Consciousness
- By: Mark Solms
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mark Solms, one of the boldest thinkers in contemporary neuroscience, discovering how consciousness comes about has been a lifetime's quest. Scientists consider it the "hard problem" because it seems an impossible task to understand why we feel a subjective sense of self and how it arises in the brain. Venturing into the elementary physics of life, Solms has now arrived at an astonishing answer. In The Hidden Spring, he brings forward his discovery in accessible language and graspable analogies.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Aston on 04-26-21
By: Mark Solms
Related to this topic
-
The Ego Tunnel
- The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self
- By: Thomas Metzinger
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're used to thinking about the self as an independent entity, something that we either have or are. In The Ego Tunnel, philosopher Thomas Metzinger claims otherwise: No such thing as a self exists. The conscious self is the content of a model created by our brain - an internal image, but one we cannot experience as an image. Everything we experience is "a virtual self in a virtual reality." But if the self is not "real," why and how did it evolve? How does the brain construct it?
-
-
non-specialist literature at its best
- By Esmeralda on 03-17-10
By: Thomas Metzinger
-
The Grand Biocentric Design
- How Life Creates Reality
- By: Robert Lanza, Matej Pavšič
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is consciousness? Why are we here? Where did it all come from - the laws of nature, the stars, the universe? Humans have been asking these questions forever, but science hasn't succeeded in providing many answers - until now. In The Grand Biocentric Design, Robert Lanza, one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People", is joined by theoretical physicist Matej Pavšic and astronomer Bob Berman to shed light on the big picture that has long eluded philosophers and scientists alike.
-
-
Should be in the fiction section.
- By Frank on 12-29-20
By: Robert Lanza, and others
-
The Ravenous Brain
- How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning
- By: Daniel Bor
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Consciousness is our gateway to experience: it enables us to recognize Van Gogh’s starry skies, be enraptured by Beethoven’s Fifth, and stand in awe of a snowcapped mountain. Yet consciousness is subjective, personal, and famously difficult to examine: philosophers have for centuries declared this mental entity so mysterious as to be impenetrable to science. In The Ravenous Brain, neuroscientist Daniel Bor departs sharply from this historical view, and proposes a new model for how consciousness works.
-
-
Effectively demystifies consciousness
- By Gary on 11-18-12
By: Daniel Bor
-
What the Bleep Do We Know
- Discovering the Endless Possibilities for Altering Your Everyday Reality
- By: William Arntz, Betsy Chase, Mark Vicente
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the help of 14 leading physicists, scientists, and spiritual thinkers, this book guides listeners on a course from the scientific to the spiritual, and from the universal to the personal. Along the way, it asks such questions as: Are we seeing the world as it really is What is the relationship between our thoughts and our world? How can I create my day every day? What the Bleep answers this question and others through an innovative new approach to self-help and spirituality.
-
-
Attacking straw men
- By Henrik on 08-06-11
By: William Arntz, and others
-
Beyond Biocentrism
- Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death
- By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Beyond Biocentrism, acclaimed biologist Robert Lanza and astronomer Bob Berman take the listener on an intellectual thrill ride as they reexamine everything we thought we knew about life, death, the universe, and the nature of reality itself. The first step is acknowledging that our existing model of reality is looking increasingly creaky in the face of recent scientific discoveries.
-
-
Here's the thing
- By Mikal on 11-09-18
By: Robert Lanza, and others
-
The Mind of God
- Neuroscience, Faith, and a Search for the Soul
- By: Dr. Jay Lombard
- Narrated by: David Acord
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there a God? It's a question billions of people have asked since the dawn of time. You would think by now we'd have a satisfactory, universal answer. No such luck...or maybe we do and we just need to look in the right place. For Dr. Jay Lombard that place is the brain, and more importantly the mind, that center of awareness and consciousness that creates reality. In The Mind of God, Dr. Lombard employs case studies from his own behavioral neurology practice to explore the spiritual conundrums that we all ask ourselves.
-
-
Keenly insightful
- By Rick Smith on 09-30-19
By: Dr. Jay Lombard
-
The Ego Tunnel
- The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self
- By: Thomas Metzinger
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We're used to thinking about the self as an independent entity, something that we either have or are. In The Ego Tunnel, philosopher Thomas Metzinger claims otherwise: No such thing as a self exists. The conscious self is the content of a model created by our brain - an internal image, but one we cannot experience as an image. Everything we experience is "a virtual self in a virtual reality." But if the self is not "real," why and how did it evolve? How does the brain construct it?
-
-
non-specialist literature at its best
- By Esmeralda on 03-17-10
By: Thomas Metzinger
-
The Grand Biocentric Design
- How Life Creates Reality
- By: Robert Lanza, Matej Pavšič
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is consciousness? Why are we here? Where did it all come from - the laws of nature, the stars, the universe? Humans have been asking these questions forever, but science hasn't succeeded in providing many answers - until now. In The Grand Biocentric Design, Robert Lanza, one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People", is joined by theoretical physicist Matej Pavšic and astronomer Bob Berman to shed light on the big picture that has long eluded philosophers and scientists alike.
-
-
Should be in the fiction section.
- By Frank on 12-29-20
By: Robert Lanza, and others
-
The Ravenous Brain
- How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning
- By: Daniel Bor
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Consciousness is our gateway to experience: it enables us to recognize Van Gogh’s starry skies, be enraptured by Beethoven’s Fifth, and stand in awe of a snowcapped mountain. Yet consciousness is subjective, personal, and famously difficult to examine: philosophers have for centuries declared this mental entity so mysterious as to be impenetrable to science. In The Ravenous Brain, neuroscientist Daniel Bor departs sharply from this historical view, and proposes a new model for how consciousness works.
-
-
Effectively demystifies consciousness
- By Gary on 11-18-12
By: Daniel Bor
-
What the Bleep Do We Know
- Discovering the Endless Possibilities for Altering Your Everyday Reality
- By: William Arntz, Betsy Chase, Mark Vicente
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the help of 14 leading physicists, scientists, and spiritual thinkers, this book guides listeners on a course from the scientific to the spiritual, and from the universal to the personal. Along the way, it asks such questions as: Are we seeing the world as it really is What is the relationship between our thoughts and our world? How can I create my day every day? What the Bleep answers this question and others through an innovative new approach to self-help and spirituality.
-
-
Attacking straw men
- By Henrik on 08-06-11
By: William Arntz, and others
-
Beyond Biocentrism
- Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death
- By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Beyond Biocentrism, acclaimed biologist Robert Lanza and astronomer Bob Berman take the listener on an intellectual thrill ride as they reexamine everything we thought we knew about life, death, the universe, and the nature of reality itself. The first step is acknowledging that our existing model of reality is looking increasingly creaky in the face of recent scientific discoveries.
-
-
Here's the thing
- By Mikal on 11-09-18
By: Robert Lanza, and others
-
The Mind of God
- Neuroscience, Faith, and a Search for the Soul
- By: Dr. Jay Lombard
- Narrated by: David Acord
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is there a God? It's a question billions of people have asked since the dawn of time. You would think by now we'd have a satisfactory, universal answer. No such luck...or maybe we do and we just need to look in the right place. For Dr. Jay Lombard that place is the brain, and more importantly the mind, that center of awareness and consciousness that creates reality. In The Mind of God, Dr. Lombard employs case studies from his own behavioral neurology practice to explore the spiritual conundrums that we all ask ourselves.
-
-
Keenly insightful
- By Rick Smith on 09-30-19
By: Dr. Jay Lombard
-
Your Brain Is a Time Machine
- The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
- By: Dean Buonomano
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, brain researcher and best-selling author Dean Buonomano draws on evolutionary biology, physics, and philosophy to present his influential theory of how we tell and perceive time. The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological flow and enables "mental time travel" - simulations of future and past events.
-
-
Great book on an underrated subject
- By Neuron on 05-09-17
By: Dean Buonomano
-
Out of Our Heads
- You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness
- By: Alva Noe
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alva Noë is one of a new breed - part philosopher, part cognitive scientist, part neuroscientist - who are radically altering the study of consciousness by asking difficult questions and pointing out obvious flaws in the current science. In Out of Our Heads, he restates and reexamines the problem of consciousness, and then proposes a startling solution: Do away with the 200-year-old paradigm that places consciousness within the confines of the brain.
-
-
A bold, yet ultimately unsupported, hypothesis
- By Keith Pyne-Howarth on 01-17-10
By: Alva Noe
-
At the Edge of Uncertainty
- 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise
- By: Michael Brooks
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The atom, the big bang, DNA, natural selection - all are ideas that have revolutionized science; and all were dismissed out of hand when they first appeared. The surprises haven't stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, best-selling author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery.
-
-
All smoke, no fire
- By Kenton on 07-25-15
By: Michael Brooks
-
The Big Picture
- On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
- By: Sean Carroll
- Narrated by: Sean Carroll
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Already internationally acclaimed for his elegant, lucid writing on the most challenging notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is emerging as one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings his extraordinary intellect to bear not only on the Higgs boson and extra dimensions but now also on our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, our beliefs, and our hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless out there in the void?
-
-
ABSOLUTE MUST READ!
- By serine on 05-12-16
By: Sean Carroll
-
Consciousness and the Social Brain
- By: Michael S. A. Graziano
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? In Consciousness and the Social Brain, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory.
-
-
Cutting edge...
- By Douglas on 08-07-14
-
A General Theory of Love
- By: Richard Lannon MD, Thomas Lewis MD, Fari Amini MD
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This original and lucid account of the complexities of love and its essential role in human well-being draws on the latest scientific research. Three eminent psychiatrists tackle the difficult task of reconciling what artists and thinkers have known for thousands of years about the human heart with what has only recently been learned about the primitive functions of the human brain.
-
-
Great subject matter-hard to listen to
- By Laurel on 07-22-19
By: Richard Lannon MD, and others
-
Until the End of Time
- Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
- By: Brian Greene
- Narrated by: Brian Greene
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to find meaning in the face of this vast expanse. Greene takes us on a journey from the big bang to the end of time, exploring how lasting structures formed, how life and mind emerged, and how we grapple with our existence through narrative, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and a deep longing for the eternal.
-
-
Uneven
- By NJ on 03-03-20
By: Brian Greene
-
A Beginner’s Guide to Reality
- Exploring Our Everyday Adventures in Wonderland
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A unique fusion of philosophy and metaphysics set against the backdrop of contemporary culture. Have you ever wondered if the world is really there when you're not looking? We tend to take the reality of our world very much for granted. This book will lead you down the rabbit hole in search of something we can point to, hang our hats on, and say this is real.
-
-
A real great listen on the nature of reality
- By Patrick Mabry, Jr. on 07-30-14
By: Jim Baggott
-
Entangled Minds
- Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality
- By: Dean Radin PhD
- Narrated by: Al Kessel
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is everything connected? Can we sense what's happening to loved ones thousands of miles away? Why are we sometimes certain of a caller's identity the instant the phone rings? Do intuitive hunches contain information about future events? Is it possible to perceive without the use of the ordinary senses? Many people believe that such "psychic phenomena" are rare talents or divine gifts. Others don't believe they exist at all. But the latest scientific research shows that these phenomena are both real and widespread.
-
-
Boring as all get out but…
- By rebekah higgins on 01-12-20
By: Dean Radin PhD
-
Why God Won't Go Away
- Brain Science and the Biology of Belief
- By: Andrew Newberg, Eugene d'Aquili, Vince Rause
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking new book, researchers Andrew Newberg and Eugene d'Aquili offer an explanation that is at once profoundly simple and scientifically precise: The religious impulse is rooted in the biology of the brain. In Why God Won't Go Away, Newberg and d'Aquili document their pioneering explorations in the field of neurotheology, an emerging discipline dedicated to understanding the complex relationship between spirituality and the brain.
-
-
My opinion
- By David Berry on 09-06-18
By: Andrew Newberg, and others
-
The Spiritual Brain
- A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul
- By: Mario Beauregard, Denyse O'Leary
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Does religious experience come from God, or is it just the random firing of neurons in the brain? Drawing on brain research on Carmelite nuns that has attracted major media attention and provocative new research in near-death experiences, The Spiritual Brain proves that genuine, life-changing spiritual events can be documented. The authors make a convincing case for what many in science are loathe to consider: that it is God who creates our spiritual experiences, not the brain.
-
-
interesting topic, but frustrating listen
- By Barry T on 08-27-08
By: Mario Beauregard, and others
-
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Jeff Crawford
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over a storied career, Daniel C. Dennett has engaged questions about science and the workings of the mind. His answers have combined rigorous argument with strong empirical grounding. And a lot of fun. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking offers seventy-seven of Dennett’s most successful “imagination-extenders and focus-holders” meant to guide you through some of life’s most treacherous subject matter: evolution, meaning, mind, and free will.
-
-
Loved it, but some philosophy background needed.
- By LongerILiveLessIKnow on 11-14-13
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Feeling of Life Itself
- Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain.
-
-
Constant references to illustrations
- By Mark on 11-03-21
By: Christof Koch
-
Then I Am Myself the World
- What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Then I Am Myself the World, Christof Koch explores the only thing we directly experience: consciousness. At the book's heart is integrated-information theory, the idea that the essence of consciousness is the ability to exert causal power over itself, to be an agent of change. Koch investigates the physical origins of consciousness in the brain and how this knowledge can be used to measure consciousness in natural and artificial systems.
By: Christof Koch
-
Consciousness and the Brain
- Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts
- By: Stanislas Dehaene
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does the brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state.
-
-
I had no idea we knew this much.
- By Tristan on 01-18-16
-
Conscious
- A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
- By: Annaka Harris
- Narrated by: Annaka Harris
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience.
-
-
Perhaps a better definition?
- By Eratosthenes on 06-19-19
By: Annaka Harris
-
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
- By: Julian Jaynes
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes' still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only 3,000 years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion - and indeed our future.
-
-
An Archaelogical Expedition of Our Minds
- By Michael on 10-08-15
By: Julian Jaynes
-
The Consciousness Instinct
- Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind
- By: Michael S. Gazzaniga
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do neurons turn into minds? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness.
-
-
Not recommended
- By PMonaco on 01-19-19
-
The Feeling of Life Itself
- Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain.
-
-
Constant references to illustrations
- By Mark on 11-03-21
By: Christof Koch
-
Then I Am Myself the World
- What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It
- By: Christof Koch
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Then I Am Myself the World, Christof Koch explores the only thing we directly experience: consciousness. At the book's heart is integrated-information theory, the idea that the essence of consciousness is the ability to exert causal power over itself, to be an agent of change. Koch investigates the physical origins of consciousness in the brain and how this knowledge can be used to measure consciousness in natural and artificial systems.
By: Christof Koch
-
Consciousness and the Brain
- Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts
- By: Stanislas Dehaene
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How does the brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state.
-
-
I had no idea we knew this much.
- By Tristan on 01-18-16
-
Conscious
- A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
- By: Annaka Harris
- Narrated by: Annaka Harris
- Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience.
-
-
Perhaps a better definition?
- By Eratosthenes on 06-19-19
By: Annaka Harris
-
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
- By: Julian Jaynes
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes' still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only 3,000 years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion - and indeed our future.
-
-
An Archaelogical Expedition of Our Minds
- By Michael on 10-08-15
By: Julian Jaynes
-
The Consciousness Instinct
- Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind
- By: Michael S. Gazzaniga
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do neurons turn into minds? The problem of consciousness has gnawed at us for millennia. In the last century there have been massive breakthroughs that have rewritten the science of the brain, and yet the puzzles faced by the ancient Greeks are still present. In The Consciousness Instinct, the neuroscience pioneer Michael S. Gazzaniga puts the latest research in conversation with the history of human thinking about the mind, giving a big-picture view of what science has revealed about consciousness.
-
-
Not recommended
- By PMonaco on 01-19-19
-
Galileo's Error
- Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness
- By: Philip Goff
- Narrated by: Maxwell Caulfield
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Understanding how brains produce consciousness is one of the great scientific challenges of our age. Some philosophers argue that consciousness is something "extra", beyond the physical workings of the brain. Others think that if we persist in our standard scientific methods, our questions about consciousness will eventually be answered. And some suggest that the mystery is so deep, it will never be solved.
-
-
Good but basic
- By ginger on 01-23-20
By: Philip Goff
-
Being You
- A New Science of Consciousness
- By: Anil Seth
- Narrated by: Anil Seth
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to “be you” - that is, to have a specific, conscious experience of the world around you and yourself within it? There may be no more elusive or fascinating question. Historically, humanity has considered the nature of consciousness to be a primarily spiritual or philosophical inquiry, but scientific research is now mapping out compelling biological theories and explanations for consciousness and selfhood.
-
-
Not engaging, nothing new
- By Tristan on 11-22-21
By: Anil Seth
-
Reality+
- Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy
- By: David J. Chalmers
- Narrated by: Grant Cartwright
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtual reality is genuine reality; that’s the central thesis of Reality+. In a highly original work of “technophilosophy,” David J. Chalmers gives a compelling analysis of our technological future. He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds, and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already.
-
-
A book that could have been an email
- By Peter C. on 04-15-22
-
The Conscious Mind
- In Search of a Fundamental Theory
- By: David J. Chalmers
- Narrated by: George Cunningham
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is consciousness? How do physical processes in the brain give rise to the self-aware mind and to feelings as profoundly varied as love or hate, aesthetic pleasure or spiritual yearning? These questions today are among the most hotly debated issues among scientists and philosophers. Philosopher David J. Chalmers offers a cogent analysis of this heated debate as he unveils a major new theory of consciousness, one that rejects the prevailing reductionist trend of science, while offering provocative insights into the relationship between mind and brain.
-
-
Chalmers' search for Consciousness
- By SelfishWizard on 11-16-21
-
Consciousness Explained
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.
-
-
Confuses Consciousness with Ego
- By Rahul Yadav on 07-11-19
-
The Holographic Universe
- The Revolutionary Theory of Reality
- By: Michael Talbot
- Narrated by: Nick Mondelli
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nearly everyone is familiar with holograms - three-dimensional images projected into space with the aid of a laser. Two of the world's most eminent thinkers believe that the universe itself may be a giant hologram, quite literally a kind of image or construct created, at least in part, by the human mind. University of London physicist David Bohm, one of the world's most respected quantum physicists, and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, an architect of our modern understanding of the brain, have developed a remarkable new way of looking at the universe.
-
-
Fail
- By Vadim Tarnovsky on 05-16-21
By: Michael Talbot
What listeners say about Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist (MIT Press)
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philomath
- 12-27-17
Hard science and consciousness brought closer
Christof Koch is in the hardcore science of Biophysics and Neural correlates of consciousness, subjects that are at the forefront of empirical brain science.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see some philosophy, and dare I say a touch of what some might call, beyond the known. This could be because it is very hard to speak about consciousness with dabbling with the "Hard Problem" of Qualia.
I found this book enlightening with some unique hypothesis that did not shy away from the subjective experience and how science might tackle this issue.
This together with a bit of autobiography creates a well rounded and enjoyable book, with a humbling experience as to how little we know, recommended for those who are interested in knowing how hard is the Hard Problem of consciousness.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K Zumwalt
- 12-12-18
Incredible
Amazing insights into the depths of human consciousness on a both scientific and philosophical level written with thoughtful and enduring prose.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KMendoza
- 10-30-19
Superb!
Loved it!!! I truly enjoyed reading every bit of it, from start to finish. It's a wonderful feast for the mind, which touches the heart. I can't wait to read Christof Koch's next book The Feeling of Life Itself. And Thank You, Christof!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NL
- 04-26-21
Endless but soothing neurodroning.
Trying too hard to be a hip Carl Sagan down with the kids and the popcultural and pseudointellectual references while waxing poetic at every single corner, stumbling over his unexamined assumptions. Still an ok listen for when you just wanna zone out over some intro neurodrivel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. Choate
- 05-16-19
For students of the mind this is a tasty treat!
I enjoyed the book greatly. Many insightful descriptions and explanations. I'm forced to write another sentence for the review to be accepted lol.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Farhad Taghibakhsh
- 04-23-22
The hard problem of letting go of the faith!
It was a very informative book for me personally, I learned a lot about the anatomy of the brain, neurological activities and their relations to our physical behavior / actions. Specifically I was fascinated by the mentioned method of measuring / quantifying consciousness in brain damaged patients. However, I didn’t find the book necessarily helpful (again, for me) on the subject of consciousness!
I found the description of the IIT (integrated information technology) incomplete (without explaining how consciousness can emerge from integrated information), sort of hoping that consciousness miraculously emerges when a computing system can integrate high level data, explores and finds relations between them!
Additionally,
Nevertheless, I found the content of the book matching its title: confessions of a hopeless scientific mind loosing its faith to scientific discoveries and objectiveness of the physical world, yet hoping there is a meaning to the life and universe!
I strongly believe this book is absolutely useful for people of the faith and those who believe in metaphysical world, because the writer patiently walks you out of many illusions graciously easier the way he helped himself, the hard way.
— Remarks on a technical matter: the writer believes consciousness is a property built into a whole system and therefore you cannot simulate consciousness using digital computer, the same way simulation of a black hole won’t wrap the space-time around the simulating computer [Nature 2018]. I found this argument bizarre and the analogy utterly wrong! This argument, I think, attest on the writer believe that he thinks consciousness is something on top of a system like a mind or spirit that emerges from it, and not a result of information processing. The way I understand it he’s saying since the brain is an analog system, you cannot simulate it using a digital computer. But this contradicts his adherence to the IIT! Also, if consciousness is the result of information processing, the information being analog or digital would not matter (incomparable to simulation of gravity in a computer). After all, all analog signals are digital in nature … so, it’s a matter of resolution. Will a digital computer built based on multi-value logics capable of simulating consciousness, but not a binary computer?!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Angster
- 08-06-18
A tremendously important book concerning consciousness , Arguably leading to a lack of dualism
I have been a fan of Christof Koch since reading the neural correlates of consciousness and seeing his Cal techWebpage perhaps 10 or more years ago.
Those of us who have long struggled with theExistence of a mind/soul Dualism appreciate the important scientific work of Koch and Crick and those who have worked with them to scientifically analyze the Thought process and consciousness. This is the latest book in a series of books. In the neural correlates of consciousness Koch was able to show how much is the visual cortex works and how we assemble images.
15 years ago there were a few attempting to do what is now being done with the advent of better measuring tools such as fMRI. The ability to measure electrical activity of single neurons and small groups of neurons and track their connections is astounding.
It May not be easy for to understand this work for those mired in philosophy that could not be tested or religion that could not be scrutinized yet this book is understandable to all. Many will need to rethink putting the cart before the horse. We may feel as though we have a soul here at the definition of a soul need to be re-defined. Descartes did not have the tools available to him that are available to Koch.
As we have long been able to see vertebrae and fossils that are similar from one animal to another, we are now able to examine the brains Of many animals and it is apparent that they are conscious as we are even though they are not able to speak (or speak in a language that we are able to understand).
This book makes it abundantly clear that the consciousness that each of us have is based upon the anatomy of our brains, the inputs that we receive and have received and the chemicals, food, neural sustenance That we have taken in allowing us to have the thoughts and feelings that we have.
I will continue to look for new research by Christof Koch and Those who build upon his research.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 08-02-21
Two themes mashed together confusedly
If this was science only leaving out the philosophical assumptions the conclusion, "We don't know what consciousness is, but think it's physical" would at least be truthful. The case that mechanics explains consciousness was not made. If it was focused on the personal history, it might also have been a decent story, and maybe the philosophical assumptions would have been explored. There were certainly sad points in the author's life, and the concluding rule, "Everything turns out just as it is supposed to." Is reasonable. HIs advocation of the platonic view of the soul is misguided as it is not the only one worthy of consideration. There is a better case to examine from Aristotle: Soul as principle of life or substantial for of the body is worthy of consideration. The dismissal of miracles as fabrications, first misunderstands miracles and second, leads to wild speculations unworthy of consideration. If a miracle is a physical event that has not or cannot be explained by science, then they are all around us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Barna
- 06-14-22
Engaging autobiography and compelling science
Engaging autobiography and compelling science. The reader had trouble with the occasional French word but otherwise is excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ras
- 11-14-20
Unbearable
Sorry to the prestige of the author but this is a very poor book. It is not informative nor enjoyable. Narration is also not compatible with the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!