The Pattern Seekers
How Autism Drives Human Invention
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Cowley
About this listen
A groundbreaking argument about the link between autism and ingenuity.
Why can humans alone invent? In The Pattern Seekers, Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen makes a case that autism is as crucial to our creative and cultural history as the mastery of fire. Indeed, Baron-Cohen argues that autistic people have played a key role in human progress for 70,000 years, from the first tools to the digital revolution.
How? Because the same genes that cause autism enable the pattern seeking that is essential to our species' inventiveness. However, these abilities exact a great cost on autistic people, including social and often medical challenges, so Baron-Cohen calls on us to support and celebrate autistic people in both their disabilities and their triumphs. Ultimately, The Pattern Seekers isn't just a new theory of human civilization, but a call to consider anew how society treats those who think differently.
©2020 Simon Baron-Cohen (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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The Self Illusion provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our individual concept of a self is in fact an illusion. Most of us believe that we possess a self - an internal individual who resides inside our bodies, making decisions, authoring actions and possessing free will. The feeling that a single, unified, enduring self inhabits the body is compelling and inescapable. But that sovereignty of the self is increasingly under threat from science as our understanding of the brain advances.
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Disappointing
- By David R Pinsof on 05-10-12
By: Bruce Hood
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On Intelligence
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- Narrated by: Jeff Hawkins, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
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Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intelligence itself.
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Epiphany
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Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
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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.
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Loved it, but some philosophy background needed.
- By LongerILiveLessIKnow on 11-14-13
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Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
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Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett demystify that big gray blob between your ears. In seven short essays (plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible collection reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You'll learn where brains came from, how they're structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience.
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slow reader & little bit of a Wokie
- By darren on 06-01-21
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Intelligence in Nature
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Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe - from the Amazon Basin to the Far East - to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life. Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone.
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Favorite part was untrue :(
- By Al A'scgh on 08-13-18
By: Jeremy Narby
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Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded)
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- Narrated by: John Medina
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In the New York Times bestseller Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule - what scientists know for sure about how our brains work - and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives. Medina’s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science.
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Dear Publishers . . .
- By Bekah on 04-06-17
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The Book of Why
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- By: Judea Pearl, Dana Mackenzie
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
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"Correlation does not imply causation". This mantra has been invoked by scientists for decades and has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. But today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, sparked by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and placed causality - the study of cause and effect - on a firm scientific basis.
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Great book! Not a great audiobook.
- By rrwright on 05-30-18
By: Judea Pearl, and others
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Riveted
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Professor Jim Davies's fascinating and highly accessible book, Riveted, reveals the evolutionary underpinnings of why we find things compelling. Drawing on work from philosophy, anthropology, religious studies, psychology, economics, computer science, and biology, Davies offers a comprehensive explanation to show that in spite of the differences between the many things that we find compelling, they have similar effects on our minds and brains.
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Fun and excellent listen!
- By Alejandro Franco on 04-13-18
By: Jim Davies
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The Bond
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- By: Lynne McTaggart
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From the best-selling author of The Intention Experiment and The Field comes a groundbreaking new work---a book that uses the interconnectedness of mind and matter to demonstrate that the key to life is in the relationship between things. We are always connected with others, hardwired at our most elemental level---from the quantum level to the cellular, from personal relationships to business and societal structures.
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Horrible narrator
- By Cotran on 09-19-11
By: Lynne McTaggart
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rich content. challenging narration.
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The emphasis on let dx
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For a friend, family member, or coworker with autism, communication can be challenging. But Connecting with the Autism Spectrum can help you find common ground with expert tips and helpful insights about talking (and listening) to neurodiverse adults so you can make your interactions more transparent, meaningful, and rewarding for all.
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Hard to relate to author
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What listeners say about The Pattern Seekers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Josh Smith
- 10-02-23
Interesting Topic, way too verbose
Found myself skipping entire sections, due to the repetition of the nature of writing. Listening became almost like I was being lectured and a point being made over and over and over.
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- Alexandre
- 02-02-24
inconsistent and jumping around
this book does contain many interesting facts, but few of them are directly related to the topic. As author himself admits "this could have been the shortest book ever: only 3 words", but seems he tried hard to cram anything even remotely connected in it to make it bigger. e.g. It may as well be called The Hystery (and/of evolution) of Invention or Autism and Invention.
Also, dude not only overgeneralizes, universilizes and overapplies, but also misinterprets his own theory: sometimes says the E & S are unrelated and sometimes mutually exclusive.
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- PaulC
- 07-09-23
Best science book on autism yet
This book ranks above the best of many I’ve listened to or read that approach autism and it’s associated behavioral characteristics through the lens of science. This body of work and it’s clear explanation in the book left me with a better theory of mind and understanding of my own human experience than before I read it. It is deeply reasoned and researched, extremely well articulated, and thoughtfully and humanistically explained in a way that should be accessible to all types of readers/listeners. The premise that ranges of human behaviors help our crafty species flourish in the face of changing environmental conditions over spans of time and space far vaster than any of us experience in our own lifetimes seems to be the most cogent and testable explanation for the fact of neurodiversity going. If Simon Baron-Cohn isn’t yet being considered for a Nobel Prize yet, he should be. And being cousins with Sacha Baron-Cohn makes this all the more richly interesting.
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- David
- 06-26-21
I made it about halfway through
I cannot get past the reader's tone, cadence, and voice. He has ruined many books for me. As I only listened to half I cannot comment on the entire book but I wish there was more content about autism and less repetitive "if and then" examples, listening to Mr. Cowley read it made my blood boil. Sorry Simon.
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3 people found this helpful
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- James L.
- 09-13-23
As an Autistic…
The core premise is good, the idea that autistic individuals (or hyper pattern seekers) can innovate because they are “born to do it”.
However. It feels that the book was intended for neurotypicals. It struggles to dance between “neurodivergents are amazing” but
“the neurotypical should not feel bad”. “Autism has so many disadvantages”, but “Austin also have so many benefits”. “They invent a bunch of stuff, but can’t invent to save themselves out of their parent’s basement”. It’s a collection of small narrative examples.
This dance is quite off putting for me. The facts and specifics are good references, but reads like a nature white paper rather than a thought leading exploration of the topic.
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- Ed
- 05-01-23
Interesting Concept but Fell Short
The concepts are interesting, but many of the authors' points are stated as fact with little support. The author does provide some good examples but is quick to gloss over counter examples. The narrator is very dry and perhaps takes away from the content. The comparison to mechanics or simple engineering was juvenile as if the author was dumbing down the material or simply didn't understand it.
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- Steve
- 03-12-23
Content is good but narration is bad.
This narrator has narrated about 100 Audible titles but his narration is bad. I playback 0.8X speed and he sounded bearable. The author should have used a better narrator. Lousy narration can ruin an otherwise good book.
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- MRS.Denning
- 02-19-24
what a boring let down
I didn't feel this was super insightful, honestly. I had huge, wonderful expectations of discovery for this book but felt it was a boring let down, overall. The subtitle paraphrases the entire book that felt like it was uninterestingly beat to death: The Pattern Seekers: How xyz Drives Human Invention
I didn't feel this was really a good read about Autism, personally, but I already agree that neurodivergency, Autism, pattern seeking, creativity, and obsessive learning for the joy of it are all amazing to me. I didn't feel like this book even represented that as beautifully as I think it is. Just my opinion.
1-2 stars for the topic and synopsis of random info about a handful of inventors. Not 5 stars because I wouldn't recommend this read. It misses the mark in big, important ways. That's why I feel this way about this book.
I wasn't even interested in taking the surveys at the end that the book keeps recommending throughout. I also felt like that entire point of view was poorly developed, so it was not worth my time.
Most inventors mentioned over and over again, for example, are "speculated" as likely to be autistic but even those examples felt small and poorly digested. 🤷♀️
*I own the hardcover but listened to it on Audible, instead.*
P.s. I first heard about this book while listening to an interview with the author. I was thrilled to read it based on the content the author speaks about with passion.
Also, I have a constant, huge urge to rearrange the colors on the title page. 🤣 I do still think the cover is beautiful.
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- Warren Shapiro
- 03-15-22
Too sciency
Very scientific. I got lost in some sections. I finished the book but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would have.
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