Download or read book Consciousness Explained written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 707 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Daniel Dennett's "brilliant" exploration of human consciousness — named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times — is a masterpiece beloved by both scientific experts and general readers (New York Times Book Review). Consciousness Explained is a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life — of people, animal, even robots — are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book. "Dennett is a witty and gifted scientific raconteur, and the book is full of fascinating information about humans, animals, and machines. The result is highly digestible and a useful tour of the field." —Wall Street Journal

Download or read book Consciousness Explained written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 1993-06-24 with total page 579 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Consciousness Explained, Daniel C. Dennett reveals the secrets of one of the last remaining mysteries of the universe: the human brain. Daniel C. Dennett's now-classic book blends philosophy, psychology and neuroscience - with the aid of numerous examples and thought-experiments - to explore how consciousness has evolved, and how a modern understanding of the human mind is radically different from conventional explanations of consciousness. What people think of as the stream of consciousness is not a single, unified sequence, the author argues, but 'multiple drafts' of reality composed by a computer-like 'virtual machine'. Dennett explains how science has exploded the classic mysteries of consciousness: the nature of introspection, the self or ego and its relation to thoughts and sensations, the problems posed by qualia, and the level of consciousness of non-human creatures. 'Brilliant ... a torrent of stimulating thought' Richard Dawkins 'Revolutionary ... one of the most mentally agile, intellectually resourceful books you are likely to read' Guardian 'A masterful tapestry of deep insights ... Dennett has written a profound and important book that is also clear, exciting and witty' Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach

Download or read book Consciousness Explained written by Daniel Clement Dennett and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 1993-06-24 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book revises the traditional view of consciousness by claiming that Cartesianism and Descartes' dualism of mind and body should be replaced with theories from the realms of neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence. What people think of as the stream of consciousness is not a single, unified sequence, the author argues, but "multiple drafts" of reality composed by a computer-like "virtual machine". Dennett considers how consciousness could have evolved in human beings and confronts the classic mysteries of consciousness: the nature of introspection, the self or ego and its relation to thoughts and sensations, and the level of consciousness of non-human creatures.

Download or read book The Map of Consciousness Explained written by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A simple and accessible exploration of the best-selling author of Letting Go and Power vs. Force David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. most famous work, The Map of Consciousness, that will help you to experience healing and transcendence. World-renowned author, psychiatrist, clinician, spiritual teacher, and researcher of consciousness David R. Hawkins shares that we are all born with an energetic frequency within the vast field of consciousness. And with The Map of Consciousness, we can truly understand the total spectrum of human emotions and consciousness. Using a unique muscle-testing method, Dr. David R. Hawkins conducted more than 250,000 calibrations during 20 years of research to define a range of values, attitudes, and emotions that correspond to levels of consciousness. This range of values-along with a logarithmic scale of 1 to 1,000-became the Map of Consciousness, which Dr. David R. Hawkins first wrote about in his best-selling book, Power vs. Force. With the Map, Dr. David R. Hawkins laid out the entire spectrum of consciousness, from the lower levels of Shame, Guilt, Apathy, Fear, Anger, and Pride; to Courage, Acceptance, and Reason; all the way up to the more expanded levels of Love, Ecstasy, Peace, and Enlightenment. These "higher" energy fields are a carrier wave of immense life energy. An essential primer on the late Dr. David R. Hawkins's teachings on human consciousness and their associated energy fields, The Map of Consciousness Explained offers an introduction and deeper understanding of the Map, with visual charts and practical applications to help you heal, recover, and evolve to higher levels of consciousness and energy. This enlightening book transcends the boundaries of conventional wisdom, integrating the realms of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality in a powerful exploration of human consciousness and human potential to help you be more effective in every area of your life. Some highlights include: · A thoughtful fusion of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. · A comprehensive interpretation of the law of attraction and its intrinsic link with consciousness and personal evolution. · A scientifically grounded guide to harness the power of positive thinking and its practical applications. · An insightful perspective on the 'power vs force' dynamic, offering fresh insights into personal and professional relationships. · An enriching collection of practical exercises and affirmations designed to awaken and energize your consciousness. Dr. David R. Hawkins has a remarkable ability to simplify complex concepts. Whether you're in search of motivational books for women, leadership books for aspiring entrepreneurs, or behavior books to comprehend the nuances of human interaction, this book can revolutionize how you perceive and interact with the world, inspiring profound transformation and positive change. "That which weakens life energy is to be avoided: shame, guilt, confusion, fear, hatred, pride, hopelessness, and falsehood. That which uplifts life is to be realized: truth, courage, acceptance, reason, love, beauty, joy, and peace." –David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. Whether you're a scholar, a personal growth enthusiast, or simply on a path of self-discovery, this book will help you live with more awareness and lead a more conscious and fulfilling life.

Download or read book The Mystery of Consciousness written by John R. Searle and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has long been one of the most fundamental problems of philosophy, and it is now, John Searle writes, "the most important problem in the biological sciences": What is consciousness? Is my inner awareness of myself something separate from my body? In what began as a series of essays in The New York Review of Books, John Searle evaluates the positions on consciousness of such well-known scientists and philosophers as Francis Crick, Gerald Edelman, Roger Penrose, Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, and Israel Rosenfield. He challenges claims that the mind works like a computer, and that brain functions can be reproduced by computer programs. With a sharp eye for confusion and contradiction, he points out which avenues of current research are most likely to come up with a biological examination of how conscious states are caused by the brain. Only when we understand how the brain works will we solve the mystery of consciousness, and only then will we begin to understand issues ranging from artificial intelligence to our very nature as human beings.

Download or read book Consciousness Explained Better written by Allan Combs and published by Paragon House. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consciousness Explained Better is a unique contribution. This compact volume represents thousands of years of humanity's struggle to understand consciousness from a wide variety of perspectives. It is an up-to-date digest of the search in bite-sized chapters. Allan Combs has managed to encapsulate and synthesize vast bodies of thought and research without dilution. He has made even the most mind-twisting arguments and questions comprehensible, and he has brought forward scholarship and rigorous inquiry in language that speaks to the heart as well as the head. This book satisfies with its comprehensiveness yet intrigues with all that still remains enigmatic. It brings forward the yearning, the brilliance, the awe, and the outrageous audacity of our search to understand conscious. It reminds us that, in a world where much of our lives on a mundane basis has been reduced to the trivial, the logistical, and the manageable, everything about that world and about ourselves is still completely beyond our grasp. We still live and move in the Great Mystery. --From the Foreword by Jenny Wade, author of Changes of Mind and Transcendent Sex

Download or read book Content and Consciousness Revisited written by Carlos Muñoz-Suárez and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-10 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the grounds for the distinction between the mental and the physical? What is it the relation between ascribing mental states to an organism and understanding its behavior? Are animals and complex systems vehicles of inner evolutionary environments? Is there a difference between personal and sub-personal level processes in the brain? Answers to these and other questions were developed in Daniel Dennett’s first book, Content and Consciousness (1969), where he sketched a unified theoretical framework for views that are now considered foundational in cognitive science and philosophy of mind. Content and Consciousness Revisited is devoted to reconsider the ideas and ideals introduced in Dennett’s seminal book, by covering its fundamental concepts, hypotheses and approaches and taking into account the findings and progress which have taken place during more than four decades. This book includes original and critical contributions about the relations between science and philosophy, the personal/sub-personal level distinction, intelligence, learning, intentionality, rationality, propositional attitudes, among other issues of scientific and philosophical interest. Each chapter embraces an updated approach to several disciplines, like cognitive science, cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind and cognitive psychiatry.

Download or read book Sweet Dreams written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2006-09-08 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years since Daniel Dennett's influential Consciousness Explained was published in 1991, scientific research on consciousness has been a hotly contested battleground of rival theories—"so rambunctious," Dennett observes, "that several people are writing books just about the tumult." With Sweet Dreams, Dennett returns to the subject for "revision and renewal" of his theory of consciousness, taking into account major empirical advances in the field since 1991 as well as recent theoretical challenges. In Consciousness Explained, Dennett proposed to replace the ubiquitous but bankrupt Cartesian Theater model (which posits a privileged place in the brain where "it all comes together" for the magic show of consciousness) with the Multiple Drafts Model. Drawing on psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, he asserted that human consciousness is essentially the mental software that reorganizes the functional architecture of the brain. In Sweet Dreams, he recasts the Multiple Drafts Model as the "fame in the brain" model, as a background against which to examine the philosophical issues that "continue to bedevil the field." With his usual clarity and brio, Dennett enlivens his arguments with a variety of vivid examples. He isolates the "Zombic Hunch" that distorts much of the theorizing of both philosophers and scientists, and defends heterophenomenology, his "third-person" approach to the science of consciousness, against persistent misinterpretations and objections. The old challenge of Frank Jackson's thought experiment about Mary the color scientist is given a new rebuttal in the form of "RoboMary," while his discussion of a famous card trick, "The Tuned Deck," is designed to show that David Chalmers's Hard Problem is probably just a figment of theorists' misexploited imagination. In the final essay, the "intrinsic" nature of "qualia" is compared with the naively imagined "intrinsic value" of a dollar in "Consciousness—How Much is That in Real Money?"

Download or read book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the world's leading philosophers offers aspiring thinkers his personal trove of mind-stretching thought experiments. Includes 77 of Dennett's most successful "imagination-extenders and focus-holders.O

Download or read book The Hidden Spring A Journey to the Source of Consciousness written by Mark Solms and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory new theory of consciousness that returns emotions to the center of mental life. 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. Solms is a frank and fearless guide on an extraordinary voyage from the dawn of neuropsychology and psychoanalysis to the cutting edge of contemporary neuroscience, adhering to the medically provable. But he goes beyond other neuroscientists by paying close attention to the subjective experiences of hundreds of neurological patients, many of whom he treated, whose uncanny conversations expose much about the brain’s obscure reaches. Most importantly, you will be able to recognize the workings of your own mind for what they really are, including every stray thought, pulse of emotion, and shift of attention. The Hidden Spring will profoundly alter your understanding of your own subjective experience.

Download or read book Consciousness Demystified written by Todd E. Feinberg and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demystifying consciousness: how subjective experience can be explained by natural brain and evolutionary processes. Consciousness is often considered a mystery. How can the seemingly immaterial experience of consciousness be explained by the material neurons of the brain? There seems to be an unbridgeable gap between understanding the brain as an objectively observed biological organ and accounting for the subjective experiences that come from the brain (and life processes). In this book, Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt attempt to demystify consciousness—to naturalize it, by explaining that the subjective, experiencing aspects of consciousness are created by natural brain processes that evolved in natural ways. Although subjective experience is unique in nature, they argue, it is not necessarily mysterious. We need not invoke the unknown or unknowable to explain its creation. Feinberg and Mallatt flesh out their theory of neurobiological naturalism (after John Searle's biological naturalism) that recognizes the many features that brains share with other living things, lists the neural features unique to conscious brains, and explains the subjective–objective barrier naturally. They investigate common neural features among the diverse groups of animals that have primary consciousness—the type of consciousness that experiences both sensations received from the world and affects such as emotions. They map the evolutionary development of consciousness and find an uninterrupted progression over time, without inserting any mysterious forces or exotic physics. Finally, bridging the previously unbridgeable, they show how subjective experience, although different from objective observation, can be naturally explained.

Download or read book The Conscious Brain written by Jesse J. Prinz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-17 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problem of consciousness continues to be a subject of great debate in cognitive science. Synthesizing decades of research, The Conscious Brain advances a new theory of the psychological and neurophysiological correlates of conscious experience. Prinz's account of consciousness makes two main claims: first consciousness always arises at a particular stage of perceptual processing, the intermediate level, and, second, consciousness depends on attention. Attention changes the flow of information allowing perceptual information to access memory systems. Neurobiologically, this change in flow depends on synchronized neural firing. Neural synchrony is also implicated in the unity of consciousness and in the temporal duration of experience. Prinz also explores the limits of consciousness. We have no direct experience of our thoughts, no experience of motor commands, and no experience of a conscious self. All consciousness is perceptual, and it functions to make perceptual information available to systems that allows for flexible behavior. Prinz concludes by discussing prevailing philosophical puzzles. He provides a neuroscientifically grounded response to the leading argument for dualism, and argues that materialists need not choose between functional and neurobiological approaches, but can instead combine these into neurofunctional response to the mind-body problem. The Conscious Brain brings neuroscientific evidence to bear on enduring philosophical questions, while also surveying, challenging, and extending philosophical and scientific theories of consciousness. All readers interested in the nature of consciousness will find Prinz's work of great interest.

Download or read book Gender Mosaic written by Daphna Joel and published by Little, Brown Spark. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With profound implications for our most foundational assumptions about gender, Gender Mosaic explains why there is no such thing as a male or female brain. For generations, we've been taught that women and men differ in profound and important ways. Women are more sensitive and emotional, whereas men are more aggressive and sexual, because this or that region in the brains of women is smaller or larger than in men, or because they have more or less of this or that hormone. This story seems to provide us with a neat biological explanation for much of what we encounter in day-to-day life. But is it true? According to neuroscientist Daphna Joel, it's not. And in Gender Mosaic, she sets forth a bold and compelling argument that debunks the notion of female and male brains. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, including the groundbreaking results of her own studies, Dr. Joel explains that every human brain is a unique mixture -- or mosaic -- of "male" and "female" features, and that these mosaics don't map neatly into two categories. With urgent practical implications for the way we understand ourselves and the world around us, Gender Mosaic is a fascinating look at the science of gender, sex and the brain, and at how freeing ourselves from the gender binary can help us all reach our full human potential.

Download or read book Mind and Cognition written by William G. Lycan and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 2008-02-11 with total page 904 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, this text provides the reader with an overview of the complex, sophisticated and sometimes conflicting developments in theories of mind that have taken place over the last 40 years.

Download or read book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind written by Julian Jaynes and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2000-08-15 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand 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. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry

Download or read book From Bacteria to Bach and Back The Evolution of Minds written by Daniel C. Dennett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A supremely enjoyable, intoxicating work." —Nature How did we come to have minds? For centuries, poets, philosophers, psychologists, and physicists have wondered how the human mind developed its unrivaled abilities. Disciples of Darwin have explained how natural selection produced plants, but what about the human mind? In From Bacteria to Bach and Back, Daniel C. Dennett builds on recent discoveries from biology and computer science to show, step by step, how a comprehending mind could in fact have arisen from a mindless process of natural selection. A crucial shift occurred when humans developed the ability to share memes, or ways of doing things not based in genetic instinct. Competition among memes produced thinking tools powerful enough that our minds don’t just perceive and react, they create and comprehend. An agenda-setting book for a new generation of philosophers and scientists, From Bacteria to Bach and Back will delight and entertain all those curious about how the mind works.

Download or read book Transcending the Levels of Consciousness written by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover how to transcend the limitations of the ego, relieve suffering, and advance your consciousness in this masterpiece from world-renowned author, psychiatrist, clinician, and spiritual teacher, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. The now widely known Map of calibrated levels of Consciousness was presented in Power vs. Force in 1995 and has been translated into all the world’s major languages. This was followed by The Eye of the I (2001), I: Reality and Subjectivity (2003), and Truth vs. Falsehood (2005), which explored the levels of Truth reflected throughout society. Transcending the Levels of Consciousness expands on this work and returns to the exploration of the ego’s expressions and limitations, giving detailed explanations and instructions on how to transcend them. “I consider myself a student of David Hawkins and return to his books and work time and time again. His wisdom deeply resonates with my lived experiences; he is often able to beautifully articulate what I cannot put into words.” – Vex King As with the reading of Dr. Hawkins’ previous books, your level of consciousness will advance from exposure to the information itself. This opens up avenues to the relief of suffering, which fulfills the purpose of the work and the intention to facilitate your own Enlightenment. This transformative personal growth book combines elements of psychology, spirituality, and philosophy, and invites you to explore the profound depths of your own consciousness, Hawkins' genius consciousness concept will inspire you to reach new heights of spiritual and personal development. Transcending The Levels of Consciousness is a monumental testament to the boundless potential of the human spirit. It is an empowering book that offers inspiration and motivation on your journey of self-discovery. Experience the profound wisdom of Dr. David Hawkins, as he elegantly blends spirituality, psychology, and philosophy to create a comprehensive roadmap to unlock the divine potential within you so that you can step into a higher consciousness.