Consciousness Explained

2018-02-06
Consciousness Explained

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  • Author: Daniel C. Dennett
  • Publisher: Hachette+ORM
  • ISBN: 0316439487
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 707

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

Consciousness Explained

1993-06-24
Consciousness Explained

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  • Author: Daniel C. Dennett
  • Publisher: Penguin UK
  • ISBN: 0141956100
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 579

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

Consciousness Explained

1993-06-24
Consciousness Explained

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  • Author: Daniel Clement Dennett
  • Publisher: Penguin UK
  • ISBN: 0140128670
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 534

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.

The Map of Consciousness Explained

2020-10-20
The Map of Consciousness Explained

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  • Author: David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Publisher: Hay House, Inc
  • ISBN: 1401959644
  • Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 401

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.

The Mystery of Consciousness

1990-01-01
The Mystery of Consciousness

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  • Author: John R. Searle
  • Publisher: New York Review of Books
  • ISBN: 9780940322066
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 244

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.

Consciousness Explained Better

2009-09-01
Consciousness Explained Better

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  • Author: Allan Combs
  • Publisher: Paragon House
  • ISBN: 9781557788832
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 0

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

Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain

2021
Conscious Mind, Resonant Brain

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  • Author: Stephen Grossberg
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • ISBN: 0190070552
  • Category : Computers
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 771

How does your mind work? How does your brain give rise to your mind? These are questions that all of us have wondered about at some point in our lives, if only because everything that we know is experienced in our minds. They are also very hard questions to answer. After all, how can a mind understand itself? How can you understand something as complex as the tool that is being used to understand it? This book provides an introductory and self-contained description of some of the exciting answers to these questions that modern theories of mind and brain have recently proposed. Stephen Grossberg is broadly acknowledged to be the most important pioneer and current research leader who has, for the past 50 years, modelled how brains give rise to minds, notably how neural circuits in multiple brain regions interact together to generate psychological functions. This research has led to a unified understanding of how, where, and why our brains can consciously see, hear, feel, and know about the world, and effectively plan and act within it. The work embodies revolutionary Principia of Mind that clarify how autonomous adaptive intelligence is achieved. It provides mechanistic explanations of multiple mental disorders, including symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, autism, amnesia, and sleep disorders; biological bases of morality and religion, including why our brains are biased towards the good so that values are not purely relative; perplexing aspects of the human condition, including why many decisions are irrational and self-defeating despite evolution's selection of adaptive behaviors; and solutions to large-scale problems in machine learning, technology, and Artificial Intelligence that provide a blueprint for autonomously intelligent algorithms and robots. Because brains embody a universal developmental code, unifying insights also emerge about shared laws that are found in all living cellular tissues, from the most primitive to the most advanced, notably how the laws governing networks of interacting cells support developmental and learning processes in all species. The fundamental brain design principles of complementarity, uncertainty, and resonance that Grossberg has discovered also reflect laws of the physical world with which our brains ceaselessly interact, and which enable our brains to incrementally learn to understand those laws, thereby enabling humans to understand the world scientifically. Accessibly written, and lavishly illustrated, Conscious Mind/Resonant Brain is the magnum opus of one of the most influential scientists of the past 50 years, and will appeal to a broad readership across the sciences and humanities.

Sweet Dreams

2006-09-08
Sweet Dreams

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  • Author: Daniel C. Dennett
  • Publisher: MIT Press
  • ISBN: 0262250721
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 228

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?"

Content and Consciousness Revisited

2015-07-10
Content and Consciousness Revisited

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  • Author: Carlos Muñoz-Suárez
  • Publisher: Springer
  • ISBN: 331917374X
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 233

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.

Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

2014-05-05
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

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  • Author: Daniel C. Dennett
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
  • ISBN: 0393348784
  • Category : Philosophy
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 512

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