A History of the Mind Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness edition by Nicholas Humphrey Politics Social Sciences eBooks
Download As PDF : A History of the Mind Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness edition by Nicholas Humphrey Politics Social Sciences eBooks 
How does the water of the brain yield the wine of conscious experience? What is the link between bodily activity and our inner feeling of what it’s like to be our selves?
The problem of qualia — the so-called "hard problem" of consciousness — has intrigued philosophers for generations and remains the greatest challenge to contemporary science. In this path-breaking book, Nicholas Humphrey examines the issues in the light of evolutionary history and proposes a solution very different from any previously offered. He suggests that instead of focusing on second-order mental faculties, or "thoughts about thoughts", we need to look at the raw sensations themselves which are central to all conscious states. He takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through little-known areas of biology, psychology and philosophy, to discover the origins of all forms of self-awareness in the primitive pain and pleasure responses of our distant ancestors.
Packed with psychological information and ingenious speculation, A History of the Mind not only recasts the debate about the nature of conscious experience but provides fascinating insights into many other topics along the way. Already a classic, this book is as informative and entertaining as it is profound.
A History of the Mind Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness edition by Nicholas Humphrey Politics Social Sciences eBooks
Surely the phenomena of consciousness is one of the most intractable problems in the universe. Legions of very bright people have taken a stab at the problem, to little or no avail. Sadly, I am unable to resist the temptation to read yet another discussion on the subject, even though I know I will come away frustrated.My reservations notwithstanding, this book turned out to contain some genuinely interesting, as well as sensible, thinking on the operation of the human brain. His theory is well grounded in common sense, and is developed carefully. Humphrey's approach is a good one: How might the human brain have evolved to create consciousness from primitive antecedents?
Central to Hamphrey's theory is the distinction between sensation and perception, that is to say the difference between the subjective sensations that we experience versus the awareness of some external object. This argument takes a considerable length of time for Humphrey to unpack, and there were moments where I doubted that the distinction was worth the care that Humphrey lavished upon it. However, at the end of the day, it is worth wading through this discussion in order to fully understand this key element of Humphrey's idea.
The critical leap occurs when Humphrey postulate the existence of "reverbatory feedback loops." Under this theory, consciousness arises when sensory information is shuttled between the nervous system and the brain repeatedly. This mechanism would give temporal continuity to sensation and might well be the foundation for consciousness.
Whether or not you buy this theory, you will be interested to follow Humphrey through the steps that allow him to get to the conclusion. There are numerous simple examples drawn from a broad range of disciplines, that will give you insight into the human brain, even if you resist the final conclusion. However, once you see the theory in its final form, it is pretty beguiling. In fact, Humphrey actually concludes with a discussion of whether the theory is "too simple."
If this is an area that appeals to you at all, this is a book worth reading!
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A History of the Mind Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness edition by Nicholas Humphrey Politics Social Sciences eBooks Reviews
it gave me another view and undterstanding of the human mind, it really blew mi mind. Its a must if you like to know more about ones mind.
What a difference to investigate the universe out there by direct observation - as astrophysicists do - than to try to figure out how it is by logical speculation! One is reminded of Galileo inviting the medieval thinkers of his time to look at Jupiter satellites through the telescope, an experience that would shatter their now obsolete aristotelian cosmos.
This book by a brilliant psychologist is apt for the question how much can you prove about the mind without looking through the "brain-telescope" of neuroscience. Well, interesting as it may be it will painfully remain an ungrounded speculation.
Maybe this is why the starting point of the book is the mind-body problem; that is, the dualistic approach that's been burdening us,Westerners, for more than two thousand years. For more than half the book Humphrey struggles pathetically - logically - to prove that sensation (emotions, body)and perceptions (mind) are parallel or exclusive processes in the brain. But why it is so we never learn it in the book. Dualism is therefore inevitably reinstated, but now by becoming physically inscribed in the brain.
Read instead neuroscientist Rodolfo Llinás' I OF THE VORTEX and you'll see what I mean not only perceptions, but conciosusness in general, are the evolutionary solution to the complex behavior of independently moving animals, which require a strategic look-ahead function to survive. Emotions are the starting and climatic moments that enclose the motor activity for such living beings. In this way, duality is finally and naturally expelled because emotions and perceptions - and conciousness - become a unified whole, a natural phenomenon that can be fully observed and understood only if you look directly through the "brain-telescope".
For as Llinás points it out in the introduction to his magnificent book "Just as Western Society, steeped in dualistic thinking, must re-orient in order to grasp the elemental tenets of nondualistic philosophy, so there must be a fundamental reorientation perspective in order to approach the neurobiological nature of the mind."
Humphrey's approach is to me, interesting as it may be, "scholastic speculation". For we have now a "brain-telescope" (neuroscience) to look through and behold the heavens of our mind.
I WANT TO SEE THE TABLE CONTENTS OF AMAZON BOOKS!!!
Surely the phenomena of consciousness is one of the most intractable problems in the universe. Legions of very bright people have taken a stab at the problem, to little or no avail. Sadly, I am unable to resist the temptation to read yet another discussion on the subject, even though I know I will come away frustrated.
My reservations notwithstanding, this book turned out to contain some genuinely interesting, as well as sensible, thinking on the operation of the human brain. His theory is well grounded in common sense, and is developed carefully. Humphrey's approach is a good one How might the human brain have evolved to create consciousness from primitive antecedents?
Central to Hamphrey's theory is the distinction between sensation and perception, that is to say the difference between the subjective sensations that we experience versus the awareness of some external object. This argument takes a considerable length of time for Humphrey to unpack, and there were moments where I doubted that the distinction was worth the care that Humphrey lavished upon it. However, at the end of the day, it is worth wading through this discussion in order to fully understand this key element of Humphrey's idea.
The critical leap occurs when Humphrey postulate the existence of "reverbatory feedback loops." Under this theory, consciousness arises when sensory information is shuttled between the nervous system and the brain repeatedly. This mechanism would give temporal continuity to sensation and might well be the foundation for consciousness.
Whether or not you buy this theory, you will be interested to follow Humphrey through the steps that allow him to get to the conclusion. There are numerous simple examples drawn from a broad range of disciplines, that will give you insight into the human brain, even if you resist the final conclusion. However, once you see the theory in its final form, it is pretty beguiling. In fact, Humphrey actually concludes with a discussion of whether the theory is "too simple."
If this is an area that appeals to you at all, this is a book worth reading!
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