Ipswich Public Library

The consciousness instinct, unraveling the mystery of how the brain makes the mind, Michael S. Gazzaniga

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-256) and index

index present

non fiction

The consciousness instinct

bibliography

988048434

Michael S. Gazzaniga

unraveling the mystery of how the brain makes the mind

How do neurons turn into minds? How does physical "stuff"--atoms, molecules, chemicals, and cells--create the vivid and various worlds inside our heads? 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

Introduction -- Part I. Getting ready for modern thought. History's rigid, rocky, and goofy way of thinking about consciousness -- The dawn of empirical thinking in philosophy -- Twentieth-century strides and openings to modern thought -- Part II. The physical system. Making brains one module at a time -- The beginnings of understanding brain architecture -- Gramps is demented but conscious -- Part III. Consciousness comes. The concept of complementarity : the gift from physics -- Non-living to living and neurons to mind -- Bubbling brooks and personal consciousness -- Consciousness is an instinct