Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist (MIT Press)

Koch is like the Wizard of Oz only, in this case, he is eager to step out from behind the curtain.

Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist - Christof Koch - Google Книги

Yet, I suspect that the reason Crick never did was because he believed he never should. This is perhaps what I appreciate most about this book. One gets a clear impression that Koch is very confident. But in writing this book we also see evidence of courage, and confidence and courage are not the same things.

Like the accessible books of Oliver Sacks, V. Well, of course it is. Could it be any other way for a book on this subject?

As interesting as much of that material is, however, for me the book really starts to find its stride when the discussion turns to topics like the freedom of the will and the nature of consciousness. His discussions of these topics are enhanced by a number of anecdotes. Although he tends not to dwell on these personal illustrations very long, they serve their purpose.

Take, for example, his experience serving on a jury in Federal Court that heard a case of the drug-related execution of one gang member by another.

Are their shades of freedom? What does a more nuanced appreciation of freedom mean for the idea of legal responsibility? At present, it seems, very little; in the future, perhaps, much more. As with any book on a topic as contentious as consciousness, this one is not without its detractors.

Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist

Indeed, upon its initial release several years ago the book attracted a fair amount of interest, motivated in part by a critical review by the philosopher, John Searle, that appeared in the New York Review of Books Panpsychism is the position that consciousness, rather than being a mysterious property of the brain, is a mysterious property of everything, not unlike charge or gravity.

So forget just worrying about whether your dog is conscious, and start worrying about whether your thermostat is. This is just the kind of idea that will cause the hair to stand up on the necks of many neuroscientists. Actually, I think the book more valuable because of this debate.

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If I am going to use a book in class, and I think this book might work very well in an undergraduate class at the intersection of neuroscience and philosophy, I want some controversy. All of them are signposts in the pursuit of his life's work—to uncover the roots of consciousness. I just couldn't stay engaged.?

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Even though this is a newer book, it doesn't really seem to be breaking news to me He is the author of The Quest for Consciousness and other books. How can anything physical give rise to nonphysical, subjective, Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist. In which I write about the wellsprings of my inner conflict between religion and reason.

In which I explain why consciousness challenges the scientific view of the world.

Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist (MIT Press) (Unabridged)

In which you hear tales of scientistmagicians that make you look but not see. In which you learn from neurologists andneurosurgeons that some neurons care a great deal about celebrities. In which I defend two propositions that my younger self found nonsense. In which I throw caution to the wind bring up free will Der Ring des Nibelungen.