Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Pantheon Books, [2015]
Description
Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, your brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the mysterious heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are "you"? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human? In the course of his investigations, Eagleman guides us through the world of extreme sports, criminal justice, facial expressions, genocide, brain surgery, gut feelings, robotics, and the search for immortality. Strap in for a whistle-stop tour into the inner cosmos. In the infinitely dense tangle of billions of brain cells and their trillions of connections, something emerges that you might not have expected to see in there: you. This is the story of how your life shapes your brain, and how your brain shapes your life. (A companion to the six-part PBS series. Color illustrations throughout.)… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member LynnB
Fascinating!
David Eagleman takes us through research that explores how our brain functions, and in doing so, ultimately explores questions such as who we are, what is reality and what we may become in the future. All done in a very engaging style.
David Eagleman takes us through research that explores how our brain functions, and in doing so, ultimately explores questions such as who we are, what is reality and what we may become in the future. All done in a very engaging style.
LibraryThing member knightlight777
This book is the companion to the PBS series of same title. I did not see the series so cannot compare the two but assume it is a compilation of the episodes. Outside of maybe the Universe there is probably not a more complex or far reaching topic as the brain. Being the human computer as us and
Show More
therefore central to everything we experience or at least think we experience in life. The book was at times somewhat difficult to follow or maybe just not that interesting. There were a number of topics however that were absolutely fascinating and thought provoking. One such topic being how difficult a time we have had attempting to duplicate its make up and operation with our computer technology. Another topic the book closes with delves into projecting our brains into scanable or download form so we may in essence live on or time travel vast distance into the cosmos. It is mind boggling enough to imagine what will be in store centuries from now and what the future for us humans will be as we evolve and hopefully survive. Show Less
LibraryThing member fpagan
A handsomely produced companion volume, not very demanding and not too long, to Eagleman's recent 6-episode PBS series. Many of the anecdotes are the same as in the series, including some that I wasn't pleased to be reminded of (on, e.g., genocide) and some that I was (on, e.g., transcranial
Show More
magnetic stimulation as an imagined treatment for Asperger's syndrome). The idea of mind uploading and Giulio Tononi's quantitative theory of consciousness are not neglected. Show Less
LibraryThing member DLMorrese
This companion book to the PBS series of the same name is a brief overview of how a sense of self emerges from the functioning of our brains.
LibraryThing member kk1
I watched most of the bbc series, so the experience of reading this was sort of 3d, in that reading about memory you experience memory. It seems a huge jump from optical illusions, which have been around for years, to the modern day achievements of connecting and controlling a robot arm from
Show More
someone's brain. Show Less
LibraryThing member SheilaDeeth
Comfortably readable, filled with fascinating anecdotes, details and facts, and totally absorbing, David Eagleman’s The Brain offers the reader’s brain much to ponder, while explaining much about how differently we each will ponder it. I’ve wondered sometimes why my brother and I remember the
In my own worldview, I remain convinced there’s more to me than my present or my changing consciousness. But I’m fascinated by the discoveries described in this book—by John Robinson’s experience of change with Aspergers, by experimental treatment for cocaine users, by the way we might inadvertently reduce our empathy, and the implications for and of genocide. Scary stuff.
Some of the examples in this book seemed less convincing than others, some of the images were hard to discern in a paperback copy, and some of the arguments seemed geared toward the physical world being all that truly exists, when I'm sure it's not. But I love this book, and recommend it highly. A really cool read.
Disclosure: I got it on a deal.
Show More
same events and conversations so differently—now I have more idea; I’ve wondered how someone could change so suddenly from understanding everything to understanding little—now it makes sense; and I’ve wondered how some people I know can be so indecisive—I’ll excuse them easier now. Which, I guess, means reading the Brain hasn’t just informed me, but it’s also given me a deeper empathy and a wider worldview.In my own worldview, I remain convinced there’s more to me than my present or my changing consciousness. But I’m fascinated by the discoveries described in this book—by John Robinson’s experience of change with Aspergers, by experimental treatment for cocaine users, by the way we might inadvertently reduce our empathy, and the implications for and of genocide. Scary stuff.
Some of the examples in this book seemed less convincing than others, some of the images were hard to discern in a paperback copy, and some of the arguments seemed geared toward the physical world being all that truly exists, when I'm sure it's not. But I love this book, and recommend it highly. A really cool read.
Disclosure: I got it on a deal.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rosechimera
Very accessible and interesting campanion book to the tv series.
LibraryThing member rosechimera
Very accessible and interesting campanion book to the tv series.
LibraryThing member RajivC
I like this book a lot, and I am not a neuroscientist. Would a neuroscientist have issues with this book? Maybe, as some reviews seem to indicate. However, for the lay person, and i am one, this book does provide an excellent insight into the powers of the brain. It is a marvelous bit of our
For all the research that is out there, there are marvels that will always be there to be explored. The fact that the brain needs social interaction to grow, is fascinating.
The book is eminently readable, and for those who wish to go deeper, it is an excellent introduction. Now the question is - do we want to recreate a model of the brain? To what end? I would recommend that, for those who wish to do so, and play God, that they read the Creation Hymn of 'The Rg Veda'
Show More
anatomy and, when you read this book, you realise how much science and philosophy and mystical insight go hand in hand. For all the research that is out there, there are marvels that will always be there to be explored. The fact that the brain needs social interaction to grow, is fascinating.
The book is eminently readable, and for those who wish to go deeper, it is an excellent introduction. Now the question is - do we want to recreate a model of the brain? To what end? I would recommend that, for those who wish to do so, and play God, that they read the Creation Hymn of 'The Rg Veda'
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2015-11-05
Physical description
224 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
1101870532 / 9781101870532