A Universe Of Consciousness : How Matter Becomes Imagination

What goes on in our head when we have a thought? Why do the physical events that occur inside a fistful of gelatinous tissue give rise to the world of conscious experience? In The Universe of Consciousness , Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi present for the first time a full-scale theory of consciousness based on direct observation of the human brain in action. Their pioneering work, presented here in an elegant style, challenges much of the conventional wisdom about consciousness. The Universe of Consciousness has enormous implications for our understanding of language, thought, emotion, and mental illness. Contents......Page 6 Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 PART ONE: THE WORLD KNOT......Page 16 1. Consciousness: Philosophical Paradox or Scientific Object?......Page 18 2. The Special Problem of Consciousness......Page 25 3. Everyman’s Private Theater: Ongoing Unity, Endless Variety......Page 35 PART TWO: CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE BRAIN......Page 50 4. Building a Picture of the Brain......Page 52 5. Consciousness and Distributed Neural Activity......Page 66 6. Neural Activity Integrated and Differentiated......Page 77 PART THREE: MECHANISMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS: THE DARWINIAN PERSPECTIVE......Page 92 7. Selectionism......Page 94 8. Nonrepresentational Memory......Page 108 9. Perception into Memory: The Remembered Present......Page 117 PART FOUR: DEALING WITH PLETHORA: THE DYNAMIC CORE HYPOTHESIS......Page 126 10. Integration and Reentry......Page 128 11. Consciousness and Complexity......Page 140 12. Determining Where the Knot Is Tied: The Dynamic Core Hypothesis......Page 154 PART FIVE: UNTANGLING THE KNOT......Page 170 13. Qualia and Discrimination......Page 172 14. The Conscious and the Unconscious......Page 191 PART SIX: OBSERVER TIME......Page 206 15. Language and the Self......Page 208 16. Thinking......Page 215 17. Prisoners of Description......Page 222 Notes......Page 238 Bibliography......Page 268 Credits......Page 280 Index......Page 282 Basic Books Contents 6 Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 10 Preface 12 PART ONE: THE WORLD KNOT 16 1. Consciousness: Philosophical Paradox or Scientific Object? 18 2. The Special Problem of Consciousness 25 3. Everyman’s Private Theater: Ongoing Unity, Endless Variety 35 PART TWO: CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE BRAIN 50 4. Building a Picture of the Brain 52 5. Consciousness and Distributed Neural Activity 66 6. Neural Activity Integrated and Differentiated 77 PART THREE: MECHANISMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS: THE DARWINIAN PERSPECTIVE 92 7. Selectionism 94 8. Nonrepresentational Memory 108 9. Perception into Memory: The Remembered Present 117 PART FOUR: DEALING WITH PLETHORA: THE DYNAMIC CORE HYPOTHESIS 126 10. Integration and Reentry 128 11. Consciousness and Complexity 140 12. Determining Where the Knot Is Tied: The Dynamic Core Hypothesis 154 PART FIVE: UNTANGLING THE KNOT 170 13. Qualia and Discrimination 172 14. The Conscious and the Unconscious 191 PART SIX: OBSERVER TIME 206 15. Language and the Self 208 16. Thinking 215 17. Prisoners of Description 222 Notes 238 Bibliography 268 Credits 280 Index 282 0465013775

a Nobel Prize-winning Scientist And A Leading Brain Researcher Show How The Brain Creates Conscious Experience

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edelman Received The Nobel Prize For Physiology Or Medicine In 1972, And Is Affiliated With The Neurosciences Institute And The Neurosciences Research Foundation. Tononi, Also With The Neurosciences Institute, Specializes In Theoretical And Experimental Neurobiology. Here They Aim To Describe The Neural Mechanisms That Give Rise To Consciousness, To Show How The General Properties Of Consciousness Emerge As A Result Of The Properties Of The Brain As A Complex System, To Analyze The Origins Of Subjective States Or Qualia, And To Show How The Successful Pursuit Of All These Efforts May Change Our Views Of The Scientific Observer And Of Long-held Philosophical Positions.... (from The Preface). Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com)

"In A Universe of Consciousness, Edelman and Tononi present an empirically supported full-scale theory of consciousness. The theory provides a scientific understanding of the most general and fundamental properties of consciousness - the private and unitary nature of experience and yet the infinite variety of conscious states, stretching as widely as one's memory and as far as one's imagination." "Edelman and Tononi apply all of the resources and insights of modern neuroscience, from the largest computer models of the brain ever constructed to new experiments that detect the changes in brain activity that actually occur when we are conscious or unconscious of a stimulus. Their arguments build on the radical ideas introduced by Edelman in works that apply Darwinian principles to the development of brain and mind."--[Source inconnue] "In A Universe of Consciousness, Edelman and Tononi present an empirically supported full-scale theory of consciousness. The theory provides a scientific understanding of the most general and fundamental properties of consciousness - the private and unitary nature of experience and yet the infinite variety of conscious states, stretching as widely as one's memory and as far as one's imagination." "Edelman and Tononi apply all of the resources and insights of modern neuroscience, from the largest computer models of the brain ever constructed to new experiments that detect the changes in brain activity that actually occur when we are conscious or unconscious of a stimulus. Their arguments build on the radical ideas introduced by Edelman in works that apply Darwinian principles to the development of brain and mind."--Jacket Everyone knows what consciousness is: It is what abandons you every evening when you fall asleep and reappears the next morning when you wake up. Examines how consciousness can affect thought process in relation to understanding language, thought, and emotion.