The Ravenous Brain · How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning by Bor, Daniel -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page Dedication Introduction Chapter 1 - Conceptual Conundrums of Consciousness

TECHNOLOGICAL TELEPATHY PHILOSOPHY VERSUS SCIENCE DESCARTES AND THE MIND-BODY DUALITY MODERNITY ARRIVES AND GHOSTS LEAVE THE IMPENETRABILITY OF “WHAT IT IS LIKE” CAN A PROGRAM HAVE FEELINGS? CAN A LAPTOP REALLY UNDERSTAND CHINESE? THE MOST COMPLEX OBJECT IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE THE CASE FOR ARTIFICIAL CONSCIOUSNESS ERODING THE WALLS OF SUBJECTIVITY OUR INDOMITABLE SPIRIT

Chapter 2 - A Brief History of the Brain

THE FIRST LESSON IN NATURE IS FAILURE THE ESSENCE OF EVOLUTION BREEDING CHEMICAL COMPLEXITY AND REBELLIOUS OFFSPRING LIVING ON THE EDGE OF CHAOS WETWARE A UNIVERSAL RECIPE AND A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE EXTRA INNOVATION IN DESPERATE TIMES MUTANTS, SEX, AND DEATH EVERY CREATIVE TRICK IN THE BIOLOGICAL BOOK COOPERATION AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INFORMATION PROCESSING GENIUS CELLS INTERNAL EVOLUTION THE COMPUTATIONAL LANDSCAPE OF A BRAIN VAST INTERNAL WORLDS

Chapter 3 - The Tip of the Iceberg

A HOLIDAY FROM AWARENESS UNPEELING EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY IN THE BRAIN UNCONSCIOUS NEURONS MARCHING IN STEP LEARNING ON THE OPERATING TABLE UNCONSCIOUS BETTER THAN CONSCIOUS? FEELING YOUR WAY TO KNOWLEDGE EAT POPCORN: THE UNCONSCIOUS TAKES CONTROL UNCONSCIOUS DECISIONS AND THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE ASPIRING TOWARD FREE WILL

Chapter 4 - Pay Attention to That Pattern!

DANGEROUS DAYDREAMS ATTENTION FUNNELING RAW DATA TO BUILD EXPERIENCES NOT SPOTTING THE WOOD, THE TREES, THE BIRDS, THE SOIL, THE FLOWERS, THE . . . A BRIGHTER, MORE VIBRANT WORLD THE ATOMS OF THOUGHT ATTENTION AS A BRUTAL NEURONAL WAR ATTENTIONAL VICTORIES EMERGING INTO CONSCIOUSNESS OVERESTIMATING THE VALUE OF EMOTIONS LAYERS OF AWARENESS FOUR COMPARTMENTS TO AWARENESS AND NO MORE . . . . . . BUT EACH CONSCIOUS COMPARTMENT CAN HOLD OBJECTS OF GREAT COMPLEXITY BELITTLING THE RICHNESS OF EXPERIENCES? CHUNKING AND CONSCIOUSNESS LANGUAGE—JUST ONE KIND OF CONSCIOUS CHUNKING? THE FRUITS OF CHUNKING AND AWKWARD SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS

Chapter 5 - The Brain’s Experience of a Rose

QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD? MY CONSCIOUS MIND IS MY CONSCIOUS BRAIN OPENING THE FLOODGATES BLINDSIGHT PATIENTS LEADING YOU UP A BLIND ALLEY VISUAL HIGHWAYS TOWARD CONSCIOUSNESS SCANNING CONSCIOUSNESS AS CANDLES BECOME FACES PATIENTS AND THE PREFRONTAL PARIETAL NETWORK’S OFFICIAL JOB STILL CONSCIOUS, BUT ONLY OF THINGS ON THE RIGHT CONSCIOUSNESS SHRINKING TO A SMALL POINT BRAIN-SCANNING THE PREFRONTAL PARIETAL NETWORK THE PREFRONTAL PARIETAL NETWORK, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND CHUNKING HARMONIOUS EXPERIENCES CONSCIOUSNESS, IN THEORY EXPLAINING EXPERIENCES

Chapter 6 - Being Bird-Brained Is Not an Insult

TENDER CHIMPS, CAPRICIOUS BONOBOS CRAFTY CROWS CAN A BIRD ADMIRE ITSELF IN A MIRROR? GAMBLING ON CONSCIOUSNESS ANIMAL CHUNKING INFANT AWARENESS MEASURING CONSCIOUSNESS IN ANIMAL BRAINS CHAUVINISTIC ANATOMICAL BOOTSTRAPPING QUANTIFYING CONSCIOUSNESS ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS DIFFERING QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES OF EXPERIENCE

Chapter 7 - Living on the Fragile Edge of Awareness

JUST TOO COMPLEX? A TORTUOUS BATTLE OF UNCERTAINTY A THIN VEIL BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH VIEWING CONSCIOUSNESS FROM WITHIN COMMUNICATION BY BRAIN ACTIVITY CHECKING THE INTEGRITY OF CONSCIOUS NEURAL HIGHWAYS THE DIFFICULTY OF REPAIRING HUMPTY DUMPTY

Chapter 8 - Consciousness Squeezed, Stretched, and Shrunk

SHARP FRACTURES IN AWARENESS AUTISM AND OVER-CONSCIOUSNESS UNHEALTHY SLEEP, UNHEALTHY CONSCIOUSNESS WORKING MEMORY NOT WORKING CHEMICAL CASCADES UNBALANCING AWARENESS BUILDING THE CONSCIOUSNESS MUSCLE A SEESAW OF STRESS VERSUS CONSCIOUSNESS A WIDER, PURER OCEAN OF AWARENESS HEALING CONSCIOUSNESS FROM MANY ANGLES

Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes and References Illustration Credits Index Copyright Page