Exploring Consciousness

In her book, Mapping The Mind, award winning science journalist Rita Carter did an excellent job of explaining the current state of knowledge about the brain and how it functions and determines our behavior. She describes how different parts of our brain are involved in the sensory experience of the world and giving rise to the many aspects of our behavior and ultimately to our sense of self. In Exploring Consciousness, she takes on the more difficult task of explaining ideas of how the sense of self develops and the state of consciousness of the self arises.The study of consciousness is in some respects an esoteric form of navel gazing, and it is very easy to get your knickers in a knot trying to figure out what consciousness really is. Fortunately, in this book Rita Carter does a brilliant job of interpreting and explaining the many ideas that have arisen both in the past and present to explain what neuroscience calls the "hard problem".In true journalistic fashion she objectively presents many different points of view of consciousness ranging from Western materialistic (neuro-scientific), Cartesian (man and god dualism), and Eastern mysticism (oneness with the universe). She is at her best, however, when explaining how the brain can give rise to consciousness and a sense of self as the result of its complex wiring and how it is totally integrated with bodily functions. Many of the scientists from whose work she draws on, get to speak for themselves (some more clearly than others) in mini-essays.Her own "religious" experiences have made her reluctant to fully accept a materialistic view of consciousness, but she goes on to create a very rationale explanation of how such experience could arise from the normal workings of the brain.The chapter on "Fractured Consciousness", which describes some of the types of mental disorders that can arise when consciousness goes beyond what we consider normal, is particularly fascinating. Many strange mental phenomena such as multiple personality, fugue (a form of amnesia in which people lose memory of themselves), and schizophrenia are given quite a rational explanation when described in terms of the physical and chemical malfunctions that can develop in the brain.The book is illustrated with many spectacular mystical color images created by Moonrunner Designs Limited which help to convey the sense that our knowledge of what constitutes the mind is far from complete. The artist, (Malcolm Godwin?), who created them, should have received some sort of award or special acknowledgement from the author.I did find the organization of the book to be somewhat annoying, as the mini-essays are inserted into the main chapter text and disrupt the reading. They should have been grouped between chapters. Also, although the coated paper used for the book is excellent for reproducing the pictures, it creates glare and interferes with the reading of text. Anyone reading this book will be able to identify with the many observ

Consciousness. What is it? How can the coordinated firing of billions of neurons, through trillions of synaptic connections, create an experience of the world around us? And what about Self-Consciousness? What is the "I" that we all envision when our thoughts turn inward?Exploring Consciousness is a richly illustrated, state-of-the-art text that explains the latest consciousness-related research and theories in terms anyone can understand. In chapter 4, for example, the author draws a clever airship analogy, where inter-passenger communication and observations mimic the cognitive processes in the human brain. The latest consciousness-related research and brain imaging studies show that neural activation produces a representation of reality within our brains, and it is this representation that we call consciousness. Exploring Consciousness goes a long way towards constructing a coherent picture of what is actually happening in the brain each time a moment of consciousness is experienced. --David Hitchcock, author, VIRTUAL LIFE and PATENT SEARCHING MADE EASY

In this excellent overview of current research (2003) into the brain, Rita Carter, a medical journalist, certainly has her finger on the pulse (or is that prefrontal cortex?). Although dealing with very difficult concepts, Ms Carter has done an admirable job in simplifying it for the non-brain specialist, like myself. Nevertheless it can still be a challenging read at times.The book begins by introducing the idea that our experience is not necessarily the same as the external world. The first chapter concerns discussion of "the stream of illusion". Like `constant vision', our experience of `constant consciousness' appears to be a merging of projected separate experiences -as in a film. (The quality thereof partly depending on the acting, one of which incidentally, is you). "The construction of our experience depends on merging the consciousness of one moment into the next" (p18). In both our experience of vision and consciousness therefore, some processing selection, by the brain, is implied. There is also a time gap. 1/5 of a second apparently passes between vision received by the brain, and our experience of it (p25). It is similar with our experience of consciousness, ie the 'illusion of immediacy' (p27). It is stated here that we apparently experience our lives (ie consciousness) 1/2 second out of sync with the external world (p29). (If you don't understand how tennis players return serves under this arrangement-don't worry-the brain just projects the real-time (but unconscious) return to us, and then backdates our experience of it, apparently (p29)). Our tendency to miss things in our visionary field we are not 'primed' for is termed "inattentional blindness", whilst "change blindness", is when one fails to notice any change in their visual field, which can be surprisingly significant. (Sound like someone you know?). Similar `misses' also apply to consciousness, and therefore also to beliefs etc.At least 6 main ideas of consciousness are outlined-'property dualism' that mind is an aspect of matter, 'identity'-that mind=matter, 'agnostic'-that consciousness and matter are the one thing but not understood, 'emergence-that mind emerges from physical processes but is not identical to them, 'functionalism'-that mind is a process, and 'Cartesian dualism'-that mind and matter are two different things. Add to this 'panpsychism-everything has a 'spark' of life' or 'mind', elimativism, identity theory (eg Searle), and mysterians-those who believe we just can't figure out what consciousness is because we don't have the equipment to understand it, like a cat just can't do calculus (at least we don't think so)- the list goes on and on, providing endless hyper-activity for many philosophers, which is not altogether a bad thing.Monism-the idea that consciousness and the observed universe are one, (and send your money to the following address to receive this Holy Oneness...sorry couldn't resist) is opposed to dualism -consciousness and the external world be

The scientific study of consciousness has become an independent field already. No more can an author start a work on the subject complaining about how little is known, or how the subject is ignored, or how mystery surround the whole enterprise. Data on consciousness seems to come out of every laboratory, and new books are published monthly dealing specifically with consciousness and its physical basis. Given that this is roughly the state of the field, this book arrives in percfect timing, as quite possibly the first "real" textbook of the science of consciousness.True, there have been many popular books on the subject, and amazingly complete collections of both philosophical and scientific issues relating to consciousness. But in most of these, researchers advance their personal theories, or philosophers argue in favour of various diferent positions, and at the end leave one with only one side of the debate, or with too specific information that one cannot put toghether into a larger picture.This book, however, is diferent. Carter remains mostly objective, and manages to go over most of the major points of the dificult subject that is consicousness. As in any other textbook, of course, what is sacrified is detail. Everything ranging from embodiement, neuropsychology, neuroscience, the self, agency and ownerhsip, psi research and the quantum, philosophy and the hard problem, is given space and is covered adequately. All of this would be meaningless if it was not as clearly explained, and the book as clearly written, as was possible. Carter managed this and more. If the layperson was to read only one book on the subject, I am convinced it should be this one.The layout of the book adds to its value. In between the text are various illustrations that, well, illustrate various points. There are also little esays by prominent figures in the field that go into more specific sub-issues. These are I think both helpful and flawed. Helpful, because they aquaint the newcomer with some important matters, but flawed because thay are so brief as to leave out other equaly important matters.Not all can be praise, however. Carter first and most obvious flaw in writting is her incredibly small bibliography and citation, that gives the impression the author is not familiar with the literature. The chapter on the evolution of consicousness, for example, draws almost exclusively from work done by Nicholas Humphrey. His work is brilliant, but how forget Mandler, Denton, Donald, McPhail, among many, many others. The chapters on consicousness and the brain are good, but given that there are dozens of books on that specific issue, it seemed a bit plain. No mention of neruochemical theories, of the work of Weiskrantz, Baars, Newman, Delacour, Taylor, Cotterill, among many, many others. All of this is related as well with some little errors in content, like for example (and this is recurring) the claim that no visual consciousness can exist without v1 (area). Crick and Kot

Is it a text book? A coffee table book? The book is at first confusing with a glossy multimedia extravaganza of illustrations and sidebars, and I'm sure, if the publisher could have managed it, there would have been a new-age soundtrack too. It has very heavy glossy pages; 133 great illustrations, but most of them are unreferenced by the text and in that sense superfluous. The book has roughly 40 "sidebars" of 1 to 4 pages, and most of these are unreferenced. There was even one sidebar that was interleaved with another. In chapter 3 there are 22 pages of text and 16 pages of sidebar! Some sidebars are titled by a well-known scientist, and seem to be invited mini-essays sprinkled about, but there was no further explanation. You are never sure when you are supposed to interrupt the flow of the text to look at the numerous sidebars or illustrations. (I read them first as I started each new chapter).Given the nature of the delivery, I was prepared for a book of glossy fluff with a vague attempt at ideas. But my first impression was wrong. As I got into swing of the book, it seemed that the whole circus was brilliantly intentional. We are made much more conscious of the book, and ourselves reading the book. That seemed appropriate under the circumstances, given its title. The writing flows logically, and is clear with many well chosen metaphors. The writing has a great deal of whimsy, and I often found myself laughing (LOL.) In the sidebars, nothing is more entertaining than seeing respected scientists taking pot-shots at each others ideas, and there is a lot of controversy. A few areas get bogged in difficult concepts so that you are forced to think a bit harder. One aspect that makes this book interesting concerns the "easier problems" that allow an objective scientific investigation. Details of the neural pathways involved in various aspects of perception and understanding were found by many brain imaging techniques. Also brain injury such as strokes show how a suddenly damaged section of the brain affects consciousness. (Good references that also cover this aspect are Restak's "The Modular Brain" and the newer Heilman's "Matter of Mind.") There are many simple experiments that are quite surprising and revealing. The author pieces these experiments and discoveries together and shows many astonishing things that consciousness is *not*. One particularly amazing experiment involves placing EEG sensors and telling a subject to make a hand movement spontaneously whenever he felt like it. Surprisingly the EEG measured a "Readiness Potential" that always precedes the decision by at least 0.35 seconds. In other words the experimenter knows when the subject is going to move the hand before the subject wills it. Where, then does our consciousness come from? What does this do to the concept of free will?! There are many other experiments that show just how fractured consciousness is, and how it often seems to be an illusion. Consciousness is