Synopses & Reviews
Consciousness, 'the last great mystery for science', has now become a hot topic. How can a physical brain create our experience of the world? What creates our identity? Do we really have free will? Could consciousness itself be an illusion? Exciting new developments in brain science are opening up debates on these issues, and the field has now expanded to include biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers. This controversial book clarifies the potentially confusing arguments, and the major theories using illustrations, lively cartoons, and experiments. Topics include vision and attention, theories of self and will, experiments on action and awareness, altered states of consciousness, and the effects of brain damage and drugs.
Synopsis
Thanks to exciting developments in brain science, consciousnessthe last great mystery”has now become a hot topic with everyone from biologists to philosophers. Exploring key theories on action and awareness, vision and attention, and the effects of brain damage and drugs, this fascinating study considers whether we really have free will, and what creates our sense of self. Susan Blackmore even questions whether consciousness itself is an illusion, making clear the enormous difficulty we face in bridging the gap between the physical world and our private experiences of it.
About the Author
Susan Blackmore is a psychologist, freelance writer, and lecturer. The author of numerous scientific articles and book contributionsincluding The Meme Machine, she writes for several magazines and newspapers and is a frequent contributor on radio and television, both in the UK and abroad.