What, Why & How do we Know ?
I’ve just taken possession of Kevin Mitchell’s (2018) “Innate – How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are”. No idea why it’s taken me so long to acquire a copy, he’s been on my book list for some time and I’ve been following him for a few years on Twitter – he’s a … Continue reading “Innate by Kevin Mitchell”
I’m reading Adam Zeman’s “A Portrait of the Brain” (2008). I’ve previously read his “Consciousness: A Users Guide” (2002) after seeing him give a talk in Cambridge in 2003. He’s become short-hand for me as the “Z” in from Austin to Zeman in listing all the various neuroscientists who have investigated “abnormal” behaviours in real … Continue reading “The Architecture of the Brain”
A running theme throughout Psybertron is the reality of conscious mind and its consequences in the real world. That’s partly because explantory understanding of our understanding and of our decision-making is my main research focus and partly because – probably not coincidentally – it’s also a prime (but not the only) example where politicised scientific dogma … Continue reading “Altered States of Consciousness”
Spooky experience today … I was immersed in my new UK rail (north-east), “free” wi-fi, new HP laptop, new iPhone, blogging, facebook, work-email, learning experience, from Darlington en-route to Kings Cross, Heathrow, Terminal 3, SAS to Stavanger business travel, when the seat beside me was occupied at York by someone reading Sacks “Man Who Mistook … Continue reading “Brain Connections”
Following a search hit I find a source that links many of mine …. Pirsig and VUB/Heilighen, (Einstein Meets Magritte) with Josephson (explaining the paranormal with open minded science) with Dennett, Searle and Chalmers (PoM / Consciousness) in the Journal of Consciousness Studies. A paper in the 1995 JCS reviewing the 1995 Einstein Meets Magritte … Continue reading “Consciousness and Pirsig”
As you may have noticed, I’m reading my way through a number books by neurosurgeons and brain scientists, as part of reviewing state of the art understanding of “perception”. Recently I read Edeleman, Zeman and Austin’s books, and more recently started Oliver Sacks “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat”, full of intriguing … Continue reading “It’s A Funny Old Brain”