Nicholas Humphrey (1)Rezensionen

Tries to explain what consciousness is and how it evolved. I'm not sure I followed it all, and I'm also not sure that there weren't some unfollowable gaps in the reasoning. But there were some very interesting ideas and most of the writing was clear, if you can keep track of the few words that he invents. A fascinating subject!

¿Cómo fue que el agua del cerebro se convirtió en el vino de la conciencia? ¿Cuándo adquirió la materia las cualidades de la mente? En este libro penetrante e informativo, Nicholas Humphrey, psicólogo experimental de prestigio internacional, guía al lector en un viaje que abarca millones de años, en busca de las claves del modo como evolucionó la conciencia. En Una Historia de la mente, Humphrey propone una teoría nueva y radical. Al explorar la división entre sensación y percepción, muestra cómo las sensaciones crudas se hallan en el centro de todos los estados conscientes: "Siento, luego soy". Y describe cómo la conciencia sensorial -nuestra percatación de "cómo es ser nosotros mismos"- puede haberse desarrollado a partir de las respuestas corporales del dolor y placer de nuestros antepasados primitivos. Desde el "dolor fantasma", experimentado por personas que han perdido algún miembro, hasta la misteriosa facultad de la "visión a ciegas" (visión inconsciente), Humphrey nos guía hacía los íntimos mecanismos de nuestra mente y vuelve comprensibles las cuestiones más difíciles. En su recorrido, Una historia de la mente va cubriendo distintas áreas: cómo nuestros gustos y rechazos de los colores reflejan nuestra historia evolutiva; qué tienen para decirnos los mellizos siameses acerca de la relación con nuestro propio cuerpo; y cómo el LSD y la mescalina expanden la experiencia del "tiempo subjetivo". La relación entre alma y cuerpo es uno de los grandes desafíos aún planteados a la ciencia y a la filosofía. Nicholas Humphrey osa resolver el "problema mente-cuerpo..." y puede que ya no volvamos a mirarnos a nosotros mismos del mismo modo.

In a Dark Time will shock, warn, and ultimately inspire those many people who share the perception that humankind now stands on the brink of self-annihilation but who believe, with Theodore Roethke, that "in a dark time, the eye begins to see.....

( just scaned this, a couple of good terms )

Nick Humphrey's take on the origins and role of consciousness in humans and other animals, of interest to anyone with an appetite for contemporary philosophy of mind, in particular the relationship between the internal world of mental experience and the so-called neurological correlates of consciousness. Humphrey's main message, after presenting his own functionalist (or functionalist-inspired) view, is that consciousness is evolutionarily adaptive in humans and, to a lesser extent, nonhuman animals with less-developed self-awareness.

I found it an enjoyable exploration of that line of thought.

Well written, with (too) many traces of the original lectures and seminars. Often confounding in its arguments and conclusions, but always serious and almost always convincing. Many exemples from literature, which is nice but doubtful as a source for scientific theory. The personal stance of the author is often unclear. But overall a worthwhile effort to shed new light on a still much debated topic: our consciousness.½

Charming, I guess I should say--full of the finest in literary quotations, funny, humble (in an oddly arrogant way), smart--but not very satisfying. Humphrey describes a phenomenology of consciousness that usually makes little sense to me, as if he were describing humans and I'm really a dolphin, or something--so much of just left me scratching my head. He argues that consciousness is adaptive, and I'm inclined to agree, but he could have just said that, I could have just nodded and then gone of to read something else, maybe something about Vikings or whatever.

An interesting book that attempts to explain how consciousness evolved.