Full name: The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size

Author: Tor Norretranders Year: 1991 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: Science, Psychology, Non Fiction, Philosophy Purchase/reserch links: Goodreads LibraryThing Amazon ISBNs: 9780140230123 0140230122

As John Casti wrote, "Finally, a book that really does explain consciousness." This groundbreaking work by Denmark's leading science writer draws on psychology, evolutionary biology, information theory, and other disciplines to argue its revolutionary point: that consciousness represents only an infinitesimal fraction of our ability to process information. Although we are unaware of it, our brains sift through and discard billions of pieces of data in order to allow us to understand the world around us. In fact, most of what we call thought is actually the unconscious discarding of information. What our consciousness rejects constitutes the most valuable part of ourselves, the "Me" that the "I" draws on for most of our actions--fluent speech, riding a bicycle, anything involving expertise. No wonder that, in this age of information, so many of us feel empty and dissatisfied. As engaging as it is insightful, this important book encourages us to rely more on what our instincts and our senses tell us so that we can better appreciate the richness of human life. Similar books: Consciousness by Susan Blackmore The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio Self Comes to Mind by Antonio Damasio Introducing Consciousness by David Papineau The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger Kinds of Minds by Daniel C. Dennett The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel M. Wegner The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul by Francis Crick Consciousness Explained by Daniel C. Dennett Conversations on Consciousness by Susan Blackmore Wider Than the Sky by Gerald M. Edelman Phi by Giulio Tononi A Universe of Consciousness by Gerald M. Edelman The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes Evolution of Consciousness by Robert Ornstein The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe by Steven Novella Vehicles by Valentino Braitenberg