- 160 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The Origins of Consciousness challenges the dominant view that consciousness is an emergent property of the complex human brain.
Based on his pioneering research on a variety of organisms, Vallortigara argues that the most basic forms of mental life do not require large brains, and that the neurological surplus observed in some animals such as humans is likely at the service of memory storage, not of the processes of thought or, even less, of consciousness. The book argues for a simple neural mechanism that can provide the crucial event that brings into effect the minimum condition for subjective experience. Implications of the hypothesis for the appearance of consciousness in different organisms are discussed, as well as links with a variety of fascinating human phenomena such as disorders of consciousness, tickling and visual illusions.
Challenging widely accepted theories of consciousness, the book is a must-read for students and researchers of human and animal consciousness.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Half-Title Page
- Endorsements Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Earthworm Consciousness
- 2 Robinson, the Caterpillar and the Butterfly
- 3 The Most Interesting Surface on Earth
- 4 A Brain for All Seasons
- 5 Faces, Flowers and Profiles
- 6 Faces of Memory
- 7 Big Concepts for Small Brains
- 8 Information Lies in Differences, and Other Fundamental Principles
- 9 Neurons Large and Small, in Variously Crowded Spaces
- 10 The Boundaries of Intelligence
- 11 A Minimalist Approach to the Issue of Consciousness
- 12 The Scent of the Rose
- 13 Primum Movens
- 14 Early Animals, Early Neurons
- 15 The Crooked-Headed Fly
- 16 Imminence of a Revelation
- 17 Experience, in Brief
- 18 Hearing the Song of the Cricket that Is Not There
- 19 Tickling Yourself
- 20 The Corollary Discharge of Thought
- 21 Feeling and Cogitating
- 22 Traces of Feeling
- 23 And So…
- Author Index
- Subject Index