The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to SizeAs 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. |
Contents
Maxwells Demon | 3 |
Throwing Away Information | 23 |
Infinite Algorithms | 45 |
Copyright | |
19 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
activity algorithmic asked atoms awareness bandwidth behavior Benjamin Libet bits a second body brain Chris Langton complexity concept consciousness contains Copenhagen cortex describe discarded information disorder earth ence energy entropy everyday everything example exformation experience expressed fact feel Gödel's half a second heat holism human Ibid idea information theory interesting Jaynes knowledge Kurt Gödel Landauer language living look Ludwig Boltzmann macrostate mathematical matter Maxwell Maxwell's demon means measure mental Michael Laudrup mind molecules nature ness nonconscious notion nuclear object orig patients perceive person philosopher physicist physics picture planet precisely problem psychologist random readiness potential result Rolf Landauer scientific scientists sciousness second law sense sensory Seth Lloyd Shannon simple stimulation subliminal perception talk tell temperature thalamus thermodynamics things tion Tor Nřrretranders Turing unconscious understand universe user illusion words writes wrote Zurek
References to this book
Handbook of Social Comparison: Theory and Research Jerry Suls,Ladd Wheeler No preview available - 2000 |