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CONSCIOUSNESS - WHAT IT is and how it comes to exist in an otherwise obviously material world – is famously known as the “hard” problem. It is so hard, actually, that when I started to research and write about the brain for my first book I steered well clear of it, just as most sensible scientists had managed to do for a century or more.
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Mapping the Mind therefore dealt almost entirely with the (relatively) “easy” problems – the biological processes that underpin consciousness. Once you start thinking about these things, though, the hard problem creeps up on you. Why should the oh-so-physical fizz of electrically charged brain cells produce this other, seemingly non-physical thing – our subjective experience? Consciousness (Exploring Consciousness is the title of the US edition illustrated here) is my attempt to tackle that age-old question, and to bring contemporary neuroscience to bear on the problem along with timeless philosophical approaches.
I can’t claim to have cracked it. In fact, it nearly cracked me – there were times while I was researching this book when I actually wept with the frustration of grappling with some of the slippery, counter-intuitive, concepts that haunt this subject. So this book doesn’t promise to let you in to the secret of consciousness – only to show you just how tricky (and endlessly fascinating) it is, and how clever are some of the attempts that have been made by philosophers and scientists to get to grips with it. At the moment I think that is the best anyone can offer – I console myself that no-one else has explained it yet either! |
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| Click on the TV to watch a short video clip of me talking about the book |
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From reviews of Exploring Consciousness
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“Rita Carter conveys a real sense of excitement and fascination with her subject…which is likely to capture the imagination of a non-specialist audience…the sheer scope of Carter’s project is stunning and she handles her material with flair and confidence - a feast for the mind.”
Professor Rosaleen McCarthy, Nature
“Rita Carter successfully conveys the richness and dynamism of consciousness studies today.. She presents all sides in a style that is lively, engaging and often entertaining. One of the many strengths of the book is how clearly she explains the many, often surprising implications of neuropsychology for our ordinary notions of perception, free will and morality.”
Jonathan Shear, New Scientist
“In this accessible and illuminating book Rita Carter surveys what is currently known and thought about this intriguingly difficult and profoundly important subject…she succeeds triumphantly, having a knack for clear exposition and apt arrangement.”
A.C. Grayling, Daily Mail
“ a highly readable examination of science’s most elusive concept"
Psychology Today
“ a superbly presented academic enquiry which deftly blends science and philosophy." Midwest Book Review
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