new book – ‘The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning’ by Daniel Bor
Written on August 15, 2012
The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning by Daniel Bor (Basic Books, 2012)
(kindle ed. – Aug. 28), (amazon.co.uk – 13 Sep 2012)
Book description from the publisher:
A brash young neuroscientist presents his solution to biology’s hardest problem – what consciousness is, and why we have it, and what it means for our self perception and our mental health. Neuroscientist Daniel Bor was long troubled by the fact that once all our physical needs have been met, humans – uniquely among animals – engage in mentally (and thus biologically) wasteful behaviour, such as solving crossword puzzles and reading. This observation set him on a path toward a new theory of consciousness. In “The Ravenous Brain”, Bor argues that human knowledge evolved to gather knowledge, specifically to extract meaningful patterns from raw information (as we do while playing word games). The ability to structure information offered individuals a distinct evolutionary advantage. Consciousness, therefore, emerged as a natural extension of our drive to innovate. A controversial argument from an up-and-coming researcher, “The Ravenous Brain” is a wide-ranging attempt to elucidate one of science’s biggest mysteries.
See also: Author’s website
Filed in: consciousness,new books.
