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Phi : a voyage from the brain to the soul
Author
Title
Phi : a voyage from the brain to the soul / Giulio Tononi.
ISBN
9780307907219 (hardback)
030790721X (hardback)
Edition
1st ed.
Published
New York : Pantheon, c2012.
Physical Description
xii, 364 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 25 cm.
Summary
"From a neurologist whose work offers one of the most promising paths to unraveling the mystery of consciousness, an exploration of consciousness unlike any other. Somehow our soul, our consciousness, our world, all is generated by what's inside our skull. This is the essential question of neurology. Consciousness cannot just rest inside the shroud of science, because consciousness is more than an object of science: it is its subject, too. In PHI, we follow an old scientist, Galileo, on a journey in search of consciousness. Galileo once wrote "concerning sensation and the things that pertain to it, I claim to understand but little"--so he chose to remove the observer from nature, and now his investigation requires its return. Galileo's journey has three parts, each with a different guide: in the first, accompanied by a scientist who resembles Francis Crick, he learns why certain parts of the brain are important and not others and why consciousness fades with sleep. In the second part, when his companion seems to be Alturi (Galileo is hard of hearing, so doesn't properly hear his companion's name--Turing), he sees how the facts we have might be unified into a theory of consciousness. In the third part, accompanied by another master of scientific observation, he muses on how consciousness is an evolving, developing, ever deepening awareness of ourselves in history, culture"-- Provided by publisher.
Format
Books
Language
English
Added to Catalog
August 29, 2012
Contents
The dream of Galileo
Evidence : experiments of nature
Introduction : displacements
Cerebrum : in which it is shown that the corticothalamic system generates consciousness
Cerebellum : in which it is shown that the cerebellum, while having more neurons than the cerebrum, does not generate consciousness
Two blind painters : in which it is shown that sensory inputs and pathways are not necessary for consciousness
A brain locked in : in which it is shown that motor inputs and pathways are not necessary for consciousness, nor are they sufficient
Empress without memory : in which it is shown that many brain circuits that help us see, hear, remember, speak, and act are not necessary for consciousness
A brain split : in which it is shown that consciousness is divided if the brain is split
A brain conflicted : in which it is shown that consciousness can split if different regions of the brain refuse to talk to each other
A brain possessed : in which it is shown that when cortical neurons fire strongly and synchronously, as during certain seizures, consciousness fades
A brain asleep : in which it is shown that when cortical neurons can be on and off only together, as during dreamless sleep, consciousness fades
Theory : experiments of thought
Introduction : the enigma of consciousness
Galileo and the photodiode : in which it is shown that the humble photodiode can tell light from dark as well as Galileo
Information : the manifold repertoire : in which it is shown that the repertoire of possible experiences is as large as one can imagine
Galileo and the camera : in which it is shown that the sensor of a digital camera has a large repertoire of possible states, perhaps larger than Galileo's
Integrated information : the many and the one : in which it is shown that consciousness lives where information is integrated by a single entity above and beyond its parts
Galileo and the bat : in which it is shown that the quality of experience cannot be derived from matter
Seeing dark (deconstructing darkness) : in which it is shown that darkness does not exist is a void but requires a context
The meaning of ark (constructing darkness) : in which it is shown that darkness is built of many nested mechanisms that specify what it is not
The Palace of Light : in which it is shown that an experience is a shape made of integrated information
The Garden of Qualia : in which it is said that the universe is mostly dark, but the largest stars are closer than one thinks, if they are looked at with the proper instrument
Implications : a universe of consciousness
Introduction : sparks and flames
Nightfall I : death : in which it is said that, if consciousness is integrated information, is dissolves with death
Nightfall II : dementia : in which it is said that consciousness disintegrates with dementia
Nightfall III : dolor : in which it is said that, if the quality of consciousness is a shape made of integrated information, it can be turned into the only real and eternal Hell
Twilight I : consciousness diminished : in which it is said that consciousness can be present in the absence of language and reflection
Twilight II : consciousness evolving : in which it is said that animals are conscious, too
Twilight III : consciousness developing : in which it is said that consciousness must be present, to some degree, even before birth
Daylight I : consciousness exploring : in which it is said that, by investigating nature, new qualia are discovered
Daylight II : consciousness imagining : in which it is said that are and imagination invent new shapes within the mind
Daylight III : consciousness growing : in which it is said that, by growing consciousness, the universe comes more into being, the synthesis of one and many
Epilogue : three late dreams
Afterthoughts : study questions.
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