A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers

A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers

How can some people come to believe that their poodle is an impostor? Or see colors in numbers? Internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, V.S. Ramachandran, now shares his unique insight into human consciousness in an entertaining, inspiring, and intellectually dazzling brief tour of the ultimate frontier—the thoughts in our heads. A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness is made up of five investigations of the greatest mysteries of the brain. The first chapter shows how amputees feel pain in limbs they no longer have as it introduces the great revolution of our age: neuroscience. The second chapter walks through the way what we see determines our thoughts, and demonstrates the counterintuitive point that believing is in fact seeing. The third chapter takes a leap beyond cutting edge science to audaciously set out a general theory of beauty, explaining why, the world over, cultures have fundamentally similar notions of what is attractive. The fourth chapter explores the bizarre world of synesthetes, people who see colors in numbers, textures in smells, sounds in sights, and flavors in sounds. Finally, V. S. Ramachandran one of the foremost brain researchers in the world today, sums up the implications of the revolution in our understanding of consciousness, to make a fascinating argument about our essential sense of self and its distributed nature. “V. S. Ramachandran is one of our most gifted physicians and expositors, and in this new book he illuminates everything he touches—whether it is phantom limbs and how they can be ‘cured’; or how the brain can generate illusions and delusions; or synesthesia and its relation to metaphor, creativity and art; or the ultimate questions of how brain relates to mind. A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness belongs to that rare category of scientific book, one as accessible as it is deep.” -Oliver Sacks, M.D. A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: Back Cover Copy "Vintage Ramachandran, packed with ideas that are bold, irreverent, original, and ingenious. People who have never thought much about the brain will be intrigued, but so will those who, like me, have spent most of their lives thinking about the brain. It is truly a breath of fresh air." -David Hubel, Nobel Laureate, Harvard University, author of Eye, Brain, and Vision "An extraordinary book by a remarkable scientist! Ramachandran is in many ways the modern Paul Broca, the great French neurologist who opened up the biological analysis of higher mental functions by studying patients with brain lesions. In a similar vein Ramachandran has used the study of patients to elucidate a range of fascinating mental functions. His insights have stimulated discussions in neuroscience over the last 25 years. Here is Ramachandran at his best; his most lucid and creative." -Eric R. Kandel, M.D., Nobel Laureate, Columbia University " Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo, journeying the silk road of science to strange and exotic Cathays of the mind. He returns laden with phenomenological treasures...which, in his subtle and expert telling, yield more satisfying riches of scientific understanding." -Richard Dawkins, Oxford University, author of The Blind Watchmaker "An unusually clever neuroscientist explains baffling cases in neurology and neuropsychiatry and concludes that brain science can now resolve many of the age-old quanderies of philosophers. A thought-provoking, wonderful read." -Roger Guillemin, Nobel Laureate, The Salk Institute "Today we' re going through a revolution in neuroscience. The tidal wave of new researchcan be overwhelming, but V. S. Ramachandran, drawing on his own pioneering work on patients, succeeds in creating a witty, elegant introduction to the mysteries and revelations to be found within our skulls." -Carl Zimmer, author of Soul Made Flesh "V. S. Ramachandran is one of our most gifted physicians and expositors, and in this new book he illuminates everything he touches--whether it is phantom limbs and how they can be ' cured'; or how the brain can generate illusions and delusions; or synesthesia and its relation to metaphor, creativity, and art; or the ultimate questions of how brain relates to mind." A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness belongs to that rare category of scientific book, one as accessible as it is deep." Oliver Sacks, M.D. How can some people come to believe that their poodle is an impostor? Or see colors in numbers? Internationally acclaimed neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran now shares his unique insight into human consciousness in an entertaining, inspiring, and intellectually dazzling brief tour of the ultimate frontier--the thoughts in our heads. "A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness is made up of five investigations of the greatest mysteries of the brain. The first chapter shows how amputees feel pain in limbs they no longer have as it introduces the great revolution of our age: neuroscience. The second chapter walks through how what we see determines our thoughts, and demonstrates