Book Description
Your life has a root core that, once understood, unlocks a powerful force to create your life the way it was meant to be, the way you want and need it to be. Key questions and an amazingly clear "map" are now at your fingertips to begin your journey to "Live by Design." These are questions that, with the help of this book, you can answer and bring into action-oriented focus:
- What are the ten most defining moments of your life?
- What are the seven most critical choices you have made to put you on your current path?
- Who are the five most pivotal people in your world and how have they shaped you?
Identifying and working with these key elements are at the heart of Dr. Phillip C. McGraw's latest work, Self Matters, and soon they will be at the heart of your own new work: you.
Through his books, McGraw has changed the lives of millions. In introducing the world to his matter-of-fact, tell-it-like-it-is philosophy of life, Dr. Phil, as he is known to his legions of fans, has put an end to the "everyone's a victim" attitude that had taken hold of our culture. Published in over twenty-five countries, and with millions of books sold, his two number one bestsellers, Life Strategies and Relationship Rescue, forced readers to take a serious look at the excuses they had so long been clinging to as to why they were not happy, not successful, and not enjoying their one chance at living.
Now, Dr. Phil takes those lessons a great leap further and explores one of the most challenging questions facing us all: When you look in the mirror, who is truly hiding beneath that face? Instead of taking a surface look at the way we live our lives, Dr. Phil demystifies how your self-concept came to be and gives a nuts-and-bolts approach to creating a new plan for living and, in turn, for discovering the real you.
In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Phil challenges you to find your "authentic self" -- that person you once were before life took its toll. It is you at your greatest, most fulfilled, most real moment. It is the person you have always wanted to be, but were too distracted, busy, or scared to become. Instead, you have created a "fictional self" -- taking on the identity of who you believe you are supposed be, the person people tell you you are. The incongruence between these two selves is what leads you to feel that your life is incomplete, unbalanced, and altogether more difficult than it really should be.
The good news is it no longer needs to be that way. By using the plan set forth in Self Matters, Dr. Phil helps you to demystify your self-concept and learn how to reclaim your authentic self. In evaluating your life by only the facts, you can learn to think beyond the excuses and fears that have masked the person you have always wanted to be.
Self Matters is one of the most forward-thinking works on self-concept and self-esteem ever published. For the first time, an author tells it how it is and, in the process, teaches us all how to live the lives we have always wanted but prevented ourselves from living. We get only one chance in this world, and now, Dr. Phil shows all how to make the most of it.
Download Description
Your life has a root core that, once understood, unlocks a powerful force to create your life the way it was meant to be, the way you want and need it to be.
Key questions and an amazingly clear "map" are now at your fingertips to begin your journey to "Live by Design." These are questions that, with the help of this book, you can answer and bring into action-oriented focus:
- What are the ten most defining moments of your life?
- What are the seven most critical choices you have made to put you on your current path?
- Who are the five most pivotal people in your world and how have they shaped you?
Identifying and working with these key elements are at the heart of Dr. Phillip C. McGraw's latest work, Self Matters, and soon they will be at the heart of your own new work: you.
Through his books, McGraw has changed the lives of millions. In introducing the world to his matter-of-fact, tell-it-like-it-is philosophy of life, Dr. Phil, as he is known to his legions of fans, has put an end to the "everyone's a victim" attitude that had taken hold of our culture. Published in over twenty-five countries, and with millions of books sold, his two number one bestsellers, Life Strategies and Relationship Rescue, forced readers to take a serious look at the excuses they had so long been clinging to as to why they were not happy, not successful, and not enjoying their one chance at living.
Now, Dr. Phil takes those lessons a great leap further and explores one of the most challenging questions facing us all: When you look in the mirror, who is truly hiding beneath that face? Instead of taking a surface look at the way we live our lives, Dr. Phil demystifies how your self-concept came to be and gives a nuts-and-bolts approach to creating a new plan for living and, in turn, for discovering the real you.
In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Phil challenges you to find your "authentic self" -- that person you once were before life took its toll. It is you at your greatest, most fulfilled, most real moment. It is the person you have always wanted to be, but were too distracted, busy, or scared to become. Instead, you have created a "fictional self" -- taking on the identity of who you believe you are supposed be, the person people tell you you are. The incongruence between these two selves is what leads you to feel that your life is incomplete, unbalanced, and altogether more difficult than it really should be.
The good news is it no longer needs to be that way. By using the plan set forth in Self Matters, Dr. Phil helps you to demystify your self-concept and learn how to reclaim your authentic self. In evaluating your life by only the facts, you can learn to think beyond the excuses and fears that have masked the person you have always wanted to be.
Self Matters is one of the most forward-thinking works on self-concept and self-esteem ever published. For the first time, an author tells it how it is and, in the process, teaches us all how to live the lives we have always wanted but prevented ourselves from living. We get only one chance in this world, and now, Dr. Phil shows all how to make the most of it.
Customer Reviews:
First steps to healing and exploring yourself........2007-10-17
I started slow with this book, and then I got to a point where everything was clicking and it was so cathartic to do the excercises. After this book, you will be able to move on to more deep concept self-help books, and really I don't think of this stuff as self-help I feel like there is NO ONE out there who doesn't need a little mental tune up. Great place to start in the discovery of yourself.
EVERYONE should read!.......2007-10-06
This is a wonderful book! Just gives us so many new ways to look inside ourselves and actually stop and think about who we are.Loaded with self discovery about ones self.So sorry I did not read this till I was sixty!A GREAT gift item for someone who looks for deeper understandings and might not to think to purchase for themselves.
endless repetition - could've been cut in half.......2007-08-26
The exercises and tests in the book were of some help, they helped me realize a few things about my life, myself and my current behavior. However, I found it very repetitive and too obvious, at times. It's extremely simplified, almost so much that it gives the impression of having been "dumbed down" for the general public to grasp. The book could've used more depth and elaboration, in my opinion. I felt that most things he suggested were behaviors I already practiced on a day to day basis. I couldn't relate much to it, although it made some good points and reaffirmed me in my ways.
RECOMMEND IT TO MY THERAPY CLIENTS.......2007-03-18
This book is so well-written and easy to understand and implement that I recommend it often to even my most difficult clients. The man knows what he's talking about! Thanks, Dr. Phil for writing such a useful, inspirational book. Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., Author, The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond
Capitalizing on his fame.......2007-03-18
TV is the proper forum for Dr. Phil's platitudes. The self-induced strife of the show's guests are entertaining, and makes the viewer want to slap a little sense into them. Dr. Phil steps in a does just that, vicariously applying the slaps, and we feel thankful to him.
Beneath Dr. Phil's oozing earnestness and rectitude there is nothing profound, original, or particulary instructive. All the material in this book could be compressed into a few solid pages. The rest is fluff, most of the form; "When you follow my advice, you will be happy/succeed/fix your marraige/lose weight". He continues in this fashion, rarely specifically stating anything that might qualify as advice.
Robbins, Dyer, Mandido, Carnegie, et. al. have more to say and say it better.
Book Description
Sex matters to us all. The Osho approach to sex begins with an understanding of how important love is in our lives, while at the same time acknowledges that the journey into love cannot exclude our innate biological energies. With this perspective, it becomes clear that the tendency for religions, and for society in general, to associate sex with sin and morality has been a great misfortune. Sex Matters begins by deconstructing the layers of sexual repression that the condemnation of sex has inflicted on human. Throughout Sex Matters - in response to questions about everything from jealousy to premature ejaculation, the role of intimacy and the differences between men and women - Osho proposes a vision that embraces sex as a fundamental gift from nature. We learn how orgasm offers a glimpse of timelessness, thoughtlessness, and pure awareness -- biology's way of pointing toward the consciousness that helps us to understand ourselves.Finally, we are presented with a clear choice: a repressed sexuality that leads to pornography, perversion, and a stunted humanity or a playful, respectful, and relaxed innocence that supports us in becoming fulfilled and whole, as nature intended.
Customer Reviews:
Pathbreaking work.......2007-07-12
To me, it was enlightening. OSHO is one of the greatest mystic and deals with everything with excellent logic and scientific attitude. No prejudice and old beliefs. It starts from scratch discussing about sex-energy and how to use and transform into a greater reality....love and meditation.
A treat to the reader. Specially, I think every traditional people and old religion like hinudism, jainism, mohammedanism, christianity should read it atleast once.
Truly important book.......2007-02-12
Sex is the strongest energy we can produce as humans "out of the box". We can learn techniques over time to recreate that wonderful state of superconsciousness, through magick, through meditation,... but sex will always be at the core. We are born out of it, it is our primary experience of the dualism of I and other.
Understanding the dynamics surrounding it, and the oppression of individual freedom through the association of guilt and shame with sex, which our society has upheld for thousands of years in order to ensure the slow and steady flow of evolution, understanding and overcoming these dynamics appears to be a root responsibility of every individual on the path to superhconsciousness.
Enlightening.......2007-01-05
I am only about a third through the book so far but it is very enlightening, thorough, and you simply know that the words spoke by Osho are truth.
Only for conoisseurs!.......2003-12-18
This is the first book I have read from Osho, and I will say that he did a very good job in explaining important things, using few words and pages. It is a little book that will not take you much time to read. What will take longer is thinking about the important points the book makes.
One thing that is important to understand is that this is not a book about sex, at least not in the usual way. So if you are looking for tricks about how to improve your sex life, you are in the wrong place. Instead, this is a work that will give you a different perspective of what sex should be and mean. Is it only for people who believe in the spirit and spiritual evolution.
It will also tell you that the lessons that religion and church sometimes teach -- that sex is sinful, etc. -- is completely mistaken. The book states that it is this teaching we received while young that made this society depraved.
Osho considers that our contemporary society completely forgot about the sacramental and fundamental role mankind once gave to sex. From his point of view, a sexual experience should be a thoughtful act, an experience of love, a means to reach what is beyond our consciousness.
The journey to from sex to to what Osho calls Samadhi (the divine ecstasy) is long, but this should be our final goal. The kind of love that we all know and desire is only the first step. But people who refuse even this first step will never be able to reach the second and from this point of view they will never evolve spiritually.
The main point is that sex is not a end to itself, it is only the beginning, it is only a means through which people who understand the subject correctly can reach the final goal - the "super consciousness."
If you are not interested in topics like spirituality and spiritual evolution, I think you should not buy this book. But if you are open to this, reading Sex Matters will be an extremely interesting and challenging experience that will give you a different take on life. Enjoy!
Sex is important for physical and mental well-being........2002-10-01
ON SEXUALITY and RELIGION
At the other end of the spectrum is "Sex Matters"
(St. Martin's Press, July) by Osho.Definitely more of a "spirituality" than a "religion" book, it links sexuality to transcendence, insisting that sex is important for both physical and mental well-being. Not surprisingly, the author is extremely critical of how traditional religion has connected sex and morality.
"This book tries to deconstruct the different layers of
negative repression and condemnation that Western culture has
put on sex for a long time," said publicity manager John
Karle. "He presents sex as a gift from nature and [tells] how
we need to embrace it and use it as a tool for growth."
--Heidi Schlumpf
From: Religion BookLine from Publishers Weekly
Average customer rating:
- Perfect Companionship For Listening to Floyd
- A "Beautiful" Mind
- Very good, but not a true graphic artists compilation
- A Mindblowing Journey
- storm and po: applause!!! the eye of hipgnosis
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Mind Over Matter -- The Images of Pink Floyd
Manufacturer: Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd.
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Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd
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Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey
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Pink Floyd Through The Eyes Of...
ASIN: 1860742068 |
Book Description
Mind Over Matter comprises ninety percent of Pink Floyd's artwork. First about design and phtography, it includes never-before-seen roughs, rejects and variations.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect Companionship For Listening to Floyd.......2005-02-25
Storm Thorgerson is the artist who designed the bulk of Pink Floyd's artwork, and "Mind Over Matter" is a combination of memoir, scrapbook, and gallery. With the possible exception of Led Zeppelin, no British rock band of the 1970s paid closer attention than Pink Floyd to the potent magic a well-designed album cover could lend to music the album contained. Much like Zeppelin, it's almost impossible to think of Pink Floyd's music without imagining the incredible visuals on their album covers. In essence, Thorgerson is almost an adjunct member of the band.
Graphic artists will appreciate this collection because Thorgerson's almost Magritte-like graphic style is also perfectly and endlessly adaptable to the commercial marketing. Casual Floyd fans will get a kick out seeing so many classic Floyd images reproduced at much larger than CD size. More serious Floyd fans will savor Thorgerson's behind-the-scenes insights regarding the band. (I was surprised to learn that Thorgerson leans more towards Gilmour than Waters). Throughout,the author discusses his designs in a very straightforward, conversational, non-pretentious way. As a bonus, he also includes graphics from Floyd tour books, posters, and DVD clamcases.
Given that so little video footage exists of Floyd, this oversized hardcover collection provides the perfect collection of visuals to leaf through while you're listening to "Dark Side of the Moon" for the umpteenth time.
A "Beautiful" Mind.......2002-03-25
I absolutely knew I had to purchase "this" book the second I saw the book cover. Storm Thorgerson is utterly amazing, eyecatching & perhaps a bit eccentric (aren't most true artists?) I loved reading about his ideas/how he came up with them & how he laid them out in the end, and after reading this book, I now want to check out other material on him as well. Pink Floyd is indeed legendary as are the works of Storm Thorgerson. A Fantastic view of Unimaginable Talent. Check it out.
Very good, but not a true graphic artists compilation.......2000-09-24
As a music fan, there are two things you want to add to your experience, a songlist compilation and a biography. Anything more is really too much, but in the case of groundbreaking album cover art, and knowing Pink Floyd's history of employing visual effects in their shows, a book like this is necessary, especially since albums are gone now, and the tiny graphics you get on a CD jewel case don't compare with the stuff promoters used to jam into album jackets. This book is a trip into Storm Thurgeson's head, not necessarily Floyd's. The difference is not much since Storm was a boyhood chum, and listened so well to his employer's ideas, instead of pushing his own. That's one reason the band was so successful musically as well, was Hypnosis' reliance on the members' themes. This book is not a graphic artist's design book, though I wish it were, but it would be tons bigger. It covers 30 years (and not even all the Floyd's covers (for instance, The Wall)). But you will appreciate the fact that Storm operated more under impluse as a designer than by today's modern design houses which try to render graphics in a production line style...can't be done. The author's bylines give us insight if not in technical process, then in the intellect process, and it's good fun knowing this guy was a friend to the Floyd for a LONG time, even having to uncomfortably stand in the middle of relationships for the 'Is There Anybody Out There?' live Wall issue. All in all, I'd give 5 stars for the artwork and presentation, but lose half of one for lack of technical explanation. Enjoy!
A Mindblowing Journey.......2000-06-22
What do you get when you cross art and the greatest rock band in history? A materpiece! If I had the chance, I would give this book a million stars!
Storm Thorgerson, mastermind behind most of Pink Floyd's album artwork, has compiled almost all of the rare, unusual, interesting, and familiar pieces. It also includes stories on how they (the art) came to be (which, by the way, sheds a light on the innovative genius of the band). It goes from the early years of Syd Barrett to the post-Waters era. This book is a must for any Floyd fan, especially one who is interested in the history and progress of the band.
storm and po: applause!!! the eye of hipgnosis.......1999-07-20
a wonderful book for any album art fan, or a floyd fan...i am both. Storm is captivating in his art, and it is art. Great insight into the band also, as written from a close friend perspective.
Average customer rating:
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Thinking Matter: Consciousness from Aristotle to Putnam and Sartre
Joseph Catalano
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0415926645 |
Book Description
Thinking Matter is an original and provocative look at the nature of consciousness. While many contemporary philosophers have downplayed the significance of the body and subscribed to a brain/body dualism in human consciousness, Joseph S. Catalano argues that it is the entire fleshy body that thinks; the body of the dancer, the hands of the writer, and the eyes of the reader are not merely instruments of thought, but forms of thought itself. Calling for a thorough rethinking of philosophic traditions from Aristotle to Sartre, Catalano offers a holistic view of the bodily nature of consciousness--one that focuses on the total organic body rather than the brain alone.
Average customer rating:
- Philosophy meets superb science.
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Mind from Matter
Max Delbruck
Manufacturer: Blackwell Pub
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ASIN: 0865423113 |
Customer Reviews:
Philosophy meets superb science........2003-07-12
The full title of this book is "Mind From Matter? An Essay of Evolutionary Epistemology". It is a compilation of lectures delivered at Caltech in the mid 70's by Max Delbruck, one of the preeminent biologists of the 20th century. The insights in this book are so refreshing and deep, I must wonder why this book has not received far greater attention than it has. It is one of the best books I have ever come across for demonstrating just how critically important science is to philosophy. If you have any interest in how science impinges on epistemology in particular, this book is a "must read"; put it at the top of your to-do list. Even if your interest is much broader, and you are not intimidated by equations and scientific jargon, then you will enjoy this book greatly. It is extremely well-written, beautifully illustrated with concise line drawings, and best of all, it explores an astonishingly wide range of topics in both science and philosophy. To give you some idea of its breadth, this book covers perception, genetics, time, cognition, causality, number theory, evolution, computability, paradoxes, relativity, quantum mechanics, mind/brain duality, logic and artificial intelligence, and discusses what all of this has to say about how we know anything; that is, epistemology. It's a stunning synthesis.
One of the central tenets of this book, which impinges forcefully on epistemology, is summed up nicely beginning on page 117: "...the empiricist argument that knowledge about the world can enter the mind only through experience is valid if we consider only the ontogenetic development of man, from fertilized human egg to adult person. But once we also take into account the phylogenic development of the human brain through evolutionary history, it becomes clear that persons can know something of the world innately, prior to and independent of their experience."
In essence, Delbruck argues that we acquire knowledge not only through direct interaction, during development onward, but also through the accumulated experience of our ancestors, handed down by way of our genes, which have been shaped by eons of previous experience. The distinction between "ontogenetic" learning and "phylogenetic" learning is revisited many times in the book and explored in great depth, both philosophically and scientifically. As a biologist, Delbruck is not content to simply assert that something happened; he wants to understand the mechanisms. Delbruck offers many deep insights: "What is learned phylogenetically is not how to enter the world with ready-made adaptive concepts but how to have the brain so interact with the world before, during, and after birth that is certain to develop adaptive rather than maladaptive categories of thought."
This is an outstanding book. Be warned, however, that it is not an easy read. It is not science-made-palatable. Rather, it is a carefully argued synthesis of wide-ranging scientific knowledge, and an exploration of the philosophical implications. If you are prepared to think hard, this book will reward you.
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Inside the Minds: Security Matters - Industry Leaders from eBay, Inc., Motorola, Internet Security Systems & More on Protecting Your Most Valuable Assets (Inside the Minds)
Aspatore Books
Manufacturer: Aspatore Books
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ASIN: 1587621444 |
Book Description
Inside the Minds: Security Matters is an authoritative, insider's perspective on the ins and outs of the security industry and the future of the business, on a global scale. Featuring CEOs, Presidents, and Chief Information Security Officers, all representing some of the nation's top companies, this book provides a broad, yet comprehensive overview of the current shape and future state of security - corporate, network, and personal. As they raise critical points around the sheer vulnerability of companies and individuals to security breaches, and other disruptive - or potentially destructive - measures, these authorities offer practical and adaptable strategies for protecting one's most valuable assets. From the processes involved in choosing and employing the latest products and solutions, to viable methods for any company to establish an appropriate and effective security plan, industry leaders articulate the finer points around security now, and what will hold true into the future. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great strategic minds of today, as experts offer up their thoughts around how to live, operate, and function - securely.
Book Description
Edith Wharton emerges in this book as a novelist of morals (rather than manners). Behind her polished portraits of upper-class New York life is a thoughtful, questioning spirit. This book analyzes Wharton's religion and philosophy in short stories and seven major novels. It considers Wharton in terms of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American intellectual and religious life. It also analyzes Wharton in terms of her gender and class, explaining how this aristocratic woman applies and yet transforms both the classical and Christian traditions that she inherits.
Amazon.com
Phrenology was long ago discredited as pseudoscience, but its basic premise--that the key to people's personalities can be found by examining their brains--remains the subject of heated debate even now. In Postcards from the Brain Museum, a globetrotting tour of brain collections from Turin, Italy, to Paris to Moscow, Brian Burrell explores the long history of scientists' attempts to explain the brain's function by examining its form. Since antiquity, scientists have attempted to explain intellectual and personality traits by prodding, poking, dissecting, and examining the structures of the brain. Almost invariably, their theories have been misguided, colored by prejudice, or just plain wrong. Lord Byron's enormous brain, which weighed in at a whopping 6 pounds, was used as fodder for theories relating brain size to genius until the relatively tiny brains of Walt Whitman and Albert Einstein led later scientists to abandon that notion. From Franz Josef Gall, who first theorized that bumps on the skull corresponded to functions of the brain itself, to Cesare Lombrosio, who believed that born criminals could be identified by their "animalistic" features, the scientists Burrell introduces in Postcards are hindered by their preconceptions even as they lay the groundwork for modern neuroscience. Postcards, an articulate, thoughtful, and often hilarious history of scientists' early efforts to study the human brain, cleverly demonstrates how far the science of brain anatomy has come--and how much we have left to learn. --Erica C. Barnett
Book Description
What makes one man a genius and another a criminal? Is there a physical explanation for these differences? For hundreds of years, scientists have been fascinated by this question.
In Postcards from the Brain Museum, Brian Burrell relates the story of the first scientific attempts to locate the sources of both genius and depravity in the physical anatomy of the human brain. It describes the men who studied and collected special brains, the men who gave them up, and the sometimes cruel fate of the brains themselves.
The fascination with elite brains was an aspect of the scientific mania for measurement that gripped the Western world in the mid-nineteenth century, along with a passionate interest in the biological basis of genius or exceptional talent. Many leading intellectuals and artists willed their brains to science, and the brains of notorious criminals were also collected by eager anatomists ghoulishly waiting in the execution chamber with a bag full of sharp metal tools.
Focusing on the posthumous sagas of brains belonging to Byron, Whitman, Lenin, Einstein, the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, and many others, Burrell describes how the brains of famous men were first collected—by means both fair and foul—and then weighed, measured, dissected, and compared; exhaustive studies analyzed their fissural complexity and cell or neuron size.
In various cities in Europe, Russia, and the United States, brain collections were painstakingly assembled and studied. A veritable who’s who of literary, artistic, musical, scientific, and political achievement waited in Formalin-filled jars for their secrets to be unlocked. The men who built the brain collections were colorful and eccentric figures like Rudolph Wagner, whose study of the brain of Carl Friedrich Gauss led to one of the great scientific debates of the nineteenth century. In America, the Fowler brothers brought phrenology to the United States and made a convert of Walt Whitman, whose brain was donated to science and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Eventually, this misconceived phrenological project was abandoned, and with the discovery of new technologies the study of the brain has moved on to a higher plane. But the collections themselves still exist, and today, in Paris, London, Stockholm, Philadelphia, Moscow, and even Tokyo, the brains of nineteenth century geniuses sit idle, gathering dust in their jars. Brian Burrell has visited these collections and looked into the original intentions and purposes of their creators. In the process, he unearths a forgotten byway in the history of science—a tale of colorful eccentrics bent on laying bare the secrets of the human mind.
Customer Reviews:
The History of Neurology from Descartes Onward.......2007-10-05
Perhaps it is simply my tastes to want all the knowledge I can lay my hands on regarding the field of neurology and related disciplines. One reviewer was disappointed that this book went into too much detail about neurology's history. Frankly, this was WHY I loved the book: a convenient collection of the random odds and ends of its history, from Descartes onwards.
I don't think it was poorly written, but for someone who doesn't revel in the minutest of details, who perhaps isn't as interested in the nitty gritty background of the field, then, yes, I can see how this book wouldn't earn its five stars. For me, there are few other books I've enjoyed-- or referenced in conversation-- moreso than this book.
A bit overly detailed and dry.......2005-05-08
I generally appreciate a good general-interest book about science and the history of science. But while this book definitely has some interesting points to make, it does get bogged down quite a bit in the very specific minutiae of the hitory of brain study. This story would make an excellent magazine article, but I think it suffers in full-length book form, and ends up being a bit too long and even (in parts) dull for the general reader.
Phrenology-then and now.......2005-05-08
This book is about "Phrenology" in the broadest concept of that word, that is, the attempts to localize certain
aspects of "mind" in various parts of the human brain. Originally, it was thought that certain functions of the
brain such as intellectual, or personality traits could be determined from simple observation and palpation of
bumps on the head, and this quickly became the territory of charlatans and pseudoscience. Gradually, however,
during the 19th century, neuroanatomists attempted to find correlations between those functions and the gross
and then the microscopic features of the brain. Throughout this time, various claims were made, e.g. that "minds
of geniuses" or "minds of criminals" could be found in certain distinct areas of the brain. Or that there was a
direct connection between genius and insanity. Some of the claims even went so far as to promote eugenics-
breeding of people of superior intelligence, or not allowing criminals or the insane to propagate. But all of these
claims could never be scientifically proved or validated. Often, non-scientific claims were voiced and
publicized by the popular press only to fade into obscurity. Even in the 20th century, using modern techniques
such as PET scans, careful microscopic examinations of brains of the famous and infamous were done, but
never could there be found any correlation between intellectual ability and brain anatomy. The book relates how
time after time scientific and non-scientific methods led to erroneous conclusions. The author tells of men who
attended to scientific details, and men who glazed over them in order to validate a predetermined theory,
promoting guesses as facts, and making assertions without anatomical basis. Although dualism is most likely
not a viable theory of mind, the bottom line is that no one has as yet fully demonstrated that "mind" arises from
brain anatomy or physiology. All of this is told in very detailed fashion by the author who has researched this
very thoroughly, with notes on each chapter, and a wide bibliography.
Mind over Matter.......2005-03-17
Nothing so intrigues the intellect as the contemplation of itself. Yet unlike the functional relationship between other organs and their products, that between mind and brain defies satisfactory definition. As Burrell's historical survey proves, that has not deterred countless investigators from attempting to explain mental ability in terms of physical structures.
Phrenology,which remained in vogue throughout the nineteenth century, was widely exploited by charlatans but, as the author points out, it established the basic tenet of modern neuroscience: the concept of cortical localization. Although the elaborate maps of the skull, "read" by touch, only hinted at the complexity of the sensorimotor cortex, they helped to refute the concept of the mind as a unified whole. With the development of techniques for the removal and preservation of whole brains, the scientists' attention began describing the gross anatomy of that structure. Laboring under the assumption that there was some correlation between quantitatively determined properties, such as weight, and intellectual capabilities, they published numerous studies of virtually no worth.
Of particular interest were their efforts to establish the physical basis of genius. Many distinguished intellectuals would donate their own brains for postmortem analysis. Only in those instances where the investigators were persuaded of their subjects' capabilities did the results sometimes confirm a correlation between the physical and the mental. Completely objective inquiries invariably showed no correlation.With the development of sophisticated cytological techniques, the focus shifted from gross structures the the cellular level but with no change in the results.
In the course of these investigations, numerous collections of preserved brains were established, some of which still languish in various states of repair. Burrell describes several of these at length. The American Anthopometric Society's collection in Philadelphia briefly held Walt Whitman's brain, only to have it disappear unexamined. (It appears to have been shattered when dropped by a laboratory assistant.) A much different fate was in store for Vladimir Lenin's brain for which a special institute was established by the Soviet government. Sliced into a huge number of sections and initially subjected to examination by a leading specialist of the l920's, it failed to yield any characteristics to prove its possessor superior. Nor have renewed efforts by post-Soviet investigators been any more successful.
As well as the political, there have been racial and gender biases behind some of the analyses but they have met with the same failure. As Burrell concludes: "No one can look at a brain and tell what sort of person inhabited it (sic). Nor has anyone discovered a scientific basis for judging the superiority of one mind over another..." (306) Although he occasionally meanders into excessive biographical detail, the author has provided a well documented record of an exercise in futility.
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Bertrand Russell: Dictionary of Mind, Matter & Morals
L. E. Denom
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Consciousness & Thought
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Ethics & Morality
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ASIN: 0806514000 |
Book Description
We hear about a woman with an artificial arm controlled by her mind, read stories about the creative potential of “right-brain” and “left-brain” people, and watch science fiction films featuring characters with implanted mind chips. Yet few of us understand the science behind these and other visionary advances being made today in brain research. Leading neuroscientists and scholars have charted the stream of new findings in Scientific American and Scientific American Mind, and their articles from the past eight years, compiled here in a comprehensive volume, offer diverse and provocative perspectives on various cutting-edge brain science projects.
Scientific American, the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States, has long been the standard bearer of science journalism, and the brain science articles published in its pages offer unparalleled insights into the world of neuroscience. The expert articles assembled here, divided into three sections, reveal the latest developments of brain research in a compelling and wholly readable fashion and explore the range of fields and topics now included under the umbrella of neuroscience.
Consciousness and creativity are the focus of the “Mind” section, which features such compelling essays as science writer Carl Zimmer’s examination of how the brain creates a sense of self. Steven E. Hyman, Harvard Provost and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, proposes new ways of diagnosing psychiatric disorders in “Matter,” a section that also features articles on psychological disorders, addictions, and other topics related to the interaction between body and brain. And “Tomorrow’s Brain” reveals the intriguing future potential of man-machine interactions, as well as pioneering new methods of brain treatment. Eminent neuroscientist Floyd E. Bloom also contributes an engaging introduction that situates these pieces on the front lines of brain research.
In today’s technologically driven world, our lives are changing faster than ever, and neuroscience is becoming an integral part of that transformation. Best of the Brain from
Scientific American gathers the very best writings on this sea change, providing an invaluable guide to the exhilarating possibilities of neuroscience.
Customer Reviews:
You don't have to be "a brain" to understand the brain!!.......2007-09-28
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"The [21] articles in this collection reflect the promise, excitement, and intrigue in many areas [of brain research] since the official end of [the 1990s or] the `Decade of the Brain.'"
The above statement is found in the introduction of this fascinating book edited by Floyd Bloom, M.D. (who is apparently a "top neuroscientist"). This book contains the best neuroscience articles (as selected by Bloom) from the publications "Scientific American" and "Scientific American Mind."
All articles are brief with the shortest ones being 7 pages while the longest one is 15 pages. As well, all articles were originally published between the years 2002 and 2006 (except one that was first published in 1999).
To give the potential reader a "feel" for this book, I will give the exact brief summary found at the beginning of each article:
Part 1 entitled: Mind
(1) Moments of brilliance arise from complex cognitive processes. Piece by piece, researchers are uncovering the secrets of creative thinking.
(2) Activating the brain's circuitry with pulsed magnetic fields may help ease depression, enhance cognition, even fight fatigue.
(3) Neuroscientists are finding that their biological descriptions of the brain may fit together best when integrated by psychological theories that Freud sketched a century ago.
(4) Biologists are beginning to tease out how the brain gives rise to a constant sense of being oneself.
(5) We have long wondered how the conscious mind comes to be. Greater understanding of brain function ought to lead to an eventual solution.
(6) A forecast of the major problems [in neuroscience] scientists need to solve.
Part 2: Matter
(1) In their search for the mind, scientists are focusing on visual perception--how we interpret what we see.
(2) Long thought to be the brain's coordinator of body movement, the cerebellum is now known to be active during a wide variety of cognitive and perceptual activities.
(3) How does the human brain process language? New studies of deaf signers hint at the answer.
(4) A single mutation [a sudden variation in some inheritable characteristic in a germ cell of an individual, as distinguished from a variation resulting from generations of gradual change] casts the death sentence of Huntington's disease [that is an inherited disease characterized by chronic, progressive mental deterioration and erratic, involuntary muscle movements]. Researchers are pinning down how that mutation ruins neurons--knowledge that may suggest therapies.
(5) How do you fix a broken brain? The answer may literally lie within our heads. The same approaches might also boost the power of an already healthy brain.
(6) Psychiatric illnesses are often hard to recognize, but genetic testing and neuroimaging could someday be used to improve detection.
(7) Drug abuse produces long-term changes in the reward circuitry of the brain. Knowledge of the cellular and molecular details of these adaptations could lead to new treatments for the compulsive behaviors that underlie addiction.
(8) A fuller understanding of signaling in the brains of people with [schizophrenia, a general label for a number of psychotic disorders with various cognitive, emotional, and behavioral manifestations] offers new hope for improved therapy.
(9) [Neuroscientist] Helen Mayberg may have found the switch that lifts depression [generally, a mood state characterized by a sense of inadequacy, a feeling of despondency, a decrease in activity or reactivity, pessimism, sadness, and related symptoms]--and shined a light on the real link between thought and emotion.
Part 3: Tomorrow's Brain
(1) Medication has reduced depression for decades, but newer forms of psychotherapy are proving their worth.
(2) The accelerating pace of technological progress means that our intelligent creations will soon eclipse us--and that their creations will eventually eclipse them.
(3) People with nerve or limb injuries may one day be able to command wheelchairs, prosthetics, and even paralyzed arms and legs by "thinking them through" the motions.
(4) Thought-deciphering systems are enabling paralyzed people to communicate--and someday may let them control wheelchairs, prosthetics, and even their own muscles.
(5) Compact efficient electronics based on the brain's neural system could yield implantable silicon retinas to restore vision, as well as robotic eyes and other smart sensors.
(6) New drugs to improve memory and cognitive performance in impaired individuals are under intensive study. Their possible use in healthy people already triggers debate.
It is not necessary to read this book in chronological order since each article is self-contained. What I did was to read an article from each section. That is, I read article one of each section first, then article two of each section, and so on.
I suppose a major query that arises about such a book as this is if the general reader can understand it. The answer is a definite YES (hence the title of this review). I found that each article was well written and that each article defines any difficult terms. In fact, besides the brief summaries reproduced above, many articles have an "overview" that briefly highlights important ideas. Pictures and illustrations (the majority of which are in color) as well as tables and graphs are used in each article to help aid the reader's understanding.
Finally, I had two minor problems with this book:
First, at the end of each article is a brief biography of the person or persons that wrote it. As well, the original article's publication year is stated. I think it would have been more effective to have had this information at the beginning of each article.
Second, this book just ends with its last article. I think it would have been more effective if there was some sort of conclusion.
In conclusion, for those who want a "crash course" on what we know about brain function and what the future may hold, this is definitely the book to read!!!
(copyright 2007; introduction; 3 parts or 21 articles; main narrative 245 pages; index; other books and periodicals; credits)
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