I've been meaning to check out Neal Asher's books for some time. They keep coming up as recommendations on Amazon, Goodreads, and in various other venues, and they sound enticing, like the kind of fiction I'd enjoy. Last week, I finally read the first book of his most recent trilogy, 'Dark Intelligence'. The universe described … Continue reading Recommendation: Dark Intelligence
Month: April 2017
Steven Pinker: From neurons to consciousness
This lecture from Steven Pinker has been around for a while, but it seems to get at a question a few people have asked me recently: how does the information processing of neurons and synapses lead to conscious perception? Pinker doesn't answer this question comprehensively (that would require a vast series of lectures), but he answers facets of … Continue reading Steven Pinker: From neurons to consciousness
Is consciousness only in the back of the brain?
There's an interesting debate going on among some neuroscientists about which parts of the brain are involved in subjective experience. On the one side are Christof Koch, Giuilio Tononi, and colleagues who argue that consciousness exists wholly in the back of the brain, that the frontal structures are not involved. On the other side are neuroscientists … Continue reading Is consciousness only in the back of the brain?