Harnessed
How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man
- Paperback
216 pages
- Release Date
8 February 2011
Summary
The scientific consensus is that our ability to understand human speech has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. After all, there are whole portions of the brain devoted to human speech. We learn to understand speech before we can even walk, and can seamlessly absorb enormous amounts of information simply by hearing it. Surely we evolved this capability over thousands of generations.
Or did we? Portions of the human brain are also devoted to reading. Children learn to read at …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781935618539 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1935618539 |
| Author: | Mark Changizi |
| Publisher: | BenBella Books |
| Imprint: | BenBella Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 216 |
| Release Date: | 8 February 2011 |
| Weight: | 266g |
| Dimensions: | 140mm x 210mm |
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Critics Review
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”“…this remarkable book…promises to revolutionize thinking about what separates us from apes.”” — Daniel Simons, author of The Invisible Gorilla
”“…builds a compelling case, and his wry style of storytelling makes for an entertaining read.”” — Discover Magazine
…brilliantly challenges…view…that the human brain’s capacity for language [and music] is innate…“” — Cynthia Knight, Library Journal
…makes a persuasive case in this fascinating volume.“” — New Scientist
”“…simple but striking premise to show how language and music…harness our brains.”” — The Scientist
…this book might hold the key to one of humanity’s longstanding mysteries…“” — Stanislas Dehaene, author of Reading in the Brain
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Mark Changizi
Mark Changizi is an evolutionary neurobiologist aiming to grasp the ultimate foundations underlying why we think, feel and see as we do. His research focuses on “why” questions, and he has made important discoveries such as on why we see in color, why we see illusions, why we have forward-facing eyes, why letters are shaped as they are, why the brain is organized as it is, why animals have as many limbs and fingers as they do, and why the dictionary is organized as it is.
He attended the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and then went on to the University of Virginia for a degree in physics and mathematics, and to the University of Maryland for a PhD in math. In 2002, he won a prestigious Sloan-Swartz Fellowship in Theoretical Neurobiology at Caltech, and in 2007, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2010, he took the post of Director of Human Cognition at a new research institute called 2ai Labs.
He has more than 30 scientific journal articles, some of which have been covered in news venues such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Wired. He has written three books, The Brain From 25,000 Feet (Kluwer 2003), The Vision Revolution (BenBella 2009), and Harnessed (BenBella 2011).
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