The Ravenous Brain

Publishers Weekly “Though others have capably presented the relationship between brain and mind, and the functions of various portions of the brain, Bor does it so effectively that the material remains fresh… Bor balances neuroscience with comparative biology, and philosophy with psychology while writing in a fully engaging conversational style.” John Duncan, Medical Research Council, Cambridge, and author of How Intelligence Happens “In his presentation of the modern science of consciousness, Daniel Bor is luminous, charming and at the same time deep and original. He is that rare combination–a genuine scientist who knows his stuff and a writer in love with words.” Science News “Bor’s knack for bolstering personal examples with laboratory studies makes this a thought-provoking read. His ideas are tantalizing.” Times Higher Education Supplement “The Ravenous Brain … offers a meaningful explanation of what we do in trying to find meaning in everything. And what we do mentally (in other words, cerebrally) is what we are: conscious – too conscious – beings… The Ravenous Brain’s theoretical claims have the potential to escape the popular science box and enter the real world of wet cognitive neuroscience. I hope it happens, and I hope Bor writes more books.” Kirkus Reviews “[A] lively look at what research is revealing about consciousness and a view of some of the ethical implications of recent findings about the brain’s ‘ravenous appetite for wisdom.’ … Bor keeps general readers in mind, making challenging subject matter entertaining by peppering his narrative with personal anecdotes, imaginative thought experiments and probing research studies… An enthusiastic report from the front lines of cognitive science designed to pique the interest of nonscientists.” Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, University of Cambridge, and author of The Science of Evil “Daniel Bor takes on the most challenging of topics, the nature of conscious experience, bringing to bear his unique combination of personal motivation (from having witnessed the psychologically disabling effects of his father’s stroke), his deep knowledge of philosophy, and his everyday experience as a cognitive neuroscientist. In so doing, he brings consciousness down to earth, taking it apart to make it scientifically tractable. He has provided a valuable service to those in the separate fields of philosophy and neuroscience by his highly readable integration of these fields.” Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology, Wellcome Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, and author of Making up the Mind “Reading books about the science of consciousness I am often left with the feeling that our mental life is some kind of unnecessary froth that arises by magic. This book is refreshingly different. Here, at last, consciousness is seen in the light of evolution and is treated as something that is intensely practical and useful.” Sam Kean, author of The Violinist’s Thumb, Wall Street Journal “Mr. Bor takes on the oldest, thorniest question in neuroscience–what is consciousness?–and delivers a masterly overview of everything scientists think they think right now.” New Scientist “In The Ravenous Brain, Bor takes us on a tour of the fascinating world of consciousness research… Bor’s engaging and knowledgeable prose, liberally sprinkled with personal vignettes and coupled with a knack for explaining complex concepts in everyday language, make this a book well worth reading.” Scientific American Mind “Bor manages to pack a great deal of information… into a small book. He presents a sweeping overview of how the brain evolved, from the primordial soup to present day, and argues that consciousness could actually be generated in nonbiological substrates such as computers… [An] intriguing perspective to our growing understanding of how the human mind works.” Nature “As scientific enterprises go, cracking consciousness is up there with deciphering dark matter. Neuroscientist Daniel Bor dives into the conundrum with relish… Intriguing arguments abound.”

Daniel Bor is a research fellow at the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science and the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex. Previously he spent more than a decade working as a cognitive neuroscientist in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. Bor lives in Cambridge, England.

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