Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness
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- Create Date：2022-10-25 20:21:44
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Patrick House
- ISBN：1250151171
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Sony
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Not for me， I guess。 I'll still give other works by the author another try。 Not for me， I guess。 I'll still give other works by the author another try。 。。。more
Kelly McCauley
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This book offers a variety of interesting explanations of consciousness。 I found the author's ideas interesting， and enjoyed how he tied them together in the last chapter。 However， I was left frustrated by how little we really understand consciousness。 I would've loved for more scientific studies to be included in the book， but as the author notes， we know much more about the physical properties of the brain than the mechanisms of consciousness。 This is a good introductory read for those with an This book offers a variety of interesting explanations of consciousness。 I found the author's ideas interesting， and enjoyed how he tied them together in the last chapter。 However， I was left frustrated by how little we really understand consciousness。 I would've loved for more scientific studies to be included in the book， but as the author notes， we know much more about the physical properties of the brain than the mechanisms of consciousness。 This is a good introductory read for those with an interest in neuroscience， consciousness， and even quantum theory。 Thanks to Netgalley for providing a complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest feedback！ 。。。more
Kseniya Kosmina
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this was not my book。 all the chapters were too convoluted with metaphors and anecdotes that made little sense to me。 in the end， i still do not get the point of writing this book， since we did not summarize any concrete ideas。
Mary Holt-Wilson
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I found each chapter quite interesting， if often too reliant on metaphor and analogy。 However， most of the book is about how the brain works， and not so much about the origin of consciousness。 I suppose "looking at" does not denote hypothesizing about origin。 That is， however， for what I hoped。 I found each chapter quite interesting， if often too reliant on metaphor and analogy。 However， most of the book is about how the brain works， and not so much about the origin of consciousness。 I suppose "looking at" does not denote hypothesizing about origin。 That is， however， for what I hoped。 。。。more
Theodene
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Honestly， I thought this book would be an easier read。 maybe I requested it on NetGalley because I was in the mood to learn more about myself and the people around me。 Whatever the reason， this book is full of interesting suggestions about consciousness based on a girl who suffers from epilepsy and doctors attempting to prevent seizures through her brain tissue。A variety of comparisons about the world around us and the possibilities of how our brain works and functions are suggested here。 Parts Honestly， I thought this book would be an easier read。 maybe I requested it on NetGalley because I was in the mood to learn more about myself and the people around me。 Whatever the reason， this book is full of interesting suggestions about consciousness based on a girl who suffers from epilepsy and doctors attempting to prevent seizures through her brain tissue。A variety of comparisons about the world around us and the possibilities of how our brain works and functions are suggested here。 Parts of it relates to evolution without mention of creation， a huge turn off for me personally。 this made it difficult for me to keep reading， but I pushed through to learn what else this author relates our consciousness to。Overall， this is an interesting collection of observations and comparisons to the world around us。 Each chapter is fairly short and not extremely complicated in the thought process。 It has shown me that I should probably stick to fiction stories because this was a lot to take in for leisure reading。I give this book 4 out of 5 tiaras because there’s no mention of creation whatsoever。 I believe our brain functions as it does because of our Creator God， not because of evolution。 Without even a mention of this as a possibility is a huge turn off for me。 。。。more
Virginie Maltais-Marien
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Thank you for St。 Martin's Press for the copy （won in a giveaway）。2。5 StarsIt took me so long to finish this book， because I didn't want to pick it up again。 It is not because it is not interesting， the writing and how the information is presented is really confusing。This book is supposed to be accessible to everyone， the problem is that the author loses himself into explanations。 Each chapter covers a different way on how consciousness （the fact of being conscious of something） is perceived。Eac Thank you for St。 Martin's Press for the copy （won in a giveaway）。2。5 StarsIt took me so long to finish this book， because I didn't want to pick it up again。 It is not because it is not interesting， the writing and how the information is presented is really confusing。This book is supposed to be accessible to everyone， the problem is that the author loses himself into explanations。 Each chapter covers a different way on how consciousness （the fact of being conscious of something） is perceived。Each chapter goes on a long exemple to explain the theory of that chapter。 The problem is each time， I was wondering where the author was going and I had an headache trying to follow the exemples who kep going， going and going。 There should have been images or more space between the paragraphs to help us pause and imagine what the situation is。 But the book goes:So there is this， that cause this phenomenon， then imagine that the phenomenon affects this， and then this will do this， thus it will go into that， and that。。。I was so confused！ It's not that I didn't understand what was written but I didn't get most of the theories， even in the chapter 20 where the author puts each theory in small abstracts， the abstracts didn't seems to connect together。 It kept me from enjoying the book。I think there was a lot explored， it made me think。 I liked that the author uses a lot of different exemple from a pinball machine to a life experience to a fictionnal society to help understand different theories。 It is interesting book， but it needed more structure （the theory is A， exemple， how it is linked to the intital situation） to make the book more accessible。 。。。more
Kara Babcock
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Philosophy of the mind has always been one of my favourite realms of philosophy。 I love thinking about how we think。 About why we think。 Consciousness， sentience， intelligence—how did these traits evolve？ How do they even work？ Patrick House explores Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness （literally what it says on the tin） and tries to address these questions。 As he admits in the introduction， he doesn’t have all the answers—none of us do—but he has a lot of fun mulling over some of the theo Philosophy of the mind has always been one of my favourite realms of philosophy。 I love thinking about how we think。 About why we think。 Consciousness， sentience， intelligence—how did these traits evolve？ How do they even work？ Patrick House explores Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness （literally what it says on the tin） and tries to address these questions。 As he admits in the introduction， he doesn’t have all the answers—none of us do—but he has a lot of fun mulling over some of the theories that are out there。 However， I didn’t have as much fun reading this book。Thanks to NetGalley and St。 Martin’s Press for providing the eARC！I’m not going to attempt to summarize the nineteen ways。 Some of them are a little out there， a little difficult for me to conceptualize let alone express。 Basically， each chapter is a different way of explaining or examining consciousness。 In all of these chapters， House relates these ideas back to a single study， published in Nature， in which electric current applied to a teenage girl’s brain during surgery stimulated laughter。 He tries to apply elements of the chapter’s theory or lens for viewing consciousness to the study to see what we might learn。Something I loved from the beginning of this book is House’s enthusiasm for and wonder about consciousness。 He states that neuroscience is at a stage right now similar to how physics was， say， four hundred years ago。 I thought that was a really interesting and apt analogy。 Despite all our scientific progress in the last century or so， we really have so far to go in our understanding of the brain—and I’m not talking about that myth that we only use ten percent of it！ If you stop and think about it， as House points out in his introduction， it’s wild that non-living matter （amino acids） can somehow come together to form life， and that in turn， we are somehow conscious and actually give birth to other organisms that develop their own， distinct consciousness。So in this respect， House does a great job at communicating his appreciation for diverse views on consciousness。 Each chapter reads in some ways like a revelation， and I think many readers will appreciate how he unpacks these various ideas and challenges us to think about consciousness differently。Unfortunately， I think my expectations for the book weren’t aligned with what this book actually is。 I was hoping for a book that was grounded a bit more in scientific theories， whereas House gives us a lot of philosophy。 While the theories House has chosen to present here are all grounded in some type of scientific research， this book is less about explaining the whys and hows of that research and more about describing the consequent theory in a very poetic way。 Like I said， I don’t mind philosophy—it just isn’t what I was expecting here。I don’t want to damn this book with faint praise， because I really do think there is an audience out there for it。 This book just wasn’t right for me at this time。Originally posted on Kara。Reviews， where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter。 。。。more
Andrea Wenger
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This book combines science， philosophy， and poetry in an exploration of the nature of consciousness。 Easy to read and understand， it offers more questions than answers。Thanks， NetGalley， for the ARC I received。 This is my honest and voluntary review。
Julie
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I won an ARC of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it。 I've been interested in the subject of consciousness since watching the movie "Somewhere in Time，" but so little is known about it in a non-medical sense。 This book presents very well explained facts and theories about how consciousness operates， where it is stored， and why it exists， drawn from various fields of science， medicine， and other areas， often using easily relatable analogies and sly humor。 It offers quite a lot of food for thought， I won an ARC of this book and thoroughly enjoyed it。 I've been interested in the subject of consciousness since watching the movie "Somewhere in Time，" but so little is known about it in a non-medical sense。 This book presents very well explained facts and theories about how consciousness operates， where it is stored， and why it exists， drawn from various fields of science， medicine， and other areas， often using easily relatable analogies and sly humor。 It offers quite a lot of food for thought， while simultaneously helping to explain that thought's existence。 I highly recommend this book！ 。。。more
Terri （BooklyMatters）
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A fascinating， multi-layered look at the “hard” problem of consciousness， which this reader found totally and absolutely mesmerizing。 （My own consciousness working hard to keep up， expanding with the extraordinarily-sweeping insights of this author）。Taking an unusual approach， the author， a neuroscientist， considers one true-to-life scenario - the stimulation of a patients brain during surgery with an electric wand， and the sudden invocation of not only laughter， but the accompanying feeling of A fascinating， multi-layered look at the “hard” problem of consciousness， which this reader found totally and absolutely mesmerizing。 （My own consciousness working hard to keep up， expanding with the extraordinarily-sweeping insights of this author）。Taking an unusual approach， the author， a neuroscientist， considers one true-to-life scenario - the stimulation of a patients brain during surgery with an electric wand， and the sudden invocation of not only laughter， but the accompanying feeling of joy and mirth。 As our patient， Anna， laughs， the author provides nineteen different views， that in some cases encompass aspects of the “what ” has happened （the “easy” problem in the brain， which has to do with neurons and their sparked electrical charges in brain-specific areas）， but also touch on the “why” - which is an infinitely more interesting problem。 What is it， this generated feeling， sense of self， and awareness that we call consciousness， and where does it come from？ Does it have a physical substrate in the brain （and if so， where is it located？）。 If it is not physically rooted， is it but a simulation， or an imagined story told by the brain to aid in the efficient use of its resources？ A side effect of a volume of intelligent brain activity or simply the movement of thoughts， generated as the brain predicts and plans enormous configurations of possibilities。 Exhuastively and brilliantly detailed， the author provides a sweeping look at life， beginning with development from single cells to bordered multi-celled organisms， relying on proton-pumps and the magic of bio-chemistry to power individual cells。 This development paves the way for all biological development， from cell respiration， to ATP production， to the eventual development of the action potential （electric charge） that allows a single neuron to direct an external muscle cell， or a group of firing neurons to activate an entire preprogrammed sequence of coordinated movements or thoughts in the brain。 In various scenarios， the author explains （metaphorically and beautifully capturing complex scientific phenomena） this orchestration by the brain， which ties together all living creatures， as we are all built of the same stuff - yet only some of which could be called conscious。A question that， at the end of the day， may actually not be answerable - for can we really determine what consciousness is through the efforts of consciousness itself？ （Mathematicians would say not）。（Perhaps most fascinating of all is the foray into microtubules and the mysteries of quantum mechanics - which no-one really understands， and so may form the best foundation of all to eventually “solve” this profoundly-indeterminate puzzle。）I loved this book - found the questions it raised mind-altering， and the explanations provided wonderful and illuminating food for thought。 A great big thank you to Netgalley， the author， and the publisher for an ARC of this book。 All thoughts presented are my own。 。。。more
James Gribble
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I gained a lot of insight from this book on the working of the mind。I highly recommend reading this book。
DeAnna Knippling
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I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher。I managed to expect something other than the book I received， despite the author and publisher telling me exactly what they were giving me， so I'll state it more directly here: this isn't a cohesive book about how to look at consciousness， but nineteen essentially separate essays about how curious it is to look at consciousness， no matter *how* you look at it。You won't be reading a popular science book that gives an overview of the subj I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher。I managed to expect something other than the book I received， despite the author and publisher telling me exactly what they were giving me， so I'll state it more directly here: this isn't a cohesive book about how to look at consciousness， but nineteen essentially separate essays about how curious it is to look at consciousness， no matter *how* you look at it。You won't be reading a popular science book that gives an overview of the subject of consciousness and which makes you feel better informed about the subject。 The subject of consciousness is a WILD one， full of contradictions and paradoxes。 This is a book exploring the questions about consciousness， not providing answers。 That being said， I wished the chapters were longer and the essays more fleshed out。--I wanted more details on the questions being asked。 But I think that also means that the questions hooked me as written， so。。。let's just say your mileage may vary。 I found each chapter an appetite whetter rather than a full meal。 The last chapter， tying everything together， was a bit weak at first （I don't really need all the chapter names listed！）， but ended very well， identifying a core question about consciousness in a unique way。 This book didn't do what I stubbornly expected it to do， but it did ask lots of very nice questions in the pursuit of looking at consciousness， as promised。 A solid book， despite being a lot of odd， loose， short essays。Recommended if you like Oliver Sacks， of course， and are interested in All Things Perception & Consciousness。 Not recommended if you want a straightforward overview :） 。。。more
Matt Kelland
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The Median Price of a Thrift-Store Bin of Evolutionary Hacks Russian-Dolled into a Watery， Salty Piñata We Call A HeadIf that chapter title alone doesn’t intrigue you， you probably shouldn’t bother with this book。 And if you’re looking for a detailed scientific exploration of how the brain works， read Sapolsky’s Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst instead。 But if you’re looking for unusual， thought-provoking， almost poetical musings about what consciousness is， then this is defin The Median Price of a Thrift-Store Bin of Evolutionary Hacks Russian-Dolled into a Watery， Salty Piñata We Call A HeadIf that chapter title alone doesn’t intrigue you， you probably shouldn’t bother with this book。 And if you’re looking for a detailed scientific exploration of how the brain works， read Sapolsky’s Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst instead。 But if you’re looking for unusual， thought-provoking， almost poetical musings about what consciousness is， then this is definitely the book for you。House takes a unique approach to his topic， inspired by a book of translations of a Chinese poem。 （Many very different translations， each capturing a different part of the essence of the original。） He takes one single phenomenon - the ability to make someone laugh by stimulating specific parts of their brain - and then looks at what’s going on in nineteen different ways， presenting different theories of consciousness。 The result is not a coherent， homogenous explanation of consciousness。 On the contrary， it’s messy， sometimes contradictory， and occasionally confusing。 But that’s what makes this book so illuminating。 The truth is， we don’t really know how the brain works， how we think， or what consciousness is。 We have a lot of ideas which are partially right （to the best of our knowledge， but they will almost certainly be proved wrong at some point）， but we don’t actually have any definitive answers。 House makes us think about these different perspectives on consciousness。 What’s the difference between human thought and AI？ What can human brains teach us about AI， and what can AI teach us about human brains？ What’s biological in origin， what’s electrical， and what’s social？ What do we mean by self？ Or reality， come to that？ These are all valid discussions， sometimes covering the same ground， but often offering unique insights into who we are as individuals and as a species。 It's a fairly quick， easy read。 It's not too heavy on the science， and it's written with humor。 I'd recommend reading a chapter a day， then putting it aside to consider how to assimilate that with everything that's gone before。 I received a free copy from the publisher in return for an honest review。 。。。more
Renate Boorman
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I won this book from St。 Martin's Press and enjoyed reading it。 The chapters are short but very dense。 I read the book twice to try and comprehend the information and the second time I took notes as if I was a student。 This book could be used as a textbook in a consciousness course。 A key take away for me from the book is that the brain and consciousness may or may not be the same thing。 Patrick House is a great story teller and teacher and each chapter is a pleasant surprise。 He adds anecdotes I won this book from St。 Martin's Press and enjoyed reading it。 The chapters are short but very dense。 I read the book twice to try and comprehend the information and the second time I took notes as if I was a student。 This book could be used as a textbook in a consciousness course。 A key take away for me from the book is that the brain and consciousness may or may not be the same thing。 Patrick House is a great story teller and teacher and each chapter is a pleasant surprise。 He adds anecdotes from his own life which adds to the richness of the book。 。。。more
Meow558
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Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness by Patrick House is a new book about what consciousness is。In this book， House writes 19 essays about consciousness。 He discusses how it works and how little we know。 Most of these essays have analogies， such as comparing consciousness to a pinball machine。I found this book interesting。 There is a lot of information， and House clearly did a lot of research。 There is also a lot of information not connected to consciousness， for example， in the pinball cha Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness by Patrick House is a new book about what consciousness is。In this book， House writes 19 essays about consciousness。 He discusses how it works and how little we know。 Most of these essays have analogies， such as comparing consciousness to a pinball machine。I found this book interesting。 There is a lot of information， and House clearly did a lot of research。 There is also a lot of information not connected to consciousness， for example， in the pinball chapter he goes over the entire history of the pinball machine。 Unfortunately， this also got annoying after a while。 I think these tangents were long winded at times， and it felt like a significant amount of these essays were about developing the analogy， rather than focusing on the actual subject matter。 Also， most of the essays mention a girl called Anna， who laughed during a procedure because a part of her brain got shocked。 I understand that this was a breakthrough， an important development， but I wish it was mentioned less and other experiments mentioned more。 Lastly， many of the chapters were harder to read。 House says that he tried to make this book as understandable as possible， and sometimes he succeeded。 But there were many parts that went over my head。I would recommend this book to people who learn best through analogies， and who have a little knowledge of neuroscience already。Thank you to St。 Martin's Press for this ARC on NetGalley。 。。。more
Bonny
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Nineteen ways of Looking at Consciousness is a difficult book for me to rate。 I had originally hoped that Patrick House might shed some light on my understanding of consciousness， but that's not what this book is meant to do。 He does a good job of writing about something that can't be defined by science and that he and other scientists don't fully understand。 In one of the first essays， he writes about a case in which a woman was undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy。 At one point， the surgeons Nineteen ways of Looking at Consciousness is a difficult book for me to rate。 I had originally hoped that Patrick House might shed some light on my understanding of consciousness， but that's not what this book is meant to do。 He does a good job of writing about something that can't be defined by science and that he and other scientists don't fully understand。 In one of the first essays， he writes about a case in which a woman was undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy。 At one point， the surgeons touched a part of the brain that made her laugh。 What does this mean？ I don't know， but House returns to this several times。 In other essays， he compares consciousness to a pinball machine， and in another one， he compares it to a bowl with 86 billion fish。 I think the book might be better appreciated by a different audience， one with more knowledge of neurology， philosophy， and maybe imagination about the possibilities of consciousness than I possess。 Thank you to St。 Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book。 。。。more
Blake Boles
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Not many science books are intensely funny。 This is one！ Patrick's many analogies helped me—someone with basic science background but only a teeny-weeny bit of brain/neuro awareness—to better grasp what we call "consciousness。" But mostly， I laughed a lot。 My salta piñata thanks him。 Not many science books are intensely funny。 This is one！ Patrick's many analogies helped me—someone with basic science background but only a teeny-weeny bit of brain/neuro awareness—to better grasp what we call "consciousness。" But mostly， I laughed a lot。 My salta piñata thanks him。 。。。more
Alex Dibona
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I have never understood philosophers who wish to ask， why is there something rather than nothing because surely， the better question is why does it "feel" like anything to be something？ Science does not have an answer and has not made any progress on this question。 Scientists however， have quite a bit to say on the topic。 The book has to keep nineteen balls in the air and it does admirably。 The book will be accessible to one who already knows a lot or who wishes to know a lot about the subject。 I have never understood philosophers who wish to ask， why is there something rather than nothing because surely， the better question is why does it "feel" like anything to be something？ Science does not have an answer and has not made any progress on this question。 Scientists however， have quite a bit to say on the topic。 The book has to keep nineteen balls in the air and it does admirably。 The book will be accessible to one who already knows a lot or who wishes to know a lot about the subject。 Patrick House has does a wonderful job of making the question of being interesting interesting itself。 。。。more
Dwight Crow
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Brilliant and lucid - a delightful and question provoking survey of our best conjectures on this phenomena we call consciousness。
Laura
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