The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness
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- Create Date：2021-03-25 11:35:48
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Mark Solms
- ISBN：1788167627
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Summary
'Nobody bewitched by these mysteries can afford to ignore the solution proposed by Mark Solms' - Oliver Burkeman， Guardian
How does the mind connect to the body？ Why does it feel like something to be us？ For one of the boldest thinkers in neuroscience， solving this puzzle has been a lifetime's quest。 Now at last， the man who discovered the brain mechanism for dreaming appears to have made a breakthrough。
The very idea that a solution is at hand may seem outrageous。 Isn't consciousness intangible， beyond the reach of science？ Yet Mark Solms shows how misguided fears and suppositions have concealed its true nature。 Stick to the medical facts， pay close attention to the eerie testimony of hundreds of neurosurgery patients， and a way past our obstacles reveals itself。
Join Solms on a voyage into the extraordinary realms beyond。 More than just a philosophical argument， The Hidden Spring will forever alter how you understand your own experience。 There is a secret buried in the brain's ancient foundations: bring it into the light and we fathom all the depths of our being。
How does the mind connect to the body？ Why does it feel like something to be us？ For one of the boldest thinkers in neuroscience， solving this puzzle has been a lifetime's quest。 Now at last， the man who discovered the brain mechanism for dreaming appears to have made a breakthrough。
The very idea that a solution is at hand may seem outrageous。 Isn't consciousness intangible， beyond the reach of science？ Yet Mark Solms shows how misguided fears and suppositions have concealed its true nature。 Stick to the medical facts， pay close attention to the eerie testimony of hundreds of neurosurgery patients， and a way past our obstacles reveals itself。
Join Solms on a voyage into the extraordinary realms beyond。 More than just a philosophical argument， The Hidden Spring will forever alter how you understand your own experience。 There is a secret buried in the brain's ancient foundations: bring it into the light and we fathom all the depths of our being。
Reviews
David Hopson
，
The universe does consciousness Solms argues and demonstrates that consciousness arises as a natural physical consequence of self-ordering entities' characteristic tendency to sustain themselves against the depredations of entropy。 Ish！ In short our universe is of a kind that willy-nilly is going to become conscious of itself。 Very complicated read for this non-neuroscientist， but worth the effort。 The universe does consciousness Solms argues and demonstrates that consciousness arises as a natural physical consequence of self-ordering entities' characteristic tendency to sustain themselves against the depredations of entropy。 Ish！ In short our universe is of a kind that willy-nilly is going to become conscious of itself。 Very complicated read for this non-neuroscientist， but worth the effort。 。。。more
Toby Newton
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Highly interesting， highly technical but clearly written， and highly thought provoking。 Mark Solms' analysis of affect's role in consciousness is convincing and his extrapolation of human experience out of the basic mechanisms of a self-organising system seeking to defy entropy， and the problems to which that gives rise after a certain point of complexity is reached， in terms of interpreting the plasticity of needs and wants on the back of bare survival， is illuminating （essentially， it's neuros Highly interesting， highly technical but clearly written， and highly thought provoking。 Mark Solms' analysis of affect's role in consciousness is convincing and his extrapolation of human experience out of the basic mechanisms of a self-organising system seeking to defy entropy， and the problems to which that gives rise after a certain point of complexity is reached， in terms of interpreting the plasticity of needs and wants on the back of bare survival， is illuminating （essentially， it's neurosis， confirmed as a core part of the human condition）。 But to my mind Solms has not， in any way， solved the "hard problem" of consciousness。 He has shunted the question down a level， from consciousness to feeling， but remains unable to suggest how matter 'feels' in the first place。 "Self-organising systems survive because they occupy limited states; they do not disperse themselves。 This survival imperative led gradually to the evolution of complex dynamical mechanisms that underwrite intentionality。 Critically， the selfhood of self-organising systems grants them a point of view。" But why/how did that "intentionality" arise， suffused with feeling， as against an automatic electrochemical mutual reaction， triggered by physical forces between entities， eventually reaching its limit in terms of the calculable complexity of needs/demands to be met？ I'm with Johannes Muller: there's some non-physical element caught up in this， a fundamental constituent part of reality， not yet captured in our reckonings because not yet identifiable let alone measurable。 。。。more
Paul Ataua
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Being both neuroscientist and psychoanalyst， Mark Solms has so much to offer to those interested in the nature of consciousness。 Here he argues that consciousness lies not in the cerebral cortex， but in the core of the brain stem。 'The Hidden Spring' is not easy going。 There is so much neurological detail that I found myself having to read， reread and spend time digesting paragraphs before finally getting to understand the central claim。 I felt good about being smart enough to get the core of th Being both neuroscientist and psychoanalyst， Mark Solms has so much to offer to those interested in the nature of consciousness。 Here he argues that consciousness lies not in the cerebral cortex， but in the core of the brain stem。 'The Hidden Spring' is not easy going。 There is so much neurological detail that I found myself having to read， reread and spend time digesting paragraphs before finally getting to understand the central claim。 I felt good about being smart enough to get the core of the argument， but bad about not being smart enough to assess its value。 I guess that understanding will come after twenty or thirty more books。 Fascinating read that took me a little further along that road。 。。。more
Kathleen
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How consciousness comes about __ a heady subject treated in an accessible way。 It helped that I have taken psychology courses and that Solms explored the subject not only by discussing hard data and academic studies but also with a personal narrative of his journey （from the childhood injury of his brother to his study of neuroscience ， to communication with other scholars and a crucial "diversion" into psychoanalysis。） How consciousness comes about __ a heady subject treated in an accessible way。 It helped that I have taken psychology courses and that Solms explored the subject not only by discussing hard data and academic studies but also with a personal narrative of his journey （from the childhood injury of his brother to his study of neuroscience ， to communication with other scholars and a crucial "diversion" into psychoanalysis。） 。。。more
Glen
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I won this book in a goodreads drawing。A neurologist trained in psychoanalysis tells us about the brain， and where consciousness comes from。 Dense， but readable。 I recommend it for those interested in the mind and the brain。
Nicholas
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The best book on neuroscience/consciousness I've read to date。 The writing is superb， and the book well structured presenting just the right amount of information at the right pace， with the multiple use of allegories to get the point across to ensure the reader understands the theories and concepts in the simplest terms possible。 The best book on neuroscience/consciousness I've read to date。 The writing is superb， and the book well structured presenting just the right amount of information at the right pace， with the multiple use of allegories to get the point across to ensure the reader understands the theories and concepts in the simplest terms possible。 。。。more
Philbro
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I will begin this book review with a micro-review of another recent book。 In "A Thousand Brains"， Jeff Hawkins lays out a convincing understanding of how the cerebral cortex - the mammalian seat of intelligence - works。 He absolutely nails it。 What an important step in understanding our brains。Now turning to "The Hidden Spring"， Solms notes right at the beginning， "Since the cerebral cortex is the seat of intelligence， almost everybody thinks that it is also the seat of consciousness。 I disagree I will begin this book review with a micro-review of another recent book。 In "A Thousand Brains"， Jeff Hawkins lays out a convincing understanding of how the cerebral cortex - the mammalian seat of intelligence - works。 He absolutely nails it。 What an important step in understanding our brains。Now turning to "The Hidden Spring"， Solms notes right at the beginning， "Since the cerebral cortex is the seat of intelligence， almost everybody thinks that it is also the seat of consciousness。 I disagree; consciousness is far more primitive than that。 It arises from a part of the brain that humans share with fishes。 This is the ‘hidden spring’ of the title。" Solms is correct。 Thus what Hawkins has done is solve "the easy problem" （ala Chalmers）。 Solms seeks the solution to the "hard problem" - given how the brain works， how can we then understand what it feels like to be conscious？ I do believe Solms， if not actually having solved the hard problem， has at least untangled its main mysteries。 This is amazing stuff。Without exaggeration， I will say the hottest topic at the crossroads of physics and biology right now is non-equilibrium statistical mechanics。 That is， life is recognized as a unique event which， contrary to other things in the universe， continually pumps entropy away from itself into the environment， to keep itself alive。 Here， entropy is understood in both the thermodynamic and Shannon information-theoretic perspectives。 Together with intellectual powerhouse Karl Friston， Solms has put together a "Free Energy" understanding of consciousness， which he deftly presents in Chapter 7。 The heart of this model is a self-organizing Markov Blanket which serves as a sensory/motive boundary which sequesters everything inside from the world at large， yet allows for proper sampling of said world。There is the linchpin insight that solves the hard problem。 Such a boundary is what gives us license to take an inner subjective perspective in the first place。 Another crucial point， as Solms says， "The answer [to why feelings arose via evolution] starts from the fact that needs cannot be combined and summated in any simple way。 Our multiple needs cannot be reduced to a single common denominator; they must be evaluated on separate， approximately equal scales， so that each of them can be given its due。" That is， how could you quantify "hunger" vs "warmth" - "need to eat" vs "need for heat" - etc？ You can not， hence we have feelings， aka affective consciousness。 Affective consciousness naturally precedes cortical consciousness， and in fact is what gives the cortex consciousness。I'm not sure what else there is to say in a review at this point。 Solms has more to say; the book does not end with these insights。 Yet， we have arrived at the pièce de résistance。 So please， read this book， and take a moment to marvel at what has been done。 。。。more
Sam Tornio
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