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Picturing the Mind: Consciousness Through the Lens of Evolution

4/5 ( ratings)

Consciousness in all its possible human and nonhuman varieties, explored through words and images.

What is consciousness, and who is conscious--humans, nonhumans, nonliving beings? How did consciousness evolve? Picturing the Mind pursues these questions through a series of "vistas"--short, engaging texts by Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka, accompanied by Anna Zeligowski's lively illustrations. Taking an evolutionary perspective, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest that consciousness can take many forms and is found not only in humans but even in such animals as octopuses and bees . They identify the possible evolutionary marker of the transition from nonconscious to conscious animals, and they speculate intriguingly about aliens and artificial intelligence.

Each picture and text serves as a starting point for discussion. The authors consider, among other things, what it's like to be a bat ; ask if the self is like a hole in a doughnut; report that women, children, and nonwhite men were once thought by white men to be less richly conscious; and explore what sets humans apart--is it music, toolmaking, cooperative parenting, blushing, sentience, symbolic language? In Picturing the Mind, questions suggest answers.

Pages: 256

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: MIT Press

Release: February 01, 2022

ISBN: 026204675X

ISBN 13: 9780262046756

Picturing the Mind: Consciousness Through the Lens of Evolution

4/5 ( ratings)

Consciousness in all its possible human and nonhuman varieties, explored through words and images.

What is consciousness, and who is conscious--humans, nonhumans, nonliving beings? How did consciousness evolve? Picturing the Mind pursues these questions through a series of "vistas"--short, engaging texts by Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka, accompanied by Anna Zeligowski's lively illustrations. Taking an evolutionary perspective, Ginsburg and Jablonka suggest that consciousness can take many forms and is found not only in humans but even in such animals as octopuses and bees . They identify the possible evolutionary marker of the transition from nonconscious to conscious animals, and they speculate intriguingly about aliens and artificial intelligence.

Each picture and text serves as a starting point for discussion. The authors consider, among other things, what it's like to be a bat ; ask if the self is like a hole in a doughnut; report that women, children, and nonwhite men were once thought by white men to be less richly conscious; and explore what sets humans apart--is it music, toolmaking, cooperative parenting, blushing, sentience, symbolic language? In Picturing the Mind, questions suggest answers.

Pages: 256

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: MIT Press

Release: February 01, 2022

ISBN: 026204675X

ISBN 13: 9780262046756

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