Book Description
You may not be aware of it, but a very powerful force is at work in your life.
It's called the Law of Attraction and right now it is attracting people, jobs, situations and relationships in your life - not all of them good!
If your life feels as if it has turned south and taken on the characteristics of a bad soap opera, it's time to pick up this book.
Customer Reviews:
Law of Attraction.......2007-10-11
This is one of the most powerful tools I have come across in the personal development realm. Michael Losier is concise, to the point and makes it easy to follow the principles laid out. If you want to get to another level in your life whether, business, financial, relationship or other, this and Understanding: Train of Thought are the books for you.
Skip this one - there are much better books out there!.......2007-10-10
I've been listening to this guy drone on for about the last hour and I just can't take it any more. I am listing mine right back in the Used Copies for sale section. This guy obviously likes to make lists, enjoys lists, and finds lists fascinating. I do not.
He can't just make a strong point about something and move on, instead he has to support his conclusions with a detailed list of every possible thing associated with that point. I counted 17 items in mercilessly detailed list of how to train your mind to think about the LOA when he could have made the same point in a single, well-worded sentence. It's like he needed to flesh out the book so he decided to stretch out every idea to it's ultimate conclusion instead of giving you genuinely useful information and techniques. I think the LOA is fantastic, but I don't think this is a very good resource to learn about it. I just found it repetitive and annoying.
Synchronicity at Play.......2007-10-08
"Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want & Less of What You Don't" by Michael J. Losier is a fascinating book that demonstrates how SYNCHRONICITY is evidence of the law of attraction. The Law of Attraction responds to your vibration. Your vibration is your feelings, so therefore be joyful, optimistic, compassionate, and content. This facilitates life transformation by means of the power of the law of attraction.
The Law of Attraction explains how it is important for us to discern what our ideal financial situation is, to compose desire statements, overcome negative vibrations, and bring the law of attraction alive by means of creating a vibrational bubble as well as allowing statements.
The Law of Attraction is a most recommended book since it is easy to understand, provides an inspirational process, and an increased understanding of why you don't have what you want yet in order to transform your life.
Two of the most powerful transformational books that I also recommend are;
The Secret
Nexus: A Neo Novel
Abundance is mine!.......2007-10-06
I LOVE this book. I watched The Secret and flipped through book... BUT nothing beats the Law of Attraction book. Fast and easy read, plain english, makes sense, well written. BEST OF ALL: are the worksheets that he provides a link to for you to print out. PRINT OUT THE WORKSHEETS AND THE MAGIC COMES ALIVE!!! I have printed out all the worksheets and fill out the abundance worksheet every night. I've been attracting what I want ever since. Buy this book and DO the worksheets. Best book I've bought in years... money spent has come back to me ten-fold+!
the book was as described by the seller.......2007-10-03
I am very satisfied with this transaction. The book was as described and expected. Thanks
Product Description
James Arthur Ray presents a proven step-by-step method for creating true prosperity and harmony in life, based upon timeless laws and principles. With penetrating insights and straightforward concepts, James gives you the tools necessary to tap into your own spiritual power center. A simple book that is by no means simplistic, combining fun stories and powerful anecdotes, The Science of Success gives you the power and the wisdom to create the life of your dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Action is Key.......2007-10-10
I enjoyed this advice because unlike the mindless lazy wishing and narcissistic bent of 'The Secret' pap, this book illustrates how important action is in attaining dreams.
I also appreciate that James stresses how riches don't mean anyhting compared to souls and our true selves.
He himself has said the bulk of his words were heavily edited for The Secret video.
He makes great points and this is a highly valuable work.
The Science of Success.......2007-10-08
I have read and re-read this book over 10 times in the last 8 years! Excellent style for the text of the science of success. If you are tired of "feeling" your way to success James Ray breaks down the steps and mental disciplines needed to achieve your desires. I recommend this book to everyone wanting more out of their life.
More than worth the read.......2007-10-08
Looking for a great book, then you have found it here. This book is a must have if you are looking for ways to improve your life. Easy to read and understand, up to you to apply. Read it again and again. Sharing it is also a great idea.
Less than One Star would be better.......2007-10-06
Here we have yet another one of those dreary, drudging works which offers HOPE to the confused and the lacking. I found a relative of mine reading this item and asked to borrow it. After going through it, I came to the conclusion that this information is infantile to say the least. It is written to appeal to wide-eyed yearners who feel left out of the excitement and pleasures that life today seems to contain. Unfortunately for the yearners, there is absolutely NOTHING to be found between the covers of this book which will help them to reach their dreams in ANY way. Like eager kindergarten children, the hopeful readers will make serious attempts to follow various "Super Laws" ( Thou Shalt's and Thou Shalt Not's ) and the only glimmer of "success" they will ever experience from this exercise will be "success" in terms of how fantatically they adhere to these idiotic "Laws". "See mom! I'm following all the Laws!", "That's nice, Jimmy!"
The author claims to have researched "successful" individuals and is now providing the readers of his book with the "inside dope", the "standard formula" on how all these famous people managed to accomplish what they did in their lives. According to the author, its all so easy! All anyone needs to do is be aware of these various "Super Laws" responsible for the success of others, and then follow them! Success then becomes inevitable.
Well, this is simplistic in the extreme. No one can get inside another's thoughts or feelings, or even hope to grasp what the emotional/physical/psychological environment happened to be at any given time for another individual when that person managed to succeed at anything! The imbecility of copying the behavior of so-called "successful" people is exactly the same rubbish constantly pushed by the "You Can Have The Moon" types like Tony Robbins with their ridiculous concepts of "Just model what a successful person does and you'll succeed too" claptrap. This book is written with the same illogic.
I ask you to consider the following:
First;
If this author, Tony Robbins, and others of the same ilk were correct in terms of how they insist that people "succeed" in life ( model the successful and be successful too ), then where is the proof that it works in today's world? How many people have attended seminars, bought books and cassette tapes, and religiously adhered to the "modeling" principles and mysterious "laws" set before them? And out of this massive, teeming group of yearning believers, how many have actually SUCCEEDED? How many "overworld" types are there today who have every dream coming true, and who have openly stated that they must thank this or that book or seminar or cassette tape instructional set for getting them to the sublime state they now exist in?
Second:
Have you ever heard of the saying which goes; "What you see is what you get"? In other words, what has this author GOT? What do you see in him? Have you done any sort of research on HIM as a successful person before deciding to put your trust in what he claims will bring success to you if you purchase his book? Does he have the world in his hip pocket? Is he wealthy? And if he isn't, why not?! After all, he has uncovered and revealed the "Super Laws" of success in the Universe!!! If ANYONE should be succeeding at every turn and in the greatest ways possible, it should be THIS AUTHOR!!!!! But IS he doing so? If he has ANY significant wealth and material ease, did it come to him by following these "Super Laws" of the Universe, or did it come like wealth came to Tony Robbins? That is, did it come from SELLING HOPE and from nothing else? Where do you suppose someone like Robbins be without his Snake Oil maneuvers of offering hope to the hopeless?
Folks, this sort of sucker bait, snake oil routine has been going on in one form or another for literally centuries all across the Western world. People keep buying into it, and the only "success" it provides is to the SELLERS, not the buyers. Generation after generation, there is always a certain portion of the populace who never wake up and who are always willing to put their trust and belief in these empty promises of astounding achievement though the following of "LAWS" of some sort or another. Well, here's a "LAW" that will certainly bring magnificent success -
SELL HOPE THOUGH INFORMATION CLAIMING TO REVEAL MYSTERIOUS, ALL-POWERFUL "UNIVERSAL LAWS" !
Do this one thing and YOU too can succeed, make millions, and achieve your fondest material dreams!
Best Book I've Read in a Long Time.......2007-09-10
I like the concepts shared in the book so much, I bought several more copies to give to friends. I also bought and read the books of the people that he talked about in his book. It has been a chain reaction of books. I highly reccomend read it.
Book Description
Douglas Hofstadter's long-awaited return to the themes of Gödel, Escher, Bach--an original and controversial view of the nature of consciousness and identity.
Can thought arise out of matter? Can self, a soul, a consciousness, an "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, then how can you or I be here?
I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop"--a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains. The most central and complex symbol in your brain or mine is the one called "I." The "I" is the nexus in our brain, one of many symbols seeming to have free will and to have gained the paradoxical ability to push particles around, rather than the reverse.
How can a mysterious abstraction be real--or is our "I" merely a convenient fiction? Does an "I" exert genuine power over the particles in our brain, or is it helplessly pushed around by the laws of physics?
These are the mysteries tackled in I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas R. Hofstadter's first book-length journey into philosophy since Gödel, Escher, Bach. Compulsively readable and endlessly thought-provoking, this is the book Hofstadter's many readers have been waiting for.
Customer Reviews:
Very good read .......2007-09-25
Douglas Hofstadter fans will find this book fun and interesting to read. Although many of the GED ideas have been reshashed in this book but it includes some new learnings and evolution in thinking that the writer has gone through in last 30 years.
You may find the book using a bit to many analogies, but you should expect that from the writer of fluid concepts and creative analogies. Once again Hofstadter's description of Godel's incompleteness theorem is one of the best written explanation for non mathematicians.
Book maintains its focus on explanation of conciousness and overall does a decent job in making its point.
Shadman
Nice complement to GEB.......2007-09-20
If you have already read and enjoyed Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, then you should read this. Just don't expect GEB 2.
If you have not, then go read that first, then read this.
Syllogistic fantasy.......2007-09-01
There's a revealing passage in this book, in which Hofstadter tells us how he dropped out of math graduate school, having reached the limit of his ability to handle the complex abstractions in abstract algebra and topology. I went to the same graduate school, and I know what he means. I observed there that the best mathematicians handle this complexity with two hard-earned skills operating in parallel: deft and precise manipulation of strict definitions according to the rules of logic; and deep intuition. Hofstadter has the latter, and in this book you believe he's onto something. But he's not so good at the former. At some point the analogies grow tiresome, and you just want him to spell it out.
It's disappointing that a brilliant thinker and teacher writing about a fascinating subject central to his work ends up leaving too much to the reader.
The book, in essence, expresses the following syllogistic fallacy: The human brain creates an internal "symbol" for its owner, which we call "I", and which can observe itself, creating a sort of self-enriching feedback loop called a "strange loop". Now strange loops, found primarily in mathematics, are magical things. And consciousness is a magical thing. Therefore it's the strange loop we call "I" that creates consciousness.
Unfortunately, Hofstadter never really connects all the dots. For example, he never explains precisely what a "strange loop" is. He makes a "first stab" in Chapter 8, but then never tries again, so we're left with a "definition" that is more vague than no definition at all. (It involves the word "paradoxical" and "level-crossing" - terms that wouldn't fly in a math seminar.)
He does go on to explain why he believes the self creates strange loops. The idea is that by observing its interaction with the world, it creates an ever more elaborate symbol of itself. It's a compelling idea, amply illustrated by analogies to video cameras and Gödel's theorem. But then he never quite closes the loop. What's the link between that strange mechanism and the feeling of consciousness that we all find so tangible and yet mysterious?
Quite possibly Hofstadter has rushed to a conclusion based on enthusiasm and intuition rather than evidence. It's clear that the man is obsessed with self-reference. He's never lost his early fascination with hallway mirrors and video feedback and Gödel. Which is good for us, but it doesn't serve this book well. He sees a connection between the self-reference of the mind and the self-reference of numerical systems, and leaps to a conclusion without checking his work. I can imagine the moment when the young Hofstadter realized that the self is self-reflexive, just like Gödel's proof. It must have been like the time I had this sudden insight into my own mathematics research. It was thrilling. I knew I was onto something. I rushed back home to write it down, and suddenly there were a hundred little details that had to be resolved, and it was two more years before I was done. Douglas Hofstadter isn't quite done yet, but I think he's onto something, and I look forward to the result.
Relax, It's Just Physicalist Functionalism.......2007-08-25
I became interested in philosophy of mind about three years ago, and have since read a variety of books written by philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists and computer experts. About a year ago I heard about Douglas Hofstadter and his [then] forthcoming book "I Am A Strange Loop". I also discovered his 1979 work Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, where the strange loop concept was expounded in great detail. While GEB did indeed attempt to apply strange loops to the workings of the mind, IAASL promised to focus this idea with laser intensity upon the mysteries of human consciousness. Given what I had already read about the importance of circular processes within the brain, especially regarding the "binding" of multiple sense and memory data into a "unified impression", I looked forward to IAASL with great anticipation. I hoped that it would provide cutting insights that would help dispel the fog surrounding the current consciousness debate. In the end, however, Dr. Hofstadter provided little more than a warmed-over version of an old theory, i.e. PHYSICALIST FUNCTIONALISM; albeit with a quasi-mathematical twist to it, i.e., the Godel / strange-loop approach.
Although Hofstadter is a computer scientist, his first love appears to be mathematics. He gives a great description of what mathematicians do, i.e. finding and analyzing patterns amidst groups of numbers. He gives examples of how this is done, and then shows how these patterns are analyzed and formally documented via axioms and theorems and strings of logical symbols. He then kicks it up a notch by explaining what number theory is, i.e. the foundation for those theorems and logical constructs. Not content with stopping there, he takes you to the next level by explaining how mathematician Kurt Godel performed a brilliant meta-analysis of number theory in 1931 and found that it breaks down when "indexicals" are considered (i.e., self-referential propositions such as "this quote is untrue"). By now, most of us reasonably-intelligent readers are gasping for mental oxygen, as though we're way up in the Andes. But Hofstadter then pushes us up to the peak, i.e. the "strange loop", which is an abstraction and generalization of what Godel did to number theory.
Yikes! How many levels up have we gone? Numbers can be called first-order abstractions of reality. Identified number patterns would be a second-order; documentation of these by theorems would represent a third. Number theory is four levels up, and Godel hits the fifth floor elevator button. So a "strange loop" is a sixth-order abstraction from everyday reality. No wonder it seems somewhat "strange" to mere mortals.
But strangeness doesn't mean that an idea is useless. Hofstadter makes it clear (more so in GEB) that mathematicians have come up with all sorts of abstract ideas, which often sit for years in dusty library books until some physicist comes along looking for a way to describe something rather peculiar about the data he or she has gathered from the lab. All of a sudden, an ignored system or obscure concept is found to be exactly what is needed to solve the problem of, say, electrical superconductence at room temperature. The question here is just how useful the strange loop concept would be in solving problems. It is not a logically formal idea, in the way that a math construct such as the proof of Fermat`s Last Theorem is. The strange loop paradigm is really more of a philosopher's construct, something a bit looser around the edges. Hofstadter tries to do with math what the late, great David Bohm attempted with quantum physics, i.e. to stretch it into a bigger, more holistic thought system that extends to the far corners of the human mind. What Hofstadter and Bohm found once they reached those far corners are quite different however; instead of localized loops, Bohm saw "implicate universal order". (Bohm's 1987 book Science, Order and Creativity is to "implicate order" what GEB is to strange loops).
This is important to keep in mind if you choose to climb the mountain of thought with Hofstadter. Right up through Godel's intellectual craftwork, Hofstadter stays on the pathways of formal logic. But that last jump is different, and Hofstadter does not warn you. It's easy (for those of lesser minds like myself) to be impressed by the strict methods used to get to level number five, and believe that such intellectual acuity carries through right to the top. So keep your eyes open (even though it's difficult at such intellectual heights); Hofstadter is very impressive as a wanna-be mathematician, but may not be as skilled when he shifts to philosophy, where the "strange loop" proposition actually resides.
In GEB, Hofstadter attempts to give real-world examples of strange-loop situations. Not surprisingly, the results are of mixed efficacy. He first refers to the Escher paintings so liberally sprinkled throughout his first book (a few of which show up in IAASL). But he gains little traction - those are just optical illusions. He then refers to what almost happened during the Watergate crisis during Richard Nixon's presidency; i.e. the Supreme Court interpreting the Constitution for the Executive Branch, and the Executive Branch contrarily interpreting the Constitution regarding the Judiciary. In fact, such political situations don't loop around very much; they are resolved rather quickly by riots and bullets (luckily Nixon backed off in 1974). Hofstadter's greatest success with strange loops in GEB came in a wonderful chapter about the workings of DNA in living beings.
Hofstadter also took on the problems of the mind in GEB. However, his efforts in that field were overshadowed by the expansive brilliance of the book. And thus, in IAASL Hofstadter conveys his disappointment about not being taken more seriously by the brain-mind-consciousness crowd. He calls GEB a "shout into a chasm" - although Hofstadter did in fact team up with one of the most formidable "mind philosophers", Daniel Dennett, soon after GEB (e.g., their 1981 book The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self & Soul). I read GEB only recently, but it was rather clear to me that Hofstadter's strange-loop concept of the mind was really nothing more than physicalist functionalism, a viewpoint that has been around since the mid-1960s. Not surprisingly, Dennett is quite sympathetic to this approach. For a good introduction to functionalism and its materialist interpretation, I'd recommend David Papineau's Introducing Consciousness.
In applying strange loops to the workings of the brain, Hofstadter establishes that the mind works "recursively". Sense data flows in from the body and drives the neurons; and yet this "bottom level" activity works its way through a hierarchy to the upper levels of the mind, where sensations are felt and decisions are made. Those decisions are then "passed back down" to the neurons and synapses, completing the strange loop from low-level to high-level and back again.
The brain is thus seen as having "mind states" that exist between sensory input and behavioral output. These states are loopy and recursive; their present status is as much a function of what they were like an instant ago, as of what new sense data was just inputted into them. Through devices such as memory, they tend to stabilize human behavior, allowing a longer-term perspective. E.g., if you are chasing a rabbit for food, and the rabbit temporarily disappears behind a tree, you don't stop running just because you no longer see it - you hold a belief that it will soon reappear. Brain states, as an intermediary between stimulus and response, obviously have a function, one that contributes to survival. And thus the case for functionalism. The physicalist part rejects any dualist notions about the ontological independence of "qualia" and inner experience, and equates our mind states and their functional interactions with consciousness itself. In GEB, Hofstadter used the strange loop abstraction to get to functionalism. In IIASL, he concentrates somewhat more on the physicalist agenda.
As such, Hofstadter wears the philosopher's hat more frequently in IIASL, while in GEB he mostly kept the mathematician's cap on. But the new hat doesn't fit as well. First off, he doesn't seem to be aware that he's pouring the old wine of functionalism into the new skin of strange loopiness (to reverse the Biblical metaphor). He seems a bit too sure of himself, too ready to summarily ridicule those who have argued against functionalism, most notably philosopher John Searle. (He may be doing the bidding of his partner Daniel Dennett, who has had rather vitriolic debates with Searle over the years; but unlike Hofstadter, Dennett has spelled out in great detail his position relative to Searle's. Hofstadter, in turn, is mostly yelling insults at the enemy of his friend). He spends many pages setting up and attacking a straw man, i.e. substance dualism, a position that has not been seriously espoused since Sir John Eccles passed away.
Professor Hofstadter doesn't show any appreciation for the subtleties of modern property dualism and its hope that future progress in understanding the nature of "deep reality" may eventually close the "explanatory gap" between physics and consciousness, e.g. the "information substrate to reality" and the hologram paradigms that physicists such as John Wheeler now discuss, and which David Bohm anticipated. Hofstadter admires, yet refuses to adopt the self-doubt that his fellow materialist Derek Parfait expresses after Parfait strictly identifies qualia and self-awareness with brain electrochemistry.
Hofstadter as philosopher shows no knowledge of the "mysterian" position of Colin McGinn and Thomas Nagel; this is especially regrettable given Hofstadter's words in GEB about the human brain ultimately being a Turing algorithmic system subject, one that at some point faces a determinability limit similar to what Godel found in number theory. Is it possible that our questions regarding our own consciousness are the ultimate indexicals? Hofstadter also seeks to kill some "sacred cows" of philosophy that are antithetical to the functionalist viewpoint, such as the "inverted spectrum" thought experiment. (Hofstadter swears in the book to be a vegetarian pacifist, but I suppose that philosophic sacred cows are still fair game.) Interestingly, though, he does not attempt to "kill" the thought-experiment denizen who should trouble him the most: i.e., Frank Jackson's "Mary", the formerly color-blind neuroscientist (also explained well by Papineau, cited above).
Even when explaining his own paradigms, Hofstadter can be a bit confusing. He spends a lot of time telling us that human consciousness is like a television with a camera pointed at it (he even provides pictures of what the frame-within-frame results looks like). The implied infinite series of frames-within-frames is claimed to be much like the strange loops that power our consciousness. But if so, then how far is this paradigm from the much reviled "Cartesian theater" idea of the homunculus (tiny little person) within the brain watching a screen tied to our sense organs, with a homunculus within him/her watching a screen, with a homunculus . . . . in the end, just another infinity of screens. Nonetheless, after a lot of words about TV cameras pointed at monitors, Hofstadter then tells us that it's not the infinity of screen frames that is important; infinity would have sunk Godel had he not gotten around the problem with a finite reference to infinity. The given example of a finite reference to the infinite is the girl on the Morton Salt container, holding an identical salt container under her arm so that her image, and an infinite regress, is blocked but still implied. OK, fine, but I didn't see how the TV/screen system was squared with the salt container. Are they both kinda-sorta like indexical consciousness, but in differing ways?
And then there's Hofstadter's illusion of the marble in the box of envelopes - proving that our everyday notions regarding self-consciousness are just illusions, anyway. But illusions to who? Don't ask, just be satisfied that the illusion is had by an illusion which is perceived by another illusion . . . . ad infinitum / ad absurdum.
IAASL is an intensely personal book - it could almost be sub-titled 'Please Understand Me', with apologies to David Keirsey and his work on Myers-Briggs and human temperaments (Hofstadter is clearly an INTP "architect" - an architect of numbers, ideas and systems). You learn a lot about the life and times of Douglas Hofstadter while climbing the intellectual heights with him. He makes a lot of entertaining little jokes and quips along the way, but becomes very serious as he discusses Carol, his beloved late wife. His word are truly moving until he tries to convince you that Carol lives on in his mind, almost as much as Douglas Hofstadter does. She is still conscious within him - certainly not to the same degree that he is, but according to his hyper-functional concept of "consciousness", just as qualitatively conscious. He goes through a rather convoluted thought experiment (regarding "Twinwirld") to justify the notion that one consciousness can be shared among more than one brain.
To truly grasp what is going on here, you need to be familiar with a certain tenant of physicalist functionalism: i.e., that consciousness is "platform independent". Platform independence has been used to support the notion that living protoplasm is not a sine qua non for consciousness, and that there is no reason why artificial intelligence researchers (such as Hofstadter) will not eventually reproduce consciousness "in silico". Hofstadter has put a rather innovative twist on the platform independence theory here: why not a person-to-person transfer of conscious awareness? One could think of all sorts of skeptical questions in response, but I would like to ask something more personal: is this really healthy? At some point, don't we need to learn to let go after we lose something or someone we love? (Or am I taking Hofstadter too seriously, since he feels that all human consciousness is just a "marble in an envelope box" anyway?)
Given all the psychological sharing in IAASL, one can see how much even a brilliant person's views are shaped by their own personal history and circumstances. It's not surprising that the wrapping of physicalist functionalism with a strange loop bow comes from a fellow of prodigious intellectual talents who, as a young boy, bought math treatises and who got goose bumps thinking about self-referential propositions, and whose teenage music thrills came from Albert Schweitzer doing Bach's greatest hits. (I wonder if Hofstadter considered calling this book "Godel, Schweitzer and Bach"?) Professor Hofstadter didn't know that Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes also recorded a song using the refrain "it ain't the meat, it's the motion", which Hofstadter uses to mockingly attack Searle's consideration of the idea that living protoplasm might be essential to consciousness. Hofstadter is being unfair here, as Searle is in fact quite cautious in discussing this. As to Southside and Mr. Popeye, well, they will probably get over the slight eventually . . . .
I'd give this book two stars from the perspective of the general reader who might want an overview on the current debate regarding how our brains, minds and consciousness relate. If you are already familiar with philosophy of mind, then perhaps Hofstadter earns a third star - he will at least give YOUR mind a work-out. And if you enjoyed GEB and more-or-less understood it, then IAASL could be a four or even five-star read for you. So I've averaged it out to three stars overall. As with Hofstadter's sense of humor, which is liberally sprinkled throughout the book (aside from the Carol chapters), some will enjoy and benefit from Hofstadter's approach, but many won't.
A final note about Douglas Hofstadter's admittedly touching tribute to his late wife. Despite his heartfelt attempts to weave his theories into something of beauty in her honor, recursive mathematical constructs still pale in comparison with Tennyson's "In Memoriam":
I trust I have not wasted breath:
I think we are not wholly brain,
Magnetic mockeries; not in vain,
Like Paul with beasts, I fought with Death;
Not only cunning casts in clay;
Let Science prove we are, and then
What matter Science unto men,
At least to me? I would not stay.
As Dr. Parfait realized, dualism will not be easily vanquished. Like Professor Hofstadter, I too am a vegetarian romanticist computer geek, albeit a considerably less brilliant one. But as to being a strange loop . . . no way.
The mind plays tricks on us.......2007-08-24
Interesting fellow this author.
He has done a good job illuminating the inner clouds of thought rolling around in the brain.
Takes you on an interesting trip. Still a little tough to grasp.
Book Description
The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic "right-brain" thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't. Drawing on research from around the world, Pink outlines the six fundamentally human abilities that are absolute essentials for professional success and personal fulfillment-and reveals how to master them. A Whole New Mind takes readers to a daring new place, and a provocative and necessary new way of thinking about a future that's already here.
Customer Reviews:
Art Teachers Summer Read.......2007-09-10
Great book to read while I consider my level of burnout. It was interesting and made me want to find out more. I would like to implement some of his straegies with my high school art kids. Thanks.
Faster than you think.......2007-08-28
We are undergoing enormous change and at a pace that seems to be getting faster all the time. This book is an invaluable tool for all of us if we know how to use it properly. He is pointing us in the right direction - now it is up to us to go and do something with the advice he has provided. I loved this book and would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to have a whole new life.
Excellent tool for personal excellence........2007-08-15
What I love is when a book isn't just conceptual; it's practical. A Whole New Mind fits that bill nicely.
Dan Pink does a great job of not only laying out the essential principles to a well-rounded, complete way to bring your best to work, but he also gives excellent examples and resources to learn from and develop your capabilities.
Well researched, a great read, entertaining, and immensely useful. I highly recommend it.
Thought Provoking.......2007-08-14
What a fascinating take on the age of "Abundance, Asia and Automation." Pink's reflection on what these three realities mean to today's young people and what their future may be has really changed my outlook on my children's future. Among the most important and affirming things that Pink says is that we need "an artist in every room." Amen to that!
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.......2007-08-12
Thought provoking. Right on in describing the transformation that our global economy is moving towards.
Book Description
The book you hold in your hands is revolutionary, a groundbreaking exploration of the science of intention. It is also the first book to invite you, the reader, to take an active part in its original research. Drawing on the findings of leading scientists on human consciousness from around the world, The Intention Experiment demonstrates that thought is a thing that affects other things. Thought generates its own palpable energy that you can use to improve your life, to help others around you, and to change the world.
In The Intention Experiment, internationally bestselling author Lynne McTaggart, an award-winning science journalist and leading figure in the human consciousness studies community, presents a gripping scientific detective story and takes you on a mind-blowing journey to the farthest reaches of consciousness. She profiles the colorful pioneers in intention science and works with a team of renowned scientists from around the world, including physicist Fritz-Albert Popp of the International Institute of Biophysics and Dr. Gary Schwartz, professor of psychology, medicine, and neurology at the University of Arizona, to determine the effects of focused group intention on scientifically quantifiable targets -- animal, plant, and human.
The Intention Experiment builds on the discoveries of McTaggart's first book, international bestseller The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, which documented discoveries that point to the existence of a quantum energy field. The Field created a picture of an interconnected universe and a scientific explanation for many of the most profound human mysteries, from alternative medicine and spiritual healing to extrasensory perception and the collective unconscious. The Intention Experiment shows you myriad ways that all this information can be incorporated into your life.
After narrating the exciting developments in the science of intention, McTaggart offers a practical program to get in touch with your own thoughts, to increase the activity and strength of your intentions, and to begin achieving real change in your life. After you've begun to realize the amazing potential of focused intention, and the times when it is most powerful, McTaggart invites you to participate in an unprecedented experiment: Using The Intention Experiment website to coordinate your involvement and track results, you and other participants around the world will focus your power of intention on specific targets, giving you the opportunity to become a part of scientific history.
The Intention Experiment redefines what a book does. It is the first "living" book in three dimensions. The book's text and website are inextricably linked, forming the hub of an entirely self-funded research program, the ultimate aim of which is philanthropic. An original piece of scientific investigation that involves the reader in its quest, The Intention Experiment explores human thought and intention as a tangible energy -- an inexhaustible but simple resource with an awesome potential to focus our lives, heal our illnesses, clean up our communities, and improve the planet.
The Intention Experiment also forces you to rethink what it is to be human. As it proves, we're connected to everyone and everything, and that discovery demands that we pay better attention to our thoughts, intentions, and actions. Here's how you can.
Customer Reviews:
FASCINATING..........2007-10-02
"The Intention Experiment" by Lynn McTaggart provides fascinating insights on intentional living. This book shows you how thought can affect your life. In essence thought is an energy that has the potential to transform your own life as well as help others.
Focused group intention is also shown to be a highly powerful tool in affecting animals, plants and humans.
Also, the reader is invited to become involved in a research experiment about the power of human thought.
My most recent favorite New Age books that highlight self-empowerment and life transformation are:
The Secret
Nexus: A Neo Novel
Wow!.......2007-09-26
This book has a wonderful compilation of scientific studies about intention! It is very easy to read and understand. I was amazed at the
scientific research that has been completed in this area, and even more
surprised that so few of us are aware of this research.
Enjoy.
Fantastic.......2007-09-13
You may believe the reports in the book or you might just be a blind defender of the "offcial" science, but in both cases this is a book to read.
I will suggest it to all my friends.
Advancing the body of knowledge.......2007-09-10
This is a wonderful book, bringing forth highly complex knowledge in a digestible form. It helps if the reader is analytical by nature. Thank you to Lynne Taggart for her writing style and depth of coverage of the topic. I am learning from this book how and why prayer works.
Could You Imagine?.......2007-09-10
Picture this... A World with Peace, a World with Love, A World where EVERYONE has enough. If I am to understand what Lynne McTaggart is saying here, then I am to understand that a simple change in Our Collective thoughts 'could' change Our World. Peace, Love, Harmony. Groovy.
Book Description
Is it really possible to change the structure and function of the brain, and in so doing alter how we think and feel? The answer is a resounding yes. In late 2004, leading Western scientists joined the Dalai Lama at his home in Dharamsala, India, to address this very question–and in the process brought about a revolution in our understanding of the human mind. In this fascinating and far-reaching book, Wall Street Journal science writer Sharon Begley reports on how cutting-edge science and the ancient wisdom of Buddhism have come together to show how we all have the power to literally change our brains by changing our minds. These findings hold exciting implications for personal transformation.
For decades, the conventional wisdom of neuroscience held that the hardware of the brain is fixed and immutable–that we are stuck with what we were born with. As Begley shows, however, recent pioneering experiments in neuroplasticity, a new science that investigates whether and how the brain can undergo wholesale change, reveal that the brain is capable not only of altering its structure but also of generating new neurons, even into old age. The brain can adapt, heal, renew itself after trauma, and compensate for disability.
Begley documents how this fundamental paradigm shift is transforming both our understanding of the human mind and our approach to deep-seated emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. These breakthroughs show that it is possible to reset our happiness meter, regain the use of limbs disabled by stroke, train the mind to break cycles of depression and OCD, and reverse age-related changes in the brain. They also suggest that it is possible to teach and learn compassion, a key step in the Dalai Lama’s quest for a more peaceful world. But as we learn from studies performed on Buddhist monks, an important component in changing the brain is to tap the power of mind and, in particular, focused attention. This is the classic Buddhist practice of mindfulness, a technique that has become popular in the West and that is immediately available to everyone.
With her extraordinary gift for making science accessible, meaningful, and compelling, Sharon Begley illuminates a profound shift in our understanding of how the brain and the mind interact. This tremendously hopeful book takes us to the leading edge of a revolution in what it means to be human.
Customer Reviews:
believe you can change.......2007-10-11
I think most of us believe we can acquire new knowledge and skills throughout life. The hard part is believing we can change habits and emotional responses. That the mind can actually cause physical changes in the brain. This book does a good job of showing that the evidence is accumulating that change can and does happen. However, it is not enough to simply have an insight. The book also relates the actual process of change to the meditative (mindfulness) techniques of Buddhism. I use this information and techniques in my work as a school counselor. It really works! It can make changes in your life as well!
'Focus & Attention.".......2007-09-29
This book is based in part on an Oct.2004 meeting bewtween the Dalai Lama & a group of western neurologists & psychologists to discuss the mutability of the human brain. The main positives of this book are that it is meticulously researched, & yet concise. But, despite the title it is not a self-help book. One should not expect any life altering experiences. This is a history of neuro-plasticity, a cerebral trait discovered by neuro-scientific experiments some twenty years ago. The books central message is that the brain/mind can change when we want it to. The techniques of mental discipline can be learned, & our negative traits reduced. Here eastern philosophy & meditation meets western neuro-science. When the reader is interested in the latest developments for treating dysfunction & depression, or in the mental deterioration brought by aging this is a good place to start. Basically, the adult brain retains much of the plasticity of the developing brain, to change the circuitry that weaves neurons into the networks that allow us to think, feel, dream, remember, & suffer. Some findings show that changes can occur by certain mental activities: like learning a language, or playing a musical instrument. To a degree, the neuro-science does blend with the buddhist belief that our reality can be created by our own thoughts & projections. I have learned that meditation can truly help alter ones feelings, especially in dealing with grief & depression. The book explains in detail how various experiments, training methods, & therapies can change the adult brain. It has shown a remarkable ability to cope with unexpected changes, like blindness, recovering from a stroke, etc. The crucial changes in the brain can willfully overcome neural problems like dyslexia, etc by changing its own circuitry. However, the book does not actually answer all of the questions it poses. I was also a bit taken back that the Dalai Lama would condone animal testing? His statment that the larger human community would benefit from the experiments felt expedient to me. Still, this is a four star book for all the data it contains.
Surprising science: new about neuroplasticity. .......2007-09-06
For nearly a century, scientific dogma held that the brain is immutable, fixed by genes and early upbringing. Wall Street Journal science writer Sharon Begley recently visited the frontiers of neuroscience and returned with a news flash: The dogma is wrong. Researchers have discovered that the brain remains plastic, lifelong. This creates new frontiers: Stroke victims can rewire their brains using challenging exercises; deaf people can repurpose dormant auditory cortexes for other tasks; and blind people can begin to "see" patterns of Braille dots using a seemingly dead visual cortex. Suspecting that they were on to a general pattern, researchers soon looked for similar changes in "normal" brains. Working repetitively on your golf swing, playing the piano or learning a language, they found, also change your brain in lasting, important ways, as does practicing compassion toward others. Begley arrives with heavyweight friends: a foreword by the Dalai Lama and a preface by Daniel Goleman of Emotional Intelligence. If you want to understand how the brain keeps working, and how to make yours do more of what you want it to, we think you should start here. Your brain will thank you.
Change your Life.......2007-08-23
Reading this book will change your life by providing scientific proof that humans can change their brains through meditation. The book is readily accessible to the non-scientific/technical reader and the sections involving the Dalai Lama are fascinating. Those interested in neuroscience, meditation, improving one's quality of life, or in the mysteries of the brain will enjoy this book. Educators and parents will also will find this book as inspiration because it suggests a radical new approach to educating and developing young minds.
Understanding our brain.......2007-07-12
Personal renewal through understanding how the brain works is a subject I am very interested in. This book gets you into the science behind this most promising area of new understanding. It is a subject we all need to know more about - science has learned so much about it in the last 15 years - and this book is a very good place to begin your study of this most important developing area of knowledge.
Book Description
In 1991, when her daughter’s rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayer’s familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser–a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose–and almost as a joke–Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found.
Deeply shaken, yet driven to understand what had happened, Mayer began the fourteen-year journey of discovery that she recounts in this mind-opening, brilliantly readable book. Her first surprise: the dozens of colleagues who’d been keeping similar experiences secret for years, fearful of being labeled credulous or crazy.
Extraordinary Knowing is an attempt to break through the silence imposed by fear and to explore what science has to say about these and countless other “inexplicable” phenomena. From Sigmund Freud’s writings on telepathy to secret CIA experiments on remote viewing, from leading-edge neuroscience to the strange world of quantum physics, Dr. Mayer reveals a wealth of credible and fascinating research into the realm where the mind seems to trump the laws of nature.
She does not ask us to believe. Rather she brings us a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications not just for scientific inquiry but also for the ways we go about living in the world.
Customer Reviews:
Extraordinary Knowing.......2007-09-25
Finally, a book that reviews the scientific evidence for the existence of extra-ordinary events. It is disturbing to see how scientists, under the guise of skepticism, have refused to look at well-designed studies that, unfortunately for them, challenge their perception of the world AS THEY WOULD LIKE IT TO BE. Skepticism is certainly healthy, but prejudice is not. To decide beforehand that events that appear to not quite follow natural laws are totally unworthy of study is simply not good science. In this book Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer points us to the many high-quality studies (and scientists) that have been simply ignored by mainstream science. Reading this book should certainly open your eyes to the variety of human experience that modern science both rejects and neglects.
I knew you would read this book ; ).......2007-06-07
Mayer takes on a taboo subject - often ridiculed by the religious AND the scientific communities but for different reasons. The scientists -because it is difficult to explain how esp works. The religious -because if humans were to develop their esp abilities -then we would all be prophets.
This book is filled with interesting anecdotes, experiments, ideas, and people who figure prominently in the field of esp practice and esp research. If you are interested in the topics of psychic healing, subliminal messages, meditation, premonition, intuition, dreams, remote viewing, dowsing, and why Sigmund Freud was not fond of music (and more!)- this is the book for you. Read with an open mind. There is a notes section and an index.
Moves discussion into the new millenium.......2007-05-14
This book is courageous in its sharing of the author's personal journey toward a greater understanding of our complete and yet mysterious humanity, backed up by scrupulous clinical and research data. She takes the idea that we are more than we can ever really know about ourselves consciously out of the age of gullible new age mysticism, and puts it in the middle of thinking people's daily contemplation, challenging everyone from the church to psychologists, to even physicists to take on her incredible yet undeniable assertions about the unlmited frontier of human consciousness which she leads us to. The author died right after completing this book, yet this book has an important and exciting message for humanity that needs to be carried forward without her. It is the perfect antidote to all the fervent God-haters of late, injecting awe, humility and intelligence into the discussion of where we have been, and where we are going--to a place where God and science meet.
where the beef?.......2007-05-13
The author makes good use of describing multiple studies that support some amazing mental powers that the human mind appears to be capable of performing. Unfortunately, none of the studies are sufficiently referenced to allow an interested reader to review the actual data. A more detailed account of the experimental set up, control group, number of participants, etc. along with the actual data would have allowed a skeptical reader to assess the validity independently, rather than accepting the "highly statistically significant" conclusion the author presents. Extraordinary claims do require extraordinary evidence. While I believe the evidence may be there, the author does not make the "ordinary" effort to share this important information with her readers. Even an appendix with more detail would have been useful. I was left wanting for more than just an appetizer, how about some real beef!
Excellent .......2007-05-09
Lisby Mayer lived long enough to complete the manuscript for this excellent story of how an extraordinary event changed her life. Must reading.
Book Description
You've probably seen it before: a human brain dramatically lit from the side, the camera circling it like a helicopter shot of Stonehenge, and a modulated baritone voice exalting the brain's elegant design in reverent tones.
To which this book says: Pure nonsense. In a work at once deeply learned and wonderfully accessible, the neuroscientist David Linden counters the widespread assumption that the brain is a paragon of design--and in its place gives us a compelling explanation of how the brain's serendipitous evolution has resulted in nothing short of our humanity. A guide to the strange and often illogical world of neural function, The Accidental Mind shows how the brain is not an optimized, general-purpose problem-solving machine, but rather a weird agglomeration of ad-hoc solutions that have been piled on through millions of years of evolutionary history. Moreover, Linden tells us how the constraints of evolved brain design have ultimately led to almost every transcendent human foible: our long childhoods, our extensive memory capacity, our search for love and long-term relationships, our need to create compelling narrative, and, ultimately, the universal cultural impulse to create both religious and scientific explanations. With forays into evolutionary biology, this analysis of mental function answers some of our most common questions about how we've come to be who we are.
Customer Reviews:
Nicely done, accessible account of the human brain.......2007-08-08
David Linden's "The Accidental Mind" is a neat little book. He has two main purposes: (a) to write a readable introduction on brain science, accessible to nonspecialists; (b) to make the case that (page 6) `. . .the brain is an inelegant and inefficient agglomeration of stuff, which nonetheless works surprisingly well." As to the first point, this volume is a far cry from the magnificent work, Michael Gazzaniga's The Cognitive Neurosciences III: Third Edition. However, if one is not well steeped in knowledge and understanding of the neurosciences, Gazzaniga's edited work is close to impenetrable. This book is well and crisply written, explaining simply how neurons work the structure of the brain, how the brain develops, and so on.
As to the second point? He asserts that, quoting Francois Jacob (Page 6), "'Evolution is a tinkerer, not an engineer." That is, evolution operates on organisms as they are and then the process of change takes advantage of the material already existent to adapt to new conditions and challenges. Thus, the human brain is mounted on older, more primitive structures, in an ill fitting complex. As he says (page 21): "The brain is built like an ice cream cone (and you are the top scoop): Through evolutionary time, as higher functions were added, a new scoop was placed on top, but the lower scoops were left largely unchanged."
Thereafter, he speaks of the structure of the brain, how the fully mature human brain develops (with both nature and nurture having roles to play), how the brain is associated with all manner of emotions, learning, religion, and so on.
The Ninth chapter has a title that speaks directly to Linden's first theme--"The Unintelligent Design of the Brain." Here, he slyly critiques advocates of the "Intelligent Design" perspective by noting that the brain is hardly an exemplar of some great design. As noted already, he sees the brain as inefficient and "jury-rigged."
This is a book that provides plenty of insight into how neuroscientists study the structure and function of the brain--and presents some of the exciting possibilities for future research.
In sum, this is a work that ought to be attended to by those interested in the brain sciences, but who cannot readily read the technical literature.
Entertaining?.......2007-07-30
This is a great book for readers who are interested in an overview of the anatomical and physiological functions of the brain. If you have had any previous A+P, this book may give you flashbacks (and does a good job of explaining how those feelings were "created.") You may even recognise many of the examples and case studies right from classic lectures.
If you are approaching "The Accidental Mind" as pure entertainment, enjoy. If you are looking for juicier or more in depth case studies, keep browsing.
A Very Refreshing Book On Brain Science.......2007-07-18
The addition of this review is to fill in one gap in particular. Dr. Linden is the first scientific author I have read in quite a while that wasn't flip with schools of thought. He has distilled research with varied hypothesis and has enough respect for his field and the reader to frankly state when "We just don't know." My only regret is that Dr. Linden didn't make this book the "larger tomb" he mentions when wrapping up the research that didn't make it into the book. Highly recommended to anyone who is mystified by belief and dreams.
A Perspective-Changing Read about the Brain.......2007-07-04
Why do we sleep? What is love? What is happening when we dream? These questions seem so basic to our human experience, and yet the average person in at a complete loss to explain even the most common of our daily experiences. This is where the Accidental Mind comes in. Linden's book offers a refreshingly different perspective on the brain. After reading this book, you will have a much better understanding of how your brain shapes your experience, it's limitations, and what is going on "behind the curtain." Intelligence, gender identity, sexuality, are all covered with an eye to how these factors play out in the architecture of the brain.
This book also provides a great deal of information on the biological basis for issues that are being debated in our culture, which many people will find enlightening and necessary for making informed comments.
If you are considering picking up this book, read Chapter 7 on sleep, available for free from Linden's website:
[...]
While the book may sometimes goes into great detail on the biology, most readers will find plenty of compelling information in these pages. People who enjoy this book and are interested in some of the practical insights that new research is providing about humans, how we work, and practical advice for improving our lives should check out The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.
Happy reading!
For your thinking and reading friends...........2007-05-31
I found The Accidental Mind a well written, humorous and thought-provoking introduction to neuroscience and to some profound ideas about evolution and other topics. It's the kind of book that makes you interrupt your partner's reading every five minutes with "Hey, listen to this...." If Dr. Linden lectures as entertainingly and interestingly as he writes, his classes at Johns Hopkins University must be in great demand.
Book Description
Why is it that our current twenty-first century a.d. is so similar to the twenty-first century
B.C.? At a time when religious fanaticism and a clash of civilizations raise the specter of a nuclear Armageddon, many ask: Is history destined to repeat itself? What does the future hold? Will biblical prophecies come true, and if so, when?
Ever since Zecharia Sitchin, in his first trailblazing book The 12th Planet, brought to life the Sumerian civilization and its record of the Annunaki—the extraterrestrials who had come to Earth from their planet Nibiru, fashioned mankind, and gave us civilization and religion—questions have abounded. Are the ancient gods still here, or did they leave? Will they return? What will happen then? Will there be another Deluge or Apocalypse when Nibiru meets Earth? What about “Planet X” and the Mayan 2012? What about Jesus?
In The End of Days, a masterwork that required thirty years of additional research, Sitchin dares to give the answers by presenting compelling new evidence that the Past is the Future—that mankind and its planet Earth are subject to a predetermined cyclical Celestial Time.
Tracing historical events from the messianic fervor and use of nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century
B.C., Sitchin resolves ancient enigmas like the Nazca Lines or the origin and significance of the Cross, the Fishes, and the Chalice, places in context the events of the Last Supper and hidden clues like those in Da Vinci's painting, explains the space-related reasons for the everlasting centrality of Jerusalem, and—following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton—deciphers the Time Code in the books of Daniel and Revelation and of the Day of the Lord and the End of Days prophecies.
In this remarkable and relevant conclusion to his bestselling The Earth Chronicles series, Sitchin shatters perceptions and uses history to reveal what is to come at The End of Days.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome FICTIONAL work........2007-09-26
What a great story! From a purely fictional point of view that is. But please don't take Mr. Sitchin seriously. Yes, he's done a lot of work and he's very passionate and I believe HE believes all that's in his books. But if you want facts, follow the work of true scholars.
There are plenty of reviews on this book and even more opinions I'm sure.
What's more important than a review is a call to reason. People - please... Just because you want or need to believe something is true doesn't mean that it is. When dealing with history and languages, I would highly recommend reviewing the work of true and accomplished scholars. Do this and you will likely get complete (as much as is possible) and the most accurate picture of the past as one can.
His credentials in no way qualify him to make such claims. If nothing else, look at his credentials and ask yourself how is this man qualified to make such claims?
I drive a fancy sports car and can give you the exact specs on the engine and body, from top to bottom. I could WOW the best of them with all the tech talk about the engine, transmission, suspension, etc. I could even carry on a detailed conversation with the mechanic if I had to. But I can tell you with certainty that if I was given a shop full of tools all to myself I couldn't fix my fancy sports car if it broke.
If you take your car into the shop be worked on, do you want the guy who talks like he knows what he's doing working on your car or do you want the guy with all the certificates on the wall that's PROVEN he knows what he's doing working on your car?
This is the case with Mr. Sitchin and his books. He talks a good line but has no credentials to prove he's anything more than just a fanciful talker.
Mr. Sitchin graduated from the University of London, majoring in economic history and he was a journalist and editor in Israel. How does this make him an expert in ancient Hebrew and the old Testament? In Sumerian culture? IMHO, this is a classic case of someone learning enough about an ancient language "to be dangerous". He absolutely sounds like he knows what he's talking about and sadly that fools a whole lot of people.
Like many, I was very taken initially with his ideas. But too much didn't add up. After months of research I was quite disappointed to realize that the basis of at least some of his theories (the ones I researched anyway) were too full of holes to be true.
There is an upside though - this a GREAT fictional story!
Real seekers of truth will check multiple sources and validate claims from many different sources. Do this and in time you will find the truth.
If you are looking to be entertained, look no further.
A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING..........2007-09-13
The book somewhat confused me because of some claims. The author also states that the reader should read his other books to understand this book clearly. Nevertheless, I still admire Zecharia Sitchin for all his efforts.
A Keeper.......2007-09-06
Buying a book is one thng haveing it be worth the storage space another. This is worth the storage space.
Creative .......2007-08-27
Sitchin can spin a tale of fiction that is inspired to say the least. He is universally hated in the astronomical, archaeological, and historical communities for his attempt to pass pseudo science off as fact. If fact is not what you are after, then buy this book and invest in a tinfoil hat.
A little disappointing ****** SPOILER ALERT *******.......2007-08-21
I've read all of Sitchin's books and was always pleased at the conclusion of each one. They were like adventure quests of hidden knowledge with the worst case scenario being a nice scifi story (and what a story!). This one left me wanting. I believe he just wanted to put his two cents in about 2012 even though he doesn't think it will be a date that anything significant happens. I think he's got a better theory floating around in his head but didn't want to share it for whatever reason. The beginning of the book is a bit boring as he has to tell the back story. The middle is more interesting with more detail about the tales of the annunaki and their petty power struggles. The end was a bitter disappointment to me. His theory on the davinci last supper painting, in which he thinks the space between jesus and mary/john is where elijah should be and the missing cup being the grail that elijah took, is just lacking. To me the alternate grail theories make more sense and have better documentation. Obviously this book is a must read if you've read the rest of the series as how can one not read the supposed last one but it doesn't hold up to his prior standard. When does Sitchin think the annunaki will return? Sometime in the age of pisces .... and that only leaves up to anywhere from 100 years from now to about 800 years from now depending on if you are going by the math or by sight.
Book Description
"A stunning book."—Oliver Sacks
Charting the intellectual history of the emerging biology of mind, Eric R. Kandel illuminates how behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and molecular biology have converged into a powerful new science of mind. This science now provides nuanced insights into normal mental functioning and disease, and simultaneously opens pathways to more effective healing.
Driven by vibrant curiosity, Kandel's personal quest to understand memory is threaded throughout this absorbing history. Beginning with his childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna, In Search of Memory chronicles Kandel's outstanding career from his initial fascination with history and psychoanalysis to his groundbreaking work on the biological process of memory, which earned him the Nobel Prize.
A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, In Search of Memory traces how a brilliant scientist's intellectual journey intersected with one of the great scientific endeavors of the twentieth century: the search for the biological basis of memory. 50 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Experiments on Short and Long term memory.......2007-08-13
Eric Kandel's work represents a harmonious mixture of autobiography and a description of research into the workings of the Brain, particularly memory. Having been tormented by childhood memories of Nazi hounding in Vienna in the early years of the second world war, he wanted to find out how these memories are held in the Brain. At the same time, he was also very curious about how Freud's (a fellow Viennese) representation of Id, Ego and Superego mapped to the Brain in terms of neurons and signaling.
He starts off with a history of discoveries in the structure of the Brain, starting with Santiago Cajal's study of the basic form of neurons. Leading to chemical and electrical signaling between the neurons. He dwells into the details of how the electrical signals are converted into chemicals at the synapses while crossing to a neighboring neuron and how the chemicals change back to the electricity after the crossing has been accomplished. He describes his own experiments with short and long term memories. He brings out the distinction very clearly. Short term memory results from strengthening or synapses, while long term memory results from growing of new synapses. Protein synthesis is involved in such a growth and can come only from a conscious effort on part of an individual to commit something to long term memory. This also explains why cramming for an exam does not really result in a long term learning.
He explains clearly why metal illnesses are difficult to diagnose and treat, unlike the other structural damages like tumors, strokes etc. Mental illnesses do result from multiple genes and sometimes the environmental factors as well. The book ends with the Nobel Prize ceremony and a critique of Austria's turning of blind eye towards Hitler's invasion and persecution of Jews.
The beauty of the book is that it is not restricted to just the students and practitioners of Psychiatry. Anyone with some initiation into Basic Sciences at College level can appreciate the work.
Great Product plus excellent delivery time.......2007-07-18
I am very satisfied with my order, got here in less then a week which is great as i was anxios to get this book.
Had no problems with the seller and would definetly buy from them again
Thanks
Detailed.......2007-07-12
This book is certainly written for those that have a keen interest in the biological fundamentals and intricacies of memory. Do not expect much from a psychological or phenomenological perspective. It is a well written book but a lot of neuroscience nuts and bolts.
In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind.......2007-06-17
An interesting weaving of personal recollection and history that takes the reader on a voyage through some of the discoveries in neural science. The logic of science and twists and turns of fate combine to make for fascinating reading. The book details how the molecular biology of the nervous system is responsible for short term and long term memory, and has been preserved through evolution from primitive snails through human beings, and lays the pathway for possible future understanding and research. On a personal level, the book details how a Jewish boy flees Austria in 1938 as Hitler rises to power, enters medical student with an interest in psychoanalysis and becomes one of the leading neuroscientists of our time, earning a Nobel Prize in the process. Though the book does contain some details of molecular biology, "In Search of Memory" is well worth the time to read.
Both more simple and complex than imagined.......2007-06-15
Is it in his eyes? Is it in his kiss? No, it's in his cells. That's where it is.
For those who have toiled in the field of psychology this book tells the story of where we've been and where we are now. And it tells it well.
It's hard to imagine the author starting with elegant psychoanalytic theory and ending up with utter reverence for a single celled organism. But that's the road science has taken us. The mind is both more and less complicated than we imagined.
In addition to explaining the basics of cell memory, the author recounts his own life experiences, adding humanity to this technical topic.
Books:
- Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way (Arkana)
- Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
- LIGHTING THE WAY: NINE WOMEN WHO CHANGED MODERN AMERICA
- On The Wings Of Heaven
- Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
- Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith
- Positive Coaching: Building Character and Self-Esteem Through Sports
- Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases: 2-Volume Set
- Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological Approach (4th Edition)
- Reiki The Ultimate Guide Learn Sacred Symbols & Attunements plus Reiki Secrets You Should Know
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Beck Diet Solution : Lose Weight with Confidence, Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
- Hachiko Waits
- An Eighth of August: A Novel
- Culture and Development: A Critical Introduction
- Cut!: Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies
- Introduction to Electrodynamics
- Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality
- Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real World of International Trade Negotiations, Updated Edition
- Cal 99 Dilbert: Drop It in the to Do Basket
- Argentina Company Handbook 97/98 Edition
General
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
The Secret
The Secret (Extended Edition)
Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires
The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham
The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out
