The Missing Link in Cognition: Origins of Self-Reflective Consciousness

Book Description

Are humans unique in having self-reflective consciousness? Or can precursors to this central form of human consciousness be found in non-human species? The Missing Link in Cognition brings together a diverse group of researchers who have been investigating this question from a variety of perspectives, including the extent to which non-human primates, and, indeed, young children, have consciousness, a sense of self, thought process, metacognitions, and representations. Some of the participants--Kitcher, Higgins, Nelson, and Tulving--argue that these types of cognitive abilities are uniquely human, whereas others--Call, Hampton, Kinsbourne, Menzel, Metcalfe, Schwartz, Smith, and Terrace--are convinced that at least the precursors to self-reflective consciousness exist in non-human primates. Their debate focuses primarily on the underpinnings of consciousness. Some of the participants believe that consciousness depends on representational thought and on the mental manipulation of such representations. Is representational thought enough to ensure consciousness, or does one need more? If one needs more, exactly what is needed? Is reflection upon the representations, that is, metacognition, the link? Does a realization of the contingencies, that is, "knowing that," in Gilbert Ryle's terminology, ensure that a person or an animal is conscious? Is true episodic memory needed for consciousness, and if so, do any animals have it? Is it possible to have episodic memory or, indeed, any self-reflective processing, without language? Other participants believe that consciousness is inextricably intertwined with a sense of self or self-awareness. From where does this sense of self or self-awareness arise? Some of the participants believe that it develops only through the use of language and the narrative form. If it does develop in this way, what about claims of a sense of self or self-awareness in non-human animals? Others believe that the autobiographical record implied by episodic memory is fundamental. To what extent must non-human animals have the linguistic, metacognitive, and/or representational abilities to develop a sense of self or self-awareness? These and other related concerns are crucial in this volume's lively debate over the nature of the missing cognitive link, and whether gorillas, chimps, or other species might be more like humans than many have supposed.

If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness

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Very much worthwhile, but contentious
its a book, not a bible
In Search of the Animal Mind
Heavy in straw, but light in substance
Intellectually Dishonest

If a Lion Could Talk: Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness
Stephen Budiansky
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684837102

Amazon.com

What is your cat thinking when she scratches at the door? What goes through Koko the gorilla's mind when she signs? For that matter, what goes through our minds when we think about animals and intelligence? Science writer Stephen Budiansky explores the difficulties of comparing intelligence between species in If a Lion Could Talk and takes a strong stance against measuring other animals using human standards. (The title is part of a Wittgenstein quote that ends "...we would not understand him.")

The book shows how the most basic principle of evolution--that all living things are related--has been misconstrued by well-meaning scientists to imply that all animals possess intelligence that differs from ours only in quantity. This leads to comparisons of near-equivalence between such intuitively likely pairs as adult gorillas and human children, comparisons that Budiansky suggests are misleading and more descriptive of our own minds than those of our distant cousins. What evolution should be telling us, he says, is that each species is equally well suited to its niche and should be examined for what it is, not how similar or different it is from us. How is it that chimpanzees can perform such remarkable problem-solving without language?

If a Lion Could Talk will not make anyone lose interest in animal minds, for that is not its intention. If anything, it inspires a real sense of admiration for the billions of living things that make it through each day despite the seemingly terrible handicap of not being human. Budiansky tells us that if we want to learn about our planet-mates, we have a lot of unlearning to do. Luckily for us he is gracious enough to provide an introductory unlesson. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

How many of us have caught ourselves gazing into the eyes of a pet, wondering what thoughts lie behind those eyes? Or fallen into an argument over which is smarter, the dog or the cat? Scientists have conducted elaborate experiments trying to ascertain whether animals from chimps to pigeons can communicate, count, reason, or even lie. So does science tell us what we assume -- that animals are pretty much like us, only not as smart? Simply, no. Now, in this superb book, Stephen Budiansky poses the fundamental question: "What is intelligence?" His answer takes us on the ultimate wildlife adventure to animal consciousness.

Budiansky begins by exposing our tendency to see ourselves in animals. Our anthropomorphism allows us to perceive intelligence only in behavior that mimics our own. This prejudice, he argues, betrays a lack of imagination. Each species is so specialized that most of their abilities are simply not comparable. At the mercy of our anthropomorphic tendencies, we continue to puzzle over pointless issues like whether a wing or an arm is better, or whether night vision is better than day vision, rather than discovering the real world of a winged nighthawk, a thoroughbred horse, or an African lion. Budiansky investigates the sometimes bizarre research behind animal intelligence experiments: from horses who can count or ace history quizzes, and primates who seem fluent in sign language, to rats who seem to have become self-aware, he reveals that often these animals are responding to our tiny unconscious cues. And, while critically discussing scientists' interpretations of animal intelligence, he is able to lay out their discoveries in terms of what we know about ourselves. For instance, by putting you in the minds of dogs or bees who travel by dead reckoning, he demonstrates that this is also how you find your way down a familiar street with almost no conscious awareness of your navigation system.

Modern cognitive science and the new science of evolutionary ecology are beginning to show that thinking in animals is tremendously complex and wonderful in its variety. A pigeon's ability to find its way home from almost anywhere has little to do with comparative intelligence; rather it is due to the pigeon's very different perception of the world. That's why, as Wittgenstein said, "If a lion could talk, we would not understand him." In this fascinating book, Budiansky frees us from the shackles of our ideas about the natural world, and opens a window to the astounding worlds of the animals that surround us.

Customer Reviews:

Very much worthwhile, but contentious.......2007-06-17

This is a very slippery book on a very slippery subject. What Stephen Budiansky is trying to do is demonstrate from his reading of the literature, including experiments published in peer-reviewed journals, that there is a distinction to be made between the minds of humans and all other animals. Budiansky seems not to believe that intelligence and consciousness are matters of degree, but matters of threshold. Following philosopher Daniel Dennett he attributes this nearly absolute difference between us and them to our ability to use symbolic language.

The reason the subject is so slippery is that an adequate definition of both intelligence and consciousness is lacking. The reason the book is contentious naturally follows from this, but additionally Budiansky seems to have an agenda or, call it a thesis. He writes: "Consciousness is a wonderful gift and a wonderful curse that, all the evidence suggests, is not in the realm of the sentient experiences of other creatures." (p. 194)

How true or not his statement may be really depends on the definition of consciousness. Unfortunately Budiansky does not give one, and so all his conclusions about the differences in consciousness between humans and other creatures are murky at best. The closest he comes to a definition is on page 193 where he asserts that "...language is so intimately tied to consciousness that the two seem inseparable." Using this "definition" it is only a matter of demonstrating that animals do not have language in order to demonstrate that they don't have consciousness.

However even in this I don't think Budiansky is successful. Much of the book is given over to showing how so many experiments using chimps and monkeys, pigeons and dogs, etc., that seem to demonstrate that language use by animals is just signaling. This position is well known. The argument is that humans are the only animals with grammatical, syntactical and symbolic ability built into their brains. Other animals cannot construct sentences because they have no syntax. They have no "theory of mind" because they cannot think symbolically.

But this is not proven, as Budiansky acknowledges. What is obvious is that whatever language ability other animals have is rudimentary compared to that of humans. And almost everyone would agree that the consciousness demonstrated by animals varies considerably. By the way, here's a quick definition of consciousness: awareness, identify, and self-awareness. A lot of confusion results because when people talk about consciousness, one person may have in mind "awareness," while another may be talking about "self-awareness" only, or about "self-identity." Awareness includes past, present and future events, and places here and elsewhere. We are very good at all of this, whereas other creatures are apparently not so good at anything other than the here and now. Because of our extended awareness, people like Budiansky are persuaded that we are on a consciousness level above other animals that should be recognized as different in kind.

Notice, by the way, that the idea that consciousness depends on language is by this definition obviously false. Sentient beings can be aware of many things without using language. Also there are different kinds of languages. Budiansky is talking about the kind of language that linguists study, the kind of language that Norm Chomsky analyzed to come up with his discovery that syntax is innate. But mathematics is a language, and when mathematicians are thinking about equations, they are conscious to the same extent that I am when I am thinking about how to put an idea into a sentence. Ditto for chess players and musicians. The languages that humans use are of one kind. We do not yet understand the languages the whales and dolphins speak.

What I don't like about Budiansky's insistence on a difference in kind is that when you stop to think about it, such a difference would be surprising since all life forms on this planet as far as we know evolved from a single ancient ancestor--unless of course you believe in a divine and separate creation.

Some other points at issue:

Budiansky wants to debunk the idea that animals are "worthy of special consideration" because their "behavior resembles" that of humans (see, e.g., p. xiii). I agree. We should appreciate other living things for what they are and not for how much they resemble us.

Consider the example of a chimpanzee holding out her hand to another in an appeasement gesture only to attack the other when he got near. Budiansky writes that a "theory of mind" interpretation would be that the tricky female knew the male would be misled in approaching and took advantage. But the "behaviorist spoilsport" interpretation is that the female had done this in the past and it worked and so did it again without recourse to reading the other's mind. (p. 182) This example illustrates just how difficult it is to say what is going on in another's mind. Personally I think the notion of a "theory of mind" should stay in the philosophy department.

One of the things that Budiansky makes clear is why some animals cry out when a predator appears. (See Chapter 6, "Speak!") Such calls seem altruistic to the point of being impossible from an evolutionary perspective; however Budiansky shows that such cries actually help the crier because their pitch either fools the attacking hawk so that it looks in the wrong direction, or the calls bring out other victims who go running about, thereby confusing the attacker or giving the attacker targets other than the crier.

Another nice thing that Budiansky does is show in sharp detail that the language accomplishments of chimpanzees and gorillas in some famous studies reveal not so much a human-like ability, but demonstrate the great gulf that exists between our use of language and theirs, which is not the kind of truth some people want to read.

its a book, not a bible.......2006-03-16

I'm a bit shocked by the seeming backlash to this work. So much so I'm going to read it again. I read it about 6 months ago and thought it was a fine piece of work.

I don't agree with all the authors conclusions, or even some of his definitions. But the book does one thing and it does it well.

It points out clearly just how careful we have to be in trying to infer conclusions from experiments. We are all subject to little soundbites on the news about this new fact or other coming from science, and yet we get no background on the methodolgies employed to arrive at these pronouncements of truth, the personal biases of the researchers or who has funded the research in the first place.

We are just encouraged to accept the new 'fact' and integrate it into our reptoire of knowledge. But as this book eloquently illustrates, if we shift perspective and rigourously subject the experimental methodology to the same degree of scientific scrutiny which we subject the phenomenon under the microscope we can often find that the results are less than definitive.

In the Behavioural Sciences, this is of supreme importance if the discipline is to provide society with valuable contributions to the knowledge base. For example, to train an animal to provide a response and to include stimuli which we recognise as numbers in that process does not mean the animal has any conception of the concept of number whatsoever. It just means the training has been effective. Replace the numbers with pictures of random objects and repeat the experiment, are the results the same? If the animal can be trained to replicate the same behaviour in the absence of numerical stimuli, the 'evidence' that a rabbit can count evaporates.

When I read his book, I sensed no 'agenda' which other reviewers are so vehemently convinced are the driving points of his motivation. Indeed I am forced to question if such emotionally driven responses to a simple book on general science are not the result of people being offended by his conclusions as opposed to being objective in their evaluation of the intent behind his work.

If you work in the behavioural sciences I strongly recommend that before you design your next experiment, you read this book and ask yourself if the behavioural test you are intending to conduct is going to provide you with insight into the animals behaviour, on its terms, not ours.

For the rest of us, if you have an objective interest in the application of the scientific method, then you'll find this book a damn good read.

You may not agree with SB, but you will appreciate the efforts he has made and enjoy the insights which are contained. Take these and develop your own conclusions and avoid the trap of soapboxing just because someone elses views are not aligned with your own.

In Search of the Animal Mind.......2006-01-23

Stephen Budiansky begins this fascinating and mind-altering book by debunking a classic story of animal intelligence and near-human understanding. It's the 1996 account of the female gorilla in Chicago's Brookfield Zoo who picked up a little boy and protected him from other gorillas when he fell into their enclosure. As reported in the newspapers and shown on TV, the story made everyone believe that the gorilla had shown concern for the boy and, in a sense, made an inter-species contact, but it turns out that previously, prior to giving birth, she had been trained by her keepers in maternal care with a baby doll. As for the other gorillas, they were kept away from the scene of the accident by fire hoses shooting water at their feet. Budiansky's demolition of an appealing myth rudely challenges our consoling assumptions about animal behavior, intelligence and consciousness, and prepares us for a rigorous and unsentimental investigation of those very attributes.

The title of the book comes from the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein: "If a lion could talk, we would not understand him." And Budiansky, in a careful survey of a wide range of research, shows how far we are from understanding the thinking of other animals--how anthropomorphic assumptions infect our testing of them in the lab, how human logic influences our observations of them in the field, how sentimental emotions govern our treatment of them in the home. Parsing out the differences, he advances the provocative hypothesis that all animals have basically the same intelligence working to satisfy their needs, only working through different anatomies and modalities, and so appearing unequal to us. The horse, the pigeon and the fish do equally well with what they've got---hoof, wing and fin; they eat, mate and get around with equal skill. We tend to rate their intelligence not by their performance in their own domain, but by how well they respond to us, or how human their actions appear. We set up IQ tests for them that favor human attributes: visual acuity, manual dexterity and problem solving with geometrical shapes. Or we teach them varieties of sign language, which feed back our own symbols to us and may mean nothing to them.

Ultimately, no matter how refined the experiment, it seems impossible to get beyond the wall separating animals and man, chiefly because they do not speak and every experiment devised by man inserts the human element. A sort of biological uncertainty principle emerges in which the experimenter foils the experiment. Budiansky is left imagining that we are most like other species when we are performing but not talking to ourselves, enjoying the zen-state so desperately sought by hyper-conscious man. Animals, he concludes, have their own ways, their own dignity and beauty. (I saw no bashing of animal rights claimed by other reviewers.) He moves perhaps into a realm of philosophy, leaving the reader bereft of easy assumptions. You will see the world of nature in a new way after reading this scintillating work.

Post scriptum. Although Budiansky does not explore the issue, his study has devastating implications for both scientists and Trekkies hoping to make contact with aliens. If ever we were to discover extraterrestrials, our approach to them inevitably would embody the same human preconceptions. Even if they were close to us anatomically, the prospect of finding common ground for communication is scant. The DNA of a chimpanzee differs from that of a man by only a couple of percentage points, yet the main thing we have been able to learn from our closest kin is that they want another banana.

Heavy in straw, but light in substance.......2005-01-11

A new class of science writer has emerged in recent years. Where science journalism was once an effort to bring often arcane material to a wider reading public, there is a new approach - debunk science whenever possible. Budiansky, in his opening to this book, is quite open about his agenda. Science, particularly the studies of animal behaviour, is actually driven by New Age animal protection schemes. This must come as a shock to those who have spent years of field and laboratory work trying to understand why various animals, including humans, act as they do.

Budiansky takes us through numerous animal studies, particularly that of primates. His theme is begun with the story of a zoo gorilla who purported(ly?) "saved" a child. That the media hype over this story is based on the fallacious assumption that these huge animals are a threat to humans never seems to have occurred to him. He is only concerned over whether it is "natural" for gorillas to "save" children. Are scientists, as Budiansky charges, over enthusiastically applying human values to our animal relatives?

From a false starting point, he continues with copious accounts of behaviour studies. Each is presented as if the research teams had claimed far more than they actually have done. This is precisely the kind of selective quotations technique others have used in attempting to refute evolution by natural selection. It's the use of whole paddocks of straw creatures that clearly lack substance or value. It also demonstrates that Budiansky is devoid of understanding how science works. Research builds up snippets of information from a great deal of work. In cognition, we're still learning to ask the proper questions, never mind the completeness of the answers.

The book goes on to address the issues of animal "self-awareness", deception, forms of communication and, of course, pain. Since he's keen to refute those seeking greater protection for animals other than ourselves, it's important to Budiansky to limit any meaning to any of these concepts. The irony in all this is that he attributes other animals with talents such as mapping, distance assessment, deception, survival strategies and other attributes without granting these traits any real value. The book is filled with self-contradictions which neither Budiansky nor his editor appear to have noticed. It's as if the manuscript was typed, then rushed into print to meet a deadline.

Budiansky's "references" make abundantly clear that he's failed to consult the more prominent animal behaviourists. John Alcock, Thomas Eisner or Bernd Heinrich are noticeably absent from the list. He gives Seyforth and Cheney ["How Monkeys See the World"] lengthy coverage, only to lambaste them for misrepresenting their findings. He cites Daniel Dennett frequently, but in doing so simply adopts a limited definition of consciousness from what he's used elsewhere in the book. While he claims to have a handle on the evolutionary roots of behaviour, it's clear he has no real grasp of the development of cognition. When he arrives at language, of course, he soars with flowery rhetoric. There's no doubt that language gives humans a special cognitive ability. Does that thus relegate the rest of the animal kingdom to a subordinate role in life? Budiansky thinks so, and wants his readers to follow his lead. It's a false trail. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Intellectually Dishonest.......2004-09-07

Let me be clear about something at the outset. I am not an animal rights activist, but I am a pet owner. I am not a scientist, and I eat meat. All biases fully disclosed at the outset of this review.

The fundamental problem with Mr. Budiansky's argument is that it is phony.

He is trying to prove that animals are not our equals -- that their consciousness is not equal to ours. This is like me trying to prove that Einstein knew more about physics than I do. You don't need a book for that.

But what's worse about this book, is that Budiansky botches such a simple argument. You could easily argue that humans have a higher consciousness than animals, but it seems reasonable that you would also argue that animals feel...something. To me, these do not appear to be inconsistent positions.

Yet Budiansky won't, or can't, allow this. His sham argument is absolute.

He states that what an animal perceives is unknowable, but then confidently asserts that animals perceive nothing. Their "pain is not pain". Did I miss something, or did logic go on a permanent holiday?

I may not be able to perceive the pain of an animal, or even know that it exists, but I hear the squeal of my dog when I accidentally step on her paw. I don't need to pay Budiansky to have him tell me that what she felt wasn't techically "pain" in the human sense nor do I need him to explain that my dog and I aren't going to have any deep philosophical conversations any time soon.

But he does have a decent command of syntax.

Through Our Eyes Only?: The Search for Animal Consciousness

Average customer rating:

How's that for a lecture?
Consciousness is a difficult issue

Through Our Eyes Only?: The Search for Animal Consciousness
Marian Stamp Dawkins
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

What goes on inside the minds of other animals? Do they have thoughts and feelings like our own? To many people, particularly pet owners, the answers seem absurdly obvious. Others feel that the issue of animal consciousness is beyond the scope of science. In Through Our Eyes Only, Marian
Stamp Dawkins presents the exciting new evidence in animal behavior that points to the existence of higher consciousness in some species.
Here, Dawkins argues that the idea of consciousness in other species has now progressed from a vague possibility to a plausible, scientifically respectable view. Wild vervet monkeys seem to "know" which members of their group are reliable messengers of danger and which commonly cry wolf; vampire
bats often give food to starving companions--but only to those who have helped them in the past.
Through Our Eyes Only is an immensely engaging exploration of one of the greatest remaining biological mysteries: the possibility of conscious experiences in other species. Written in a lively style accessible to the general reader, the book aims to show just how near--and how far--we are to
understanding animal consciousness.

Customer Reviews:

How's that for a lecture?.......2005-04-15

Dawkins is a lecturer at Oxford, and this book reads like an afternoon in the classroom with her. She uses that annoying convention teachers have developed for dealing with hung-over, inattentive students where she first tells you what she's going to tell you, then she tells you, then she tells you what she just told you. It makes a short book longer, but the reader may not appreciate being treated like a 17-year old.

It isn't until the final chapter that Dawkins even begins to address the issue of what 'consciousness' is. She recounts the Behavioralists screed that if it can't be measured and counted, it can't be studied, and then goes on to say that what passes for consciousness can be inferred from behavior. If she had just taken this tone from the beginning of the book, instead of couching everything in terrified scientific caution, her book might have had the power of Kristin von Kreisler's "Beauty in the Beasts," which shares its cover and subject matter.

Dawkins is a student of (figuratively if not literally) Donald Griffin and Griffin's own "Animal Thinking" presents much the same argument in a tidier package.

Neither author however is willing to take the leap to assigning consciousness in varying degrees -- to them it's an all-or-nothing, black-or-white distinction. Either you have it -- or you don't.

It seems much more likely to me that consciousness is not a threshold, but a continuum, with some animals and humans being intensely self-aware and other animals and politicians having only the dimmest idea of their place in the world.

Consciousness is a difficult issue.......2000-01-27

The author does a good job of surveying a great deal of research involving animal cognition, but fails to go into deeper discussions about whether or not these animals are conscious. Of course, it is difficult to take any kind of stance when we're dealing with animal consciousness, but I wasn't really sure if the author believed that any nonhuman animals were conscious or not. All in all, there were lots of interesting anecdotes about what animals can do...

Evolving the Mind: On the Nature of Matter and the Origin of Consciousness

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Quantum Consciousness? - Not
Stands out from the crowd
A good book, if you are interested in science.
Cairns-Smith gets jiggy.
Turn on the Gas and the Flame Burns Again

Evolving the Mind: On the Nature of Matter and the Origin of Consciousness
A. G. Cairns-Smith
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521402204

Book Description

The next great revolution in science will undoubtedly be the emergence of a useful theory of consciousness--a theory based on our better understanding of molecules and brains and of the nature of science itself. Evolving the Mind broaches both of these themes, covering how ideas about the mind evolved in science and how the mind itself evolved in Nature. What Cairns-Smith does that is particularly compelling is to synthesize the contributions of a wide range of scientific disciplines (physics, molecular biology, brain science, and evolution) to bring science to the brink of a unified theory of consciousness. The author thoroughly explores this complex concept in a straightforward, conversational style. Few readers will be able to resist the exciting conclusion that we are closing in on a scientific theory of consciousness.

Customer Reviews:

Quantum Consciousness? - Not.......2006-04-19

A most thoughtful book indeed, the best parts being the impressive summaries he provides of cellular function - particularly the dynamic chemistry of proteins (he is a chemist). Subsequently, Cairns-Smith expands to neurology, advocating that the neuron has added nothing to the basic cell but the action potential and a few more exotic neurotransmitters.

Consciousness began to evolve when a pre-adaptive function of some sort of "feeling" arrived as the phenotype of a genetic mutation. Cairns-Smith's theme, however, is that basic synapses and neurochemistry need extra help to produce consciousness, and he injects a little mystery into the equation. The author is setting up a scenario in which he can explain consciousness on the basis of quantum phenomenon. He has no evidence, nothing to test - but is bursting with string theory-type speculations, complete with multiple universes, half dead cats, etc. Meanwhile, he lines up the basic science of quantum mechanics in as impressive a manner as he did proteins - complete with Feynman diagrams.

According to the author, origin of quantum consciousness is located in sub-atomic particles in white matter (axons, glial cells, and astrocytes) instantaneously communicating to the multiple parallel circuits in gray matter. The analogy is to a laser or a Bose-Einstein condensate in which - when a threshold of stimulation is reached - the signals become coherent and consciousness is reached.

My favorite definition of consciousness recognizes there is not a specific area of the brain where it can be said that consciousness resides. Instead, consciousness results when communication and integration of diverse and separate brain areas are coordinated in time. This definition, general as it is, functions quite nicely without resorting to the current quantum fadmeme, and I think I will keep it.

Regardless, the book is a wealth of advanced knowledge in biochemistry, neurology, and quantum physics - not appropriate for the casual reader - and well worth one's time.

Stands out from the crowd.......2005-03-29

"Evolving the Mind" is an excellent book about the material basis of consciousness from an unorthodox but thoroughly clear-headed and scientific point of view. The style is conversational, accessible, and entertaining. The discussion focuses on the essential concepts and questions, avoiding various philosophical "isms" (e.g. functionalism, dualism, etc.) that tend to inflame intellectual prejudices and cloud the real issues.

There are many recent books about scientific theories of consciousness (some very good), but frankly many of them are saying nearly the same thing: consciousness is to be identified or associated with some particular aspects of computation (e.g. planning, decision-making, self-representation, etc.) among neurons in the brain. In these theories, while random noise is understood to affect processes at the sub-cellular level, the brain at the functional level is assumed to operate as a deterministic computing machine. This assumption is present even in current sophisticated theories involving chaotic dynamics, parallel distributed processing, or feedback (a.k.a. "re-entrant connections").

Because Cairns-Smith's writing style is conversational, open-minded, and non-confrontational, some experts (e.g. neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, computer scientists) are liable to miss the powerful challenge to mainstream approaches to a fundamental theory of consciousness running through his book. This main point has two parts. First, based on the correspondence between conscious experiences and evolutionary fitness (e.g. fire feels bad, food tastes good), consciousness must have evolved. If it evolved, that means (according to evolutionary theory) it must have some effect on the organism's physical body or behavior. Second, since in contemporary neuroscience models the dynamics of the brain are completely determined by the local "mechanical" action (by electro-chemical signals) of neurons, conscious feelings cannot have any effect on the brain's behavior. Various ways have been tried to wiggle out of this, but it's a real problem--conscious feelings aren't allowed to have any effects on the organism's structure or behavior, but that's inconsistent with their evolution by natural selection. As Cairns-Smith details, this problem was clearly spelled out by William James before the solution favored by Cairns-Smith, using 20th century physics, was even conceivable.

To arrive at his outline of a solution to his impasse, Cairns-Smith starts from a lovely historical introduction to relevant ideas from physics, chemistry and neurobiology. Another reviewer dismissed this approach as a mere bias due to Cairns-Smith's background in chemistry. That's an unfair conclusion, because Cairns-Smith builds a strong case that the physical composition of the brain, and not just its functional organization, is important for understanding consciousness. Ultimately Cairns-Smith proposes that large-scale quantum states may provide a substrate for consciousness in the brain together with a resolution to the problems faced by classical models. Again, another reviewer dismisses this as merely the latest in a line of "fad...metaphors" for the mind in terms of the latest technological device. I disagree; I don't think that reviewer fully engaged the arguments put forward in the book.

I somewhat agree with the reviewer who complained that the book lacked a conclusive final chapter. The last chapter is a dialogue between a proponent and a critic (said to be based on a conversation with Francis Crick) rather than a summary and conclusion. This is in line with the atmosphere of the book as a free inquiry into the possibilities, as opposed to a dogmatic adherence to a pre-determined conclusion. Also, the book ends just at the point where one would hope to find a detailed neurobiological model. That's probably as it should be, though, given the variety of possibilities and the lack of specific evidence. But again experts are liable to think that this openness and vagueness justifies their belief that the quantum mind hypothesis is implausible or already ruled out. (A technical example: many scientists consider that macroscopic quantum effects cannot occur at room temperature in the brain, a viewpoint buttressed with calculations by Tegmark. These calculations apply under equilibrium conditions, but not under conditions when energy is pumped into a system, such as the ATP energy continually pumped through biological cells. A rigorous model by Frohlich shows how the kind of quantum states proposed by Cairns-Smith can arise in biological tissue at room temperature. Cairns-Smith covers the Frohlich model, but does not bog down his discussion by emphasizing that the Frohlich model effectively answers the brain temperature objection.)

The reputation of quantum theories of consciousness often suffers from an association with new age philosophies or anti-scientific mystical attitudes. Among the more reputable proponents of a quantum mind model is Roger Penrose. However, the complexity and subtlety of his argument can leave his conclusions in doubt even for readers with an open mind and some relevant math, physics, or logic background. Like Penrose, Cairns-Smith never wavers from scientific rigor. This is especially remarkable since a major thrust of his book is to make a historical case for boldly imaginative thinking, highlighting the controversial additions of "spooky" concepts to the scientific world-view. Ultimately, testing the quantum mind hypothesis will require models that specify the interaction between putative quantum states and the well-established neural machinery of action potentials and synaptic transmission. "Evolving the Mind" provides an excellent background for evaluating such specific neurobiological models.

I highly recommend this book, whether to introduce the issues to a novice, or to loosen up an expert who thinks he already has it all figured out.

A good book, if you are interested in science........2001-11-30

Book selectively covers modern physics, protein and neuro-biology, evolution, and theories of consciousness. The hypothesis is that consciousness is the 3rd system to develop for organism control, the others being chemical transmitters, and the nervous system. Hypothesis is buttressed by evolutionary arguments, and a discussion of quantum physics, showing that quantum physics is every bit as strange as consciousness, in many respects is not understood any better, and could plausibly be linked to consciousness. I was not entirely happy with the discussion of quantum physics, but that is a tough subject. I know the chapter on the structure of the brain could have been done much better. And certainly you should not read this book if you aren't interested in the science for itself: had he wanted to, Cairns-Smith could have written a much smaller book to get his thoughts on consciousness (which are interesting) properly presented. For those who just enjoy reading about science, let me put in a plug for Life Matrix, Biography of Water by Philip Ball.

Cairns-Smith gets jiggy........2001-06-14

I must say I was let down with this book. Cairns-Smith is very cool when it comes to prebiotic chemistry. His clay hypothesis is fascinating and he is generous enough to share it with we unwashed masses. But this book, besides its general science appeal (I did give it 3 stars after all) falls flat. He starts out making valid references to cellular mechanisms. His description of bacterial flagellar mechanics is ripping. However, after he struts his prowess in the opening exposition of biochemistry, he heads straight away into nonsenical, outdated, metaphysics. This is not that old of a book (1996). Toward the end, where he babbles on about Schrodinger's equation and the quantum correlates of consciousness, one gets the feeling Cairns-Smith is making a big production, being coy about materialistic cause and effect neurology, because he sincely wants very badly for there to be some spooky chi substance hidden away deep in the cell's machinery that causes brains to be conscious. Schrodinger certainly made a sensible bridge between quantum mechanics and cellular biology in his 1944 book "What is Life?" Cairns-Smith doesn't even come close. In the end he really adds nothing, just taking us on a joy ride around the park. In this sense, this book (it's no synoptic pamphlet) is a bit of a waste of one's time because it leads to a blind ally. Having said all this I still enjoyed reading it to a degree. Cairns-Smith covers a wide array of theory, he just doesn't do a particularly good job of weaving it into a fabric that keeps us warm on those chill intellectual nights. For general science purposes this is a pretty decent read. The serious cognition hound will find better grazing in other pastures however.

Turn on the Gas and the Flame Burns Again.......2000-10-05

There was a joke about a student who summarized the knowledge of a course into a series of sentences such as "Read only your good books in vacation" (Colors of the light spectrum in order: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.) He then summarized these into words and continued this until one final word. It seems he got to final exams and forgot the word! Arrgh!

Well, I just finished reading this book and it managed to summarize and integrate all physics, evolution, chemistry and brain physiology into 300 pages without leaving out any detail however arcane. I will now reduce this to even less, so you will have something more convenient to forget.

The first 95% is background material starting with forces, fields, uncertainty, mass, etc. and leading up to electrons, atoms, water molecules, lipids, and arriving at life which, in the case of the E. coli, already has modest nerve-like capabilities so it can approach food and flee poisons. It goes on to show how nerve cells not much advanced from E. coli are constructed and act to assemble three dimensional images from eye signals, etc. This is to the painful detail of enumerating the parts of the brain and how they interact.

Now we are all familiar with nonsense philosophy where someone who has been exposed to little knowledge nevertheless comes to some fantastic conclusion such as "maybe the entire Universe is an electron in some larger scale Universe". Such speculation, although possibly true, is not interesting because it is not based on any evidence, however flawed and slight.

This book also proceeds to such a fantastic conclusion, but with evidence that is neither obviously flawed nor slight. The problem that it finally addresses is that there is no place in the brain which is connected to all others and which becomes significantly active during consciousness. Such a place would have a huge amount of computing to do to account for our feeling of awareness and would therefore be easily located.

The fantastic conclusion is that there is another kind of activity going on involving probably the white matter in the brain and the cell walls. This activity is at the sub-atomic level and, because of the fact that such activities (as shown by the first 95%) can act over large distances instantaneously, it has the potential of integrating all brain cells. The subconscious brain, i.e. the primitive part constructed of neurons using chemistry and electricity, does the work. It integrates the signals from our sensors and coordinates our movements. It wants food and revenge and fears predators. It spells words and remembers faces. But it has evolved in this environment of atomic forces and uses these for integration, just as the flower uses the bee for pollination. We perceive this as consciousness. This is required so we can plan, chose undesirable short-term actions for long-term gain, avoid the truck while riding the bike, etc.

The book then seems to end without a last chapter. I supply a possible summary of one here.

You can turn the gas off, and the flame will die. But when you turn it on again, the flame comes back to life. When the real brain feels the need for consciousness to resolve some fear, it can turn it on while suppressing input/output and benefit from having the dream engage in scenario evaluations. When it feels the need for more tangible results, all systems are go and we wake up. But to the consciousness this is not much different from the dream. Finally, all this takes energy and it becomes necessary to shut down to refuel and repair. You can't dream all the time.

Where does the consciousness go when it is off? The same place the flame goes. Out.

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated, holistic view of human anatomy makes graphically clear how consciousness and spirit are manifested and revealed in the physiology of the body. The in-depth coverage is both accessible and authoritative. In large full-color diagrams and photographs, we see how organs, nerves, bones, and muscles connect with the meridian lines and chakras used in ancient therapies, and come to understand how the principles of alternative medicine relate to the discoveries of science. By gathering together for the first time the wisdom of acupuncture, yoga, kabbalah, and shamanism with the practices of conventional medicine, osteopathy, and the Alexander Technique, the atlas gives a vivid overall picture of everything we know today about the interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit.

Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to Alter Consciousness

Average customer rating:

An excellent addition to chemognosis information!
this book rocks
Rehashed mishmash
Lucy in the sky with felines
Evolution by inebriation!

Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to Alter Consciousness
Giorgio Samorini , and Robert Montgomery
Manufacturer: Park Street Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Drug Dependency | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0892819863
Release Date: 2002-08-01

Book Description

An Italian ethnobotanist explores the remarkable propensity of wild animals to seek out and use psychoactive substances.

• Throws out behaviorist theories that claim animals have no consciousness.

• Offers a completely new understanding of the role psychedelics play in the development of consciousness in all species.

• Reveals drug use to be a natural instinct.

From caffeine-dependent goats to nectar addicted ants, the animal kingdom offers amazing examples of wild animals and insects seeking out and consuming the psychoactive substances in their environments. Author Giorgio Samorini explores this little-known phenomenon and suggests that, far from being confined to humans, the desire to experience altered states of consciousness is a natural drive shared by all living beings and that animals engage in these behaviors deliberately. Rejecting the Western cultural assumption that using drugs is a negative action or the result of an illness, Samorini opens our eyes to the possibility that beings who consume psychedelics--whether humans or animals--contribute to the evolution of their species by creating entirely new patterns of behavior that eventually will be adopted by other members of that species. The author's fascinating accounts of mushroom-loving reindeer, intoxicated birds, and drunken elephants ensure that readers will never view the animal world in quite the same way again.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent addition to chemognosis information!.......2007-01-15

I had heard good things about this book, which apparently is pretty well unique in its field (not a surprise there). It's really more of a long academic paper in paperback book format, but it's worth the read.

The first part of the book is dedicated to defining what a drug is and what its inherent functions are. He also introduces us to the basic idea of animals deliberately seeking out specific plants (even carnivorous animals) to meet certain ends beyond nutrition-to aid in healing, or to alter the state of consciousness the animals are in.

The bulk of the book is composed of specific examples of animals drugging themselves. More well-known examples, such as cats getting high on catnip, or elephants seeking both natural and manmade alcohol, are cited. However, Samorini also discusses California robins gorging themselves on holly berries, caribou and reindeer devouring Amanita muscaria, and drunken slugs. It would seem that drug-induced altered states are found from insects to mammals, from the Arctic to the savannah, and are definitely not limited to the human animal.

The final chapter is where the author really shows off his ideas. These can be summarized thus: that animals do, indeed, intentionally drug themselves, and that the resultant altered states of consciousness are a part of evolution. While I agree with the first half of this, there's much evidence lacking in the second. We have yet to show a definite connection between animal intoxication, and the changes in a species' behavior, which he postulates. However, in Samorini's defense, this is such a niche area of research that only has a handful of people studying it that this particular book is pretty much the first one to focus exclusively on it, or so he says. I'm inclined to agree, as it's the only book I know of either on the topic or-for that matter-by this author.

Overall, I really enjoyed this brief but good read. While the final evidence isn't complete, this is understandable in light of the limited research available. However, it is a groundbreaking text, IMO, in the area of chemognosis, as it supports the idea that seeking altered states through drugs is natural, rather than an unhealthy human compulsion that inevitably leads to ruin. The inclusion of cases of animals being addicted to alcohol, caffeine and tobacco, right along with marijuana, datura and psilocybin mushrooms, is also useful for showing that intoxication doesn't discriminate on the basis of human choices.

this book rocks.......2006-08-17

please, this book is one of a kind, because where else are you going to find out exactly which animals get high on exactly which plant, shrooms, or berries. Not only does this make for cool conversation but it is golden information in terms of shamanism and zoology. I guess you have to be a certain kind of person to appreciate it.An animal lover, shaman, tripper, drug user or a combo of the above.

Rehashed mishmash.......2006-03-13

The author admits that this is largely a recap of Siegel's 1989 Intoxication. Like a skipping stone, Samorini only knicks the tops off of profound ideas. There's no depth of natural history or chemistry to be found in this short book. To make matters worse, the translation is horrid: the book abounds with typos and other errors that leave me wondering what the heck Samorini really meant.

Lucy in the sky with felines.......2003-12-17

a powerful, dazzling display of authority on subject matter that gives "animals" their rightful place among "humans" as proud and adept explorers of the more interesting entheogenic realms.

This work, without over doing it on the anthropomorphic side, renders our fellow animals in a positive light that suggests they, too, have their very own forms of consciousness.

Very enlightening, heady stuff!

Evolution by inebriation!.......2003-12-04

This humorous and entertaining book deals with the use of psychedelic substances by our 4-footed and 6-legged friends. The author, an ethnobotanist, provides amazing examples of animals and insects seeking out and consuming psycho-active substances in their environments.

Samorini suggests that the desire to experience altered states of consciousness is a natural drive shared by all living beings. This urge is not confined to humans because animals/insects deliberately engage in these behaviors. His theory is that beings that consume these substances contribute to the evolution of their species by creating new patterns of behavior that are eventually adopted by the other members of the species, in what he humorously terms "evolution by inebriation."

He deals with crazed cows who love locoweed (Astralagus), elephants, slugs and snails, felines and catnip, reindeer and caribou tripping on the Amanita mushroom, goats that have a liking for coffee and khat (Catha Edulis), birds that binge (robins and the pink pigeon of the Mauritian islands), koalas, baboons and rats, plus insects like the house fly (Amanita again), moths, bees and butterflies.

Samorini concludes with the observation that a distinction must be made between a drug phenomenon that is natural and a drug problem that is a cultural problem. This insightful book concludes with a bibliography and index.

Book Description

The discovery of magnetic sleep-an artificially induced trance-like state-in 1784 marked the beginning of the modern era of psychological healing. Magnetic sleep revealed a realm of mental activity that was not available to the conscious mind but could affect conscious thought and action. This book tells the story of the discovery of magnetic sleep and its relationship to psychotherapy. Adam Crabtree describes how in the 1770s Franz Anton Mesmer developed a technique based on "animal magnetism," which he felt could cure a wide variety of ailments when the healer directed "magnetic fluid" through the body of the sufferer. In 1784 Mesmer's pupil the marquis de Puysegur attempted to heal a patient with this method and discovered that animal magnetism could also be used to induce a trance in the subject that revealed a second consciousness quite distinct from the normal waking state. Puysegur's discovery of an alternate consciousness was taken up and elaborated by practitioners and thinkers for the next hundred years. Crabtree traces the history of the discovery of animal magnetism, shows how it was brought to bear on physical healing, and explains its relationship to paranormal phenomena, hypnotism, psychological healing, and the diagnosis and investigation of dissociative phenomena such as multiple personality. He documents how the systematic investigation of alternate consciousness reached its height in the 1880s and 1890s, fell into neglect with the appearance of psychoanalysis, and is now experiencing renewed attention as a treatment for multiple personality disorders that may arise from childhood sexual abuse.

Customer Reviews:

Serious and educational, yet fascinating and readable........2000-09-13

I've been reading on the topic of hypnosis for about 15 years now, both formally and informally as far as education goes. In this book Adam Crabtree has given the best education on the topic I have ever encountered -- so much so, that I realized with some degree of horror how UNeducated I was about the subject, despite all these years of interest and study.

Crabtree does more than just present the yawningly-dull textbook aspect of history here -- HIS book IS an interesting read, despite being so educational. He also presents the personal, social and cultural dynamics that have played out throughout the history of this topic and with the personalities involved. The book gives important attention to the many qualified individuals who studied, practiced and wrote about the topic from Mesmer's era onward. Modern day authors and textbooks that cover the topic of hypnosis and related psychology tend to mostly-ignore anything more than a few decades old, with little more than a mention, as if only "modern" science is important (and there is always the unspoken inference in modern education that Mesmer, despite that he was well credentialed for his day, was some kind of idiot to go on about "magnetic fluid from the stars" and such).

What Crabtree demonstrates by unwinding the tapestry of this history is that by not paying more attention to the history, we have in fact failed to see what got lost in the politically correct shuffle of time, what got ignored in the West's attempt to find answers that could be explained solely by biochemical, and what got rewritten and UNwritten in the history which has been, as always, written by 'the victors' -- in this case, the party-line of Western medicine.

In this book, Crabtree does not once utter the word "chi." Never does he even hint that this "discovery" of Mesmer's MIGHT have been the West's actual discovery of pranic work (chi, or energy) -- attendant with its many variable focuses (some physical, some psychological, etc.) and the resultant confusion that brings for a culture unused to considering those things all part of the same spectrum, and which is trying to nail down a "thing" that it "is". And yet the inclusion of excerpts from the writings of Mesmer and many others in the pre-James Braid days makes it so patently obvious (to ME in any case) that this is what they were talking about that I couldn't help but exclaim out loud. Taken from that perspective (by anybody with a little bit of knowledge about Eastern medicine et al.) the history takes on a new richness and the subject a whole new wonder. This is my take on it though; one can't say that Crabtree ever said any such thing. This is just what I got out of it.

Anyway, the book is an excellent education about hypnosis, its development, the people involved, and the fascinating topic of what it's been used for, how and why and what some of the fascinating results were. Like any good book, it leaves you with as many ideas about questions as it does facts and answers (often about things you never even thought to ask).

Book Description

To understand what is happening in the brain in the moment you decide, at will, to summon to consciousness a passage of Mozart's music, or decide to take a deep breath, is like trying to "catch a phantom by the tail". Consciousness remains that most elusive of all human phenomena - one so mysterious, one that even our highly developed knowledge of brain function can only partly explain. This book is unique in tracing the origins of consciousness. It takes the investigation back many years in an attempt to uncover just how consciousness might have first emerged. Consciousness did not develop suddenly in humans - it evolved gradually. In 'The Primordial Emotions', Derek Denton, a world renowned expert on animal instinct and a leader in integrative physiology, investigates the evolution of consciousness. Central to the book is the idea that the primal emotions - elements of instinctive behaviour - were the first dawning of consciousness. Throughout he examines instinctive behaviours, such as hunger for air, hunger for minerals, thirst, and pain, arguing that the emotions elicited from these behaviours and desire for gratification culminated in the first conscious states. To develop the theory he looks at behaviour at different levels of the evolutionary tree, for example of octopuses, fish, snakes, birds, and elephants. Coupled with findings from neuroimaging studies, and the viewpoints on consciousness from some of the key figures in philosophy and neuroscience, the book presents an accessible and groundbreaking new look at the problem of consciousness.

Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology

Average customer rating:

Kinds of Intelligence
A great book (and a retraction of previous review)

Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology
Colin Allen , and Marc Bekoff
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Cognitive | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0262011638

Book Description

Colin Allen (a philosopher) and Marc Bekoff (a cognitive ethologist) approach their work from a perspective that considers arguments about evolutionary continuity to be as applicable to the study of animal minds and brains as they are to comparative studies of kidneys, stomachs, and hearts. Cognitive ethologists study the comparative, evolutionary, and ecological aspects of the mental phenomena of animals. Philosophy can provide cognitive ethology with an analytical basis for attributing cognition to nonhuman animals and for studying it, and cognitive ethology can help philosophy to explain mentality in naturalistic terms by providing data on the evolution of cognition. This interdiscipinary approach reveals flaws in common objections to the view that animals have minds.

The heart of the book is this reciprocal relationship between philosophical theories of mind and empirical studies of animal cognition. All theoretical discussion is carefully tied to case studies, particularly in the areas of antipredatory vigilance and social play, where there are many points of contact with philosophical discussions of intentionality and representation. Allen and Bekoff make specific suggestions about how to use philosophical theories of intentionality as starting points for empirical investigation of animal minds, and they stress the importance of studying animals other than nonhuman primates.

Customer Reviews:

Kinds of Intelligence.......2003-04-18

Starting from the concept of biological continuity Allen and Bekoff argue that "lower" animals may be intelligent too. One might distinguish a variety of intelligences including: i. purely reactive (reflex, radical behaviorist, table lookup) learning by evolutionary change only (learning being radically separated from performance system) ii. finite state machines (modifiable memory,
possibly with explicit world model/representation, possibly with
a time sense) iii. cooperative/social (communicative, specialists, language users) iv. conscious (self monitoring and
self modifying, possibly explicit representation of goals, possible utility/value model with possible value change), etc.
Allen and Bekoff note that "'lower' animals can outperform 'higher' animals on some cognitive tasks", what constitutes
superior intelligence depends upon the niche that the animal
occupies, it is not universal. I especially liked the chapter
on consciousness which the authors relate to the capacity to
detect misinformation and illusion.

A great book (and a retraction of previous review).......2002-09-01

When I read Species of Mind for the first time it was my introduction to the topic of cognitive ethology and I had no background at all in this area. I wrote a review here indicating that I did not get anything out of it. I would like to retract that. What would have been more accurate would have been that I did not appreciate it because *I* was not prepared for it. I have since read extensively on the topic and have all of Marc Bekoff's books. I now appreciate the book and consider it indispensable. Allen and Bekoff are leading researchers in this field and this book is highly important if you want to get solid current information in cognitive ethology. I HIGHLY recommend this book and retract my previous inaccurate review.

Amazon.com

Do animals think? According to Cartesian models of science that have long influenced the Western view of the natural world, they do not: they merely react to external stimuli, the responses to which they cannot control.

A different view has emerged in recent years, one that draws on findings from experimental psychology, biology, linguistics, and cognitive ethology. Writes Donald Griffin, an associate at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, "Communicative behavior is not a human monopoly." Animal communication--from the dance language of the bees to the vocalisms of parrots and bonobos--suggests that there is more than a ghost in the machine. For underlying that communicative ability are other powers that humans have no easy way of gauging: a sense of time and futurity, a complex memory, an ability to lie, even consciousness itself.

Griffin examines recent studies that show that many species are able to discern and classify colors, shapes, materials, and "sameness," and that many other species are able to adapt their communications systems to account for novel situations. Warning that our understanding of animal minds is still ill-formed and that much work remains to be done in the field before we can confidently answer that ancient question one way or the other, he argues that "animals are best viewed as actors who choose what to do, rather than as objects totally dependent on outside influences." --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

In Animal Minds, Donald R. Griffin takes us on a guided tour of the recent explosion of scientific research on animal mentality. Are animals consciously aware of anything, or are they merely living machines, incapable of conscious thoughts or emotional feelings? How can we tell? Such questions have long fascinated Griffin, who has been a pioneer at the forefront of research in animal cognition for decades, and is recognized as one of the leading behavioral ecologists of the twentieth century.

With this new edition of his classic book, which he has completely revised and updated, Griffin moves beyond considerations of animal cognition to argue that scientists can and should investigate questions of animal consciousness. Using examples from studies of species ranging from chimpanzees and dolphins to birds and honeybees, he demonstrates how communication among animals can serve as a "window" into what animals think and feel, just as human speech and nonverbal communication tell us most of what we know about the thoughts and feelings of other people. Even when they don't communicate about it, animals respond with sometimes surprising versatility to new situations for which neither their genes nor their previous experiences have prepared them, and Griffin discusses what these behaviors can tell us about animal minds. He also reviews the latest research in cognitive neuroscience, which has revealed startling similarities in the neural mechanisms underlying brain functioning in both humans and other animals. Finally, in four chapters greatly expanded for this edition, Griffin considers the latest scientific research on animal consciousness, pro and con, and explores its profound philosophical and ethical implications.

Customer Reviews:

A DOG CHASING ITS OWN TAIL.......2002-12-06

Griffin's hair turned white pursuing answers in this field. He lists 800 books in his 45 page Bibliography! It is a real test of the reader's vocabulary: perceptual consciousness, reflective consciousness, epiphenomenon, cognitive ethology and on and on and on.

A class in semantics may have clarified the author's thoughts. Everything he talks about, e.g., whether animals and computers can think, is based on his or others verbal definitions without much evidence to verify these beliefs. It is obvious that every creature has its own view of the world. And equally obvious that there is no way to compare the worldview of a bee or ant to a human worldview because of greatly differing boundary conditions. I doubt that a long recitation of ones ignorance will prove useful in the grand scheme of life. And one simply can't define oneself up to a higher state of knowledge. This writing reminds me of a dog chasing its own tail.

Not the best -- not the greatest.......2002-01-09

Griffin spends a lot of time arguing his stance and not enough discussing the definitions and concepts that his stance is based on. He does explain the research in nice detail but I kept thinking that learning theory explains the same behaviors he is describing without reference to conscious awareness and so the arguments don't fully make it for me. Minds of Their Own by Rogers is better but I still found this book (Animal Minds) better than Species of Mind which was way to hard to read -- I came away with no knew knowledge from reading Species of Mind. To sum I'd say it's worth reading for sure but only if you intend to also read Mind's of Their Own. They compliment each other nicely because Griffin describes more detail in the research while Rogers discusses the arguements and definitions better.

James O'Heare, Dip.C.B.

Do NOT Read This Book.......2001-12-05

Do not read this book. I attempted to read this book for a college class. This book should be cut down to the size of a magazine article and be published in a scientific journal. The public should not be misled into thinking that this book is readable. It is written at too high of a diction, and Griffin rambles on for 20 pages on one topic, which I won't spoil for those of you unfortunate to read this trash. The subject information is interesting, but this is written poorly, and will bore the reader to tears. Just thought I'd let you all know.

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