A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness

Description

For centuries philosophers, scientists, and lay people alike have assumed consciousness to be the most distinctive feature of human nature. Despite the power of that assumption, the workings of consciousness continue to elude understanding. In recent years, a number of influential scientists and philosophers have challenged the primacy of consciousness, dismissing it as a superficial byproduct of evolution, or even an entirely irrelevant factor in human cognition.The author draws on his own theory of the origins of the modern mind and presents the cultural and neuronal forces that power human modes of awareness. The author proposes that the human mind is a hybrid product of interweaving a supercomplex form of matter (the brain) with the symbolic web of culture to form a distributed cognitive network. Using evidence from brain and behavioral studies, the author further explains how an expansion of conscious capacity was the key to the revolutionary development of consciousness. Additionally, the cognitive foundations of self-evaluation and self-reflection are discussed.