The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul

Description

Traditionally, the human soul is regarded as a nonphysical concept that can only be examined by psychiatrists and theologists. In his new book, The Astonishing Hypothesis, Nobel Laureate Francis Crick boldly straddles the line between science and spirituality by examining the soul from the standpoint of a modern scientist, basing the soul's existence and function on an in-depth examination of how the human brain "sees." Introduction -- General nature of consciousness -- Seeing -- Psychology of vision -- Attention and memory -- Perceptual moment: theories of vision -- Human brain in outline -- Neuron -- Types of experiment -- Primate visual system -initial stages -- Visual cortex of primates -- Brain damage -- Neural networks -- Visual awareness -- Some experiments -- Mainly speculation -- Oscillations and processing units -- Dr. Crick's Sunday morning service.