The Self and Its Brain

The Self and Its Brain PDF Author: John C. Eccles
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135973547
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 614

Book Description
The relation between body and mind is one of the oldest riddles that has puzzled mankind. That material and mental events may interact is accepted even by the law: our mental capacity to concentrate on the task can be seriously reduced by drugs. Physical and chemical processes may act upon the mind; and when we are writing a difficult letter, our mind acts upon our body and, through a chain of physical events, upon the mind of the recipient of the letter. This is what the authors of this book call the 'interaction of mental and physical events'. We know very little about this interaction; and according to recent philosophical fashions this is explained by the alleged fact that we have brains but no thoughts. The authors of this book stress that they cannot solve the body mind problem; but they hope that they have been able to shed new light on it. Eccles especially with his theory that the brain is a detector and amplifier; a theory that has given rise to important new developments, including new and exciting experiments; and Popper with his highly controversial theory of 'World 3'. They show that certain fashionable solutions which have been offered fail to understand the seriousness of the problems of the emergence of life, or consciousness and of the creativity of our minds. In Part I, Popper discusses the philosophical issue between dualist or even pluralist interaction on the one side, and materialism and parallelism on the other. There is also a historical review of these issues. In Part II, Eccles examines the mind from the neurological standpoint: the structure of the brain and its functional performance under normal as well as abnormal circumstances. The result is a radical and intriguing hypothesis on the interaction between mental events and detailed neurological occurrences in the cerebral cortex. Part III, based on twelve recorded conversations, reflects the exciting exchange between the authors as they attempt to come to terms with their opinions.

How the SELF Controls Its BRAIN

How the SELF Controls Its BRAIN PDF Author: John C. Eccles
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364249224X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
In this book the author has collected a number of his important works and added an extensive commentary relating his ideas to those of other prominentnames in the consciousness debate. The view presented here is that of a convinced dualist who challenges in a lively and humorous way the prevailing materialist "doctrines" of many recent works. Also included is a new attempt to explain mind-brain interaction via a quantum process affecting the release of neurotransmitters. John Eccles received a knighthood in 1958 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology in 1963. He has numerous other awards honouring his major contributions to neurophysiology.

How the Self Controls Its Brain

How the Self Controls Its Brain PDF Author: John Carew Eccles
Publisher: Copernicus
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
In the earlier decades of this century we have been immersed in the long dark gloom of materialism. A most important programme for this book is to challenge this materialism and to reinstate the spiritual self as the controller of the brain.

Rewiring the Brain

Rewiring the Brain PDF Author: Rajnish Roy
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1462812694
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
Rewiring the Brain is not just another book on stress. It explores a daring and innovative path to accessing the power of consciousness as a more effective and lasting solution to tackle stress and emotional afflictions. The present remedies, such as drills of positive thinking and self-hypnosis through beliefs, accrue only temporary solace and euphoria that wear off sooner than expected. Also our reasoning power is not able to rein in the unyielding force of negative emotions that fuel stress and depression. Hence, this book pursues a new approach. It outlines also certain ways that slow down aging process and enhance memory, attention span, and emotional equilibrium. The book is a fascinating journey to the inner world of self—its constructs of emotions, thoughts, and memories—to discover why one behaves the way one does. We go through myriads of joys and sorrows in the long course of life, but hardly have the patience to pause and ponder over the reasons that make them. Does it matter? Yes, much more than perhaps one realizes. Stress should not be seen as an isolated issue. It betrays the quality of individual self in its ceaseless action of living. We have one and only life—the most precious thing we happen to possess, and it is but natural that we struggle hard to do our utmost to make it a wonderful experience. Stress, in its overt or covert forms, works as a persistent factor that undermines the spontaneity, joy, and beauty of life. In this competitive and complex world, one faces countless factors of stress that are unavoidable and immutable, including illness, accident, or death. There are some other factors that can be altered through efforts, which play a more decisive role in life. These are individual attitude, mental tendencies, and ways one interacts with external world. There is much truth in the saying “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.” An objective understanding of these individual factors means that half the battle of tackling stress is won. Hence, the book seeks to help the reader face and understand the workings of inner self and its intricacies without resorting to psychological escape or suppression. Yet an objective understanding is only the first step. It does not resolutely change our mental habits and conditionings that are hardwired in the brain. This suggests the need to go beyond the remedies prevalent now and look for fundamentally new solutions. In such effort, this book explores the possibility of using the power of consciousness to rewire the brain and tackle stress. The book has a refreshingly open-minded approach, devoid of religious ideologies or mystical beliefs, and does not involve psychological escapes. The practical methods and benefits are outlined in a scientific spirit and correlated with research by neuroscientists, psychologists, and medical institutes. The book does not offer shortcuts or peripheral solutions, because none exists. Neither does it offer self-hypnosis and gratifying beliefs that are concealed in prescriptive actions and mental drills. It is an irrefutable fact that consciousness embodies our unique sense of self and its complex architecture. Moreover, all our mental processes like feelings, memories, and thoughts are not only rooted in consciousness but sustained by it. It is logical that harnessing the power of consciousness, the primordial source of all mental phenomena, will unfold unique possibilities to tackle negative emotions and anxieties that rob us of the charm and joy of the miracle of life. A theoretical debate is being waged relentlessly among experts on the mysteries and elusive nature of consciousness. However, not much research is done on the practical use of the power of consciousness for tackling the human predicament of stress and anxiety. In that direction, Rewiring the Brain is a brilliant endeavor to synthesize the latest research on

A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives

A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives PDF Author: Cordelia Fine
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393343006
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
"Provocative enough to make you start questioning your each and every action."—Entertainment Weekly The brain's power is confirmed and touted every day in new studies and research. And yet we tend to take our brains for granted, without suspecting that those masses of hard-working neurons might not always be working for us. Cordelia Fine introduces us to a brain we might not want to meet, a brain with a mind of its own. She illustrates the brain's tendency toward self-delusion as she explores how the mind defends and glorifies the ego by twisting and warping our perceptions. Our brains employ a slew of inborn mind-bugs and prejudices, from hindsight bias to unrealistic optimism, from moral excuse-making to wishful thinking—all designed to prevent us from seeing the truth about the world and the people around us, and about ourselves.

Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the Self

Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the Self PDF Author: John C. Eccles
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134968345
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
Sir John Eccles, a distinguished scientist and Nobel Prize winner who has devoted his scientific life to the study of the mammalian brain, tells the story of how we came to be, not only as animals at the end of the hominid evolutionary line, but also as human persons possessed of reflective consciousness.
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