On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience Review

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On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience ReviewDespite the title of the book "On the Origin of the Human Mind" is not a complete presentation of evolutionary origin of the human brain and cognitive capacity. If it is what you are looking for, you better read David Bjorklund's book "The Origin of Mind" that is the best introduction to the subject to my knowledge. Dr. Vyshedskiy's book is subtitled " Three theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience". For a book of 168 pages it is a very ambitious program. In fact the book should be better seen as a collection of three essays loosely linked by a common theme: "mental synthesis".
Dr. Vyshedskiy starts from the question "What makes us human?" If we look at apes we find that they share with us many characteristics that many people think specifically human such as self awareness, displaying emotion, smiling, reading other apes' minds, using complex social codified behaviours, using tools and transmitting a limited acquired culture to their offspring. He also credits apes, and also bees, birds, whales, and dolphins, with a limited language, something very questionable (it depends on the definition of language that one uses). He also think that abstract thinking, defined as "the process of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon" is not specific to the human mind because "Vervet monkeys of East Africa have concept of leopard, snakes eagle and baboon"(pp. 16-7) (Here we might have a confusion between concept and representation). If language and abstract thinking do not make the difference, what will do it? Dr. Vyshedshiy's answer is "mental synthesis", something that Dr. Vyshedskiy thinks is a new theory but which has a number of things in common with other theories on the origin of language and rationality. Dr. Vyshedskiy defines mental synthesis as "the process of synthesizing a new, never-before-seen image from two or more mental images" (p. 22). Although animals are able to communicate, a chimp, for example, "cannot describe to another chimp a never-before-seen object because chimps cannot synthesize a new, never-before-seen image in their mind" (p.27). Without mental synthesis human language could never have arisen, and for that reason Dr. Vyshedskiy call human language "synthesizing language" (p. 28). The difference between non synthesizing languages and synthesizing language is that the former cannot create a new image in the listener's mind (p. 31). Animal can only learn to manipulate symbols or learn a limited number of word but they cannot use that capacity to solve problem or to plan actions. It is mental synthesis that allows us to analyse problems and to visually plan the action to be taken in our mind (p. 20). Here comes a very interesting development. Chimps can create and use tools, but the way they do it is fundamentally different from humans. For example a chimp can use a stick to fish termite. He needs to break a twig from a tree, remove the leaves and sharpen it with is teeth to shape it as a spear. The way he learns the process is by observing other apes doing it and learning the process by trial and error. It might take a chimp several months or even several years to master the whole process. The reason is that the chimp does not have a mental template of the tool. The way he learns is by remembering the actions that bring the reward through automated movements. "This long time frame of technique acquisition is similar to that is needed by humans to learn to play tennis, ski, ice-skate, play a musical instrument..." (p. 36). But when the chimps look at the stick they see only the stick. They do not see a tool and they do not have a concept of tool or even a concept of a stick for fishing termites. Here comes Dr. Vyshedskiy's theory of language: language is based on "mental synthesis" which must have evolved a long time before language appeared. Language allows human to plan their actions and to share the plan with other humans. In order to do that humans use "mental frames" which are "synthesized in the minds of the listeners" as "identical copies of the frames in the mind of the speaker. Thus the complex human language evolved to serve the purposes of synthesizing new images in the mind of the listeners" (p. 40). However pure mental synthesis is the absence of language remain possible (p. 42) and occur in different part of the brain.
In the second part of the book, Dr. Vyshedskiy tries to define when and how mental synthesis has appeared during human evolution. The origin of mental synthesis must be found in the development of the hominid's visual system. Because hominids could not compete in terms of strength and speed, when they started walking in the African savannah they had to develop a system of early recognition of predators. That new system was not based on recognition of the whole image like other animals, but on visual analysis consisting in decomposing a template of the predators in different components such as tail, ears, body, paws, etc., (pp. 75-6). Human became capable of assembling and dissembling mental image and that capacity is became the basis of mental analysis by generalizing of the mental process to other cognitive areas (p. 92). It also provides an interesting explanation of dreams and hallucinations (p. 153). In modern human, "visual analysis is primary a function of the left hemisphere and recognition of a whole object via amodal completion is primary a function of the right hemisphere" (pp. 76-7). "Improvement of the visual system in general and visual analysis in particular enable Homo habilis to manufacture the first stone choppers" because homo habilis had acquired " a mental template of a chopper"(p. 79-80). Homo habilis did not improve Oldowan tools for nearly a million year; Homo erectus erectus did not improve Acheulean tools for nearly two million years. The stasis in tool manufacturing can only be explained "by the limitation of the brain structure" (p. 80) (In my view it can also be explained by the absence of mirror neurons not yet developed). It is the refinement of the visual system that "drove the evolution of hominids" (p. 81). "Around 2.4 million years ago, the visual analysis system acquired elements of voluntary analysis" (p. 92) and 2 million years ago "the visual and prefrontal cortices developed significantly in Homo ergaster and Homo erectus" allowing "voluntarily dissecting the visual percept into fine details" (p.132). Development of the speech apparatus came later and was a consequence of a better visual system. "As hominids were able to separate more and more elements from the visual image, they needed more and more words to describe these elements" (p. 82). However it is only Homo sapiens that became fully able to synthesize mental image and to develop synthesizing language.
Part three of the book is more technical and tries to identify how mental image are formed at the neuronal level. It implies the solving by evolution of many technical problems such as neuronal synchronization (pp. 115-21) and the specialization of different areas in the prefrontal cortex (pp. 121-30). As those problems are covered by standard neuroscience literature I will not go into the details. Suffice is to say that the different part of a mental image are stored in different part of the brain and must be reassembled when the brain want to recall a memory (p. 107). This fact allows the synthezation of "never-before-seen image" by combining different components of different images. "The final step of the evolution of Homo was the acquisition of mental synthesis. About 100,000 years ago, the prefrontal cortex of Homo sapiens developed the capacity to synchronize several neuronal ensembles in one frame of consciousness" (p. 133).
I gave only three stars to the book for several reasons. (a) Mental synthesis is not a fully developed theory and more "work in process". The theory appears to be more an intuition that something solidly demonstrated. The author often gives the impression to be in hurry with no time for details. Facts that presented as "new" are sometimes known for decades. Scientific methodology is often weak. (b) The three part of the book are not integrated leading to overlap and repetition. (c) Dr. Vyshedskiy is obviously well versed in biology and neurosciences but does not seem to have any knowledge of development psychology, cognitive psychology and more important theories of the origin of language and rationality (evolutionary linguistic and psycholinguistic). (d) The book often lack in precise references for the facts and research quoted and therefore is difficult to use and to quote in an academic context. Despite all these flaws, in only 168 pages Dr. Vyshedskiy has achieved a very illuminating synthesis of a large array of scientific facts and produced a coherent theory of great interest. The theory might not be as new or as original as the author thinks, but there is an interesting convergence with other researches showing that the author might be close to truth. Whereas most theories in evolutionary linguistic put the emphasis on neuronal requirements for language, Dr. Vyshedskiy shows that the evolution of pre-linguistic cognitive capacity are as much vital as the evolution of linguistic capacity for understanding how modern human intellectual capability evolved. A more detailed and focussed book would be welcomed. I can only wish that Dr. Vyshedskiy, who apparently has accepted a management position in a R&R company, will return soon to academic life.
On The Origin of the Human Mind. Three Theories: Uniqueness of the Human Mind, Evolution of the Human Mind, and The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience Overview
Some of the most time-honored questions in philosophy, psychology, and neurosciencecenter on the uniqueness of the human mind. How do we think? What makes us sodifferent from all the other animals on planet Earth? What was the process thatcreated the human mind? Is this process unique or can it be repeated on otherplanets? The book "On the Origin of the Human Mind" attemptsto provide an answer to these questions. It is organized into three chapters:

Chapter I "Uniqueness of the Human Mind" introducesthe reader to recent research into animal behavior, communication, culture andlearning, as well as controlled animal intelligence experiments and offers anew hypothesis of what makes the human mind unique.

Chapter II "Evolution of the Human Mind" combines latestgenetics research and archeological discoveries to help readers understand hominidevolution. The author discusses the forces that influenced the development ofthe hominid intelligence and offers a step-by-step theory that links improvementin visual information processing to speech development and to the types of stonetools manufactured by the hominids.

Chapter III "The Neurological Basis of Conscious Experience"takes the reader on an exciting journey into the neurobiology of the human mind.The author introduces the reader to the structure and function of the brainand then presents recent insights into brain organization derived from cognitivepsychology, brain imaging, animal experiments, and the studies of patients withdiseases of the brain. The book concludes with a unifying theory of the mindand a discussion of the evolution of the human brain and the uniqueness of thehuman mind from the neurological perspective.

Audience The book speaks best to readers who want to approach the mind from a scientificperspective. The book is written in easy-to-read engaging style. No previousknowledge in psychology, paleoanthropology, or neuroscience is necessary.

Hardcover edition The book is illustrated and printed in full-color.


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Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness Review

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Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness ReviewDonald Griffen was the first scientist to challenge the reductionist notion that animals are incapable of cognition (the word for thinking in non-human animals), in 1985, and thus he founded the science of cognitive ethology.
This book, and the earlier version released in 1994, provide a range of reports of eye-witness accounts of behaviour by animals that could not have been performed without mental referencing (or thought), along with his brilliant analyses and discussion of the meaning of each.
Though well received by the public, the works of Professor Griffin were widely criticized by the scientific community because his assertions were difficult to prove, and because his views represented a reversal of the currently held belief that animals were unconscious automatons. However, more and more evidence is appearing in the scientific literature in support of his pioneering work, and proving him to be right.
This book is unequalled in presenting a scientific argument that animals, invertebrates as well as the so-called "higher" animals, are capable, each in a unique way, of cognition. The latest version of the work includes arguments in response to criticisms of the original.Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness Overview

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The Intelligent Universe: AI, ET, and the Emerging Mind of the Cosmos Review

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The Intelligent Universe: AI, ET, and the Emerging Mind of the Cosmos ReviewHaving read Gardner's earlier work Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe, I was prepared for "The Intelligent Universe" to be the work of a visionary thinker who is not afraid to speculate about the cosmological principles underlying our universe. I cherish the work of authors who are not afraid to think big. Gardner does not disappoint in the grandeur of his vision. If you think there is nothing new under the sun, I encourage you to read "The Intelligent Universe". One can't help but find enlightening material in the book. Oliver Wendell Holmes said "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." This sentiment certainly applies to my reading of Gardner's book.
Gardner's book is, however, not without flaws. One criticism I won't make of the book is that the ideas are hopelessly speculative. The book employs the kind of theoretical flights of fancy that John Horgan dismisses as "ironic science" in his book The End of Science (Helix Books), a book which says that science is asymptotically approaching a point at which there won't be any major new scientific theories, not because of science's failures but because science has been so successful. I mention Horgan because the scope of Gardner's vision encourages me to believe that we haven't even begun to exhaust our potential to develop breathtaking scientific theories of the cosmos. I came away from The Intelligent Universe with an excitement about the power of large-scale thinking about the universe.
Having said that, while Gardner presents an original "story", weaving together the work of numerous cosmologists and other scientists, perhaps paradoxically, the book often reads as a rehashing of the ideas of numerous big-picture thinkers. Maybe both perspectives can be accurate: Gardner summarizes the work of many while putting together the pieces in a unique way. There is nothing wrong with synthesizing the views of one's peers. However, the book too often lapses into a series of synopses of the big ideas of other scientific thinkers, brilliant though these thinkers may be.
To give you an idea of Gardner's method I reproduce the train of thought found in a few early chapters. Gardner uses extended paragraph-long quotations to run through the following thinkers (not all of which Gardner ultimately endorses):
Fred Hoyle on the fine-tunedness of physical constants, Francis Crick on directed pansperma (the idea that extraterrestrials seeded the biosphere with the first life forms on Earth), Stephen Wolfram and Ed Fredkin on cellular automata principles underlying physics, Seth Lloyd on the cosmos as quantum computer, Erwin Schrodinger on quantum physics underlying life, John Wheeler's on the "participatory anthropic principle" (the idea that only with conscious life does the universe summon itself into being), John Koza on genetic programming, Roger Penrose on the quantum physical underpinnings of consciousness, (leading to a gloss on the implications of combining quantum computing and genetic programming). Then Gardner begins the next chapter with Mark Bedau on artificial life, with an interlude about the perils of nanotechnology run amok, alluding to Michael Crichton's techno-thriller Prey. After that, we move on to topic of the technological singularity, where Ray Kurzweil plays a prominent role, both for his vision of smarter-than-human artificial intelligence and his optimism about the prospects for immortality. In the same chapter Gardner describes how Vernor Vinge forsees the arrival of super-human intelligence as more likely to result from intelligence amplification (at least at first) than from artificial intelligence.
Many of the later chapters work in a similar fashion, cycling through the big ideas of major thinkers. If a book is going to run through thinkers as this one does I guess what I would wish for is a book with the kind of comprehensiveness of The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford Paperbacks). Instead, too often there is only a superficial treatment of one thinker before we move on to another superficial treatment of the big idea of the next thinker. Such a technique is particularly unsatisfying for someone who is already familiar with many of the thinkers presented. I would relish a deeper engagement with the work of many of the thinkers treated. So one problem that I have with the book is simply that it is not in-depth enough. The body of the text takes up 196 pages, with an additional 46 pages comprising reprints of three articles from the International Journal of Astrobiology and Complexity magazine (2 articles).
I don't mean to dismiss Gardner's writing style. The value of his approach was demonstrated to me by his discussion of Beatriz Gato-Rivera's proposed solution to the Fermi Paradox. I had never heard of Gato-Rivera but Gardner's treatment of her position in The Intelligent Universe provided a nice jumping off point to her work. It is easy to see how the book could function as a window into a lot of other scientific topics. I was wondering how Gardner would reconcile the Fermi Paradox with Gardner's view that the universe is "hard-wired" to produce intelligent life, and Gato-Rivera's work figures prominently in his proposed resolution to the conundrum, although, characteristically, there is no attempt made to contradict this hypothesis or to pronounce on the merits of any alternative explanations.
"The Intelligent Universe" ultimately attempts to answer what Brian Greene has called the biggest of the big questions: Why is the universe life-friendly? Gardner, bold and original thinker that he is, thinks he knows the answer. His solution is the Selfish-Biocosm Hypothesis. The central claim of his Selfish-Biocosm Hypothesis is "that the ongoing process of biological and technological emergence, governed by still largely unknown laws of complexity, could function as a von Neumann controller, and that a cosmologically extended biosphere could serve as a von Neumann duplicating machine in a conjectured process of cosmological replication." In other words, the universe comes to life and then reproduces itself through the creation of other universes. This comes right out of Gardner's first book Biocosm. In this picture, human beings (or other intelligent life forms) might be thought of as the mitochondria of the cells that make up the universe as organism. The Intelligent Universe can be seen as the exploration of this basic storyline, and this includes dealing with the religious implications of the radically new perspective afforded by the Selfish-Biocosm Hypothesis. All in all, the story is well worth reading.The Intelligent Universe: AI, ET, and the Emerging Mind of the Cosmos Overview

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Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness, Second Edition: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience Review

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Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness, Second Edition: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience ReviewI have been teaching "Mind, Brain and Behavior", and introductory course in Cognitive Neuroscience, for the past 10 years to college students at Columbia University and the City University of New York. After using Gazzaniga, Ivry and Mangun's "Cognitive Neuroscience: Biology of the Mind" for 8 of those years, I decided to try the Baars text because it appeared to have a strong overarching theme that would provide for greater pedagogy than my previous text. Indeed, skimming the text and the chapters suggests that it would be a beautiful, up-to-date and well-integrated treatment of cognitive neuroscience, with an emphasis on consciousness that is aligned with my own interests. So I assigned it to my class of 100.
I should have read it more carefully before doing that. In fact, I spent the semester trying to help them figure out what the figures really meant (since they didn't actually match what was discussed in the text much of the time), clarify concepts that came out of the blue, and generally apologizing to the students for all the clerical errors. It was frustrating for them and for me. Many of them wanted their money back from the publisher.
For students who are trying to learn new material, poor editing is particularly damaging because it creates unnecessary confusion (on top of the necessary confusion that comes with approaching challenging material). Even experts or interested laypeople shouldn't have to struggle through such poor editing in order to get information.
Needless to say, I'm not using the Baars text anymore. Hopefully, the 2nd edition will be better edited. I don't think it could be worse - in fact I've never read anything that was so poorly executed.
One positive note: I would say that the powerpoint slides that came with the instructor's version of the text were actually more useful than most instructor materials. Also, it has a cool bookmark.Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness, Second Edition: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience Overview
This is the fully revised and updated second edition of the very sucessful introductory textbook on cognitive neuroscience. Written by two leading experts in the field, thisbook takes a unique thematic approach to introduce concepts of cognitive neurosciences, guiding students along a clear path to understand the latest findings whether or not they have a background in neuroscience. New to this edition are Frontiers in Cognitive Neuroscience text boxes; each one focuses on a leading researcher and their topic of expertise. There is a new chapter on Genes and Molecules of Cognition, and all other chapters have been thoroughly revised, based on the most recent discoveries.

New edition of a very successful textbook
Completely revisedto reflect new advances, and feedback from adopters and students
Includes a new chapter on Genes and Molecules of Cognition
Student Solutions available at http://www.baars-gage.com/

For Teachers:


Rapid adoption and course preparation: A wide array of instructor support materials are available online including PowerPoint lecture slides, a test bank with answers, and eFlashcords on key concepts for each chapter.
A textbook with an easy-to-understand thematic approach: in a way that is clear for students from a variety of academic backgrounds, the text introduces concepts such as working memory, selective attention, and social cognition.
A step-by-step guide for introducing students to brain anatomy: color graphics have been carefully selected to illustrate all points and the research explained. Beautifully clear artist's drawings are used to 'build a brain' from top to bottom, simplifying the layout of the brain.

For students:


An easy-to-read, complete introduction to mind-brain science: all chapters begin from mind-brain functions and build a coherent picture of their brain basis. A single, widely accepted functional framework is used to capture the major phenomena.
Learning Aids include a student support site with study guides and exercises, a new Mini-Atlas of the Brain and a full Glossary of technical terms and their definitions.
Richly illustrated with hundreds of carefully selected color graphics to enhance understanding.


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Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews Review

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Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews ReviewFirst, I'd like to point out that I am eighteen years old and just finished my first year of college, so I'm coming from a relatively young point of view with an opinion on technique - not content, as I am no professional. Also, I read quite a bit, both leisurely and academically. However, the ability to read well or with ease does not guarantee complete engrossment or heed about the text and/or subject. That is, I'm like a lot of people my age when it comes to most textbooks - I find them utterly boring, where reading becomes more of a chore than a pleasure. And that's fair; textbooks aren't exactly meant for amusement. Still, not everyone is a scholar, and seeing how reading is an absolute, there should be some middle ground between dull professionalism and light entertainment.
Anyway. I was assigned this book for my Introduction to Psychology class, and though I had an amazing professor, this book itself was just as engaging and just as clever. Authors Dennis Coon and John O. Mitterer do an excellent job presenting the material both clearly and interestingly. You can tell they love psychology and put a lot of effort into relating to the common person. They show much consideration for their audience, catering to those who don't want another lackluster assignment, but something more stimulating. At least, that's what I believe. It definitely made the studying/homework portion of my college experience much more bearable. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to those interested in psychology or looking to take a class in it, especially if they find it difficult keeping interest in a book and/or schoolwork.Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior with Concept Maps and Reviews OverviewCo-written by an author who garners more accolades and rave reviews from instructors and students with each succeeding edition, INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY: GATEWAYS TO MIND AND BEHAVIOR, TWELFTH EDITION attracts and holds the attention of even difficult-to-reach students. The Twelfth Edition's hallmark continues to be its pioneering integration of the proven-effective SQ4R learning system (Survey, Question, Read, Reflect, Review, Recite), which promotes critical thinking as it guides students step-by-step to an understanding of psychology's broad concepts and diversity of topics. Throughout every chapter, these active learning tools--together with the book's example-laced writing style, discussions of positive psychology, cutting-edge coverage of the field's new research findings, and excellent media resources--ensure that users find the study of psychology fascinating, relevant, and above all, accessible.

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The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human Review

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The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human ReviewThe preeminent neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran has, without a doubt, raised the bar in this, his newest book, The Tell-Tale Brain. He states in the preface, "Readers who have assiduously followed my whole oeuvre over the years will recognize some of the case histories that I presented in my previous books, Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind and A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers. These same readers will be pleased to see that I have new things to say about even my earlier findings and observations. Brain science has advanced at an astonishing pace over the past fifteen years, lending fresh perspectives on - well, just about everything. After decades of floundering in the shadow of the "hard" sciences, the age of neuroscience has truly dawned, and this rapid progress has directed and enriched my own work." And what an enriching book this is!
In a nutshell, what Ramachandran does is to discover how the normal brain works by studying individuals with abnormal neurological conditions. In this respect, his books are similar to Oliver Sacks (The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales and The Mind's Eye). Some of the disorders Ramachandran discusses are: Agnosia, Anosognosia, Autism, Capgras Syndrome, Cotard Syndrome, and Synesthesia, to name a few. However, one of the finest things about Ramachandran's book is that this doesn't account for everything in the book; it's not simply Ramachandran rolling out one bizarre disorder after another. He hits the subject matter from every angle - anatomically, evolutionarily, psychologically, and philosophically. It's exceedingly evident that Ramachandran knows all of the topics - inside-and-out - in regards to mind, brain, and consciousness. And still, the writing was never over my head. It was just as Ramachandran said it would be, "I presume some degree of interest in science and curiosity about human nature, but I do not presume any sort of formal scientific background or even familiarity with my previous works. I hope this book proves instructive and inspiring to students of all levels and backgrounds, to colleagues in other disciplines, and to lay readers with no personal or professional stake in these topics."
Ramachandran states in the Epilogue, "One of the major themes in the book - whether talking about body image, mirror neurons, language evolution, or autism - has been the question of how your inner self interacts with the world (including the social world) while at the same time maintaining its privacy. The curious reciprocity between self and others is especially well developed in humans and probably exists only in rudimentary form in the great apes. I have suggested that many types of mental illness may result from derangements in this equilibrium. Understanding such disorders may pave the way not only for solving the abstract (or should I say philosophical) problem of the self at a theoretical level, but also for treating mental illness."
In conclusion, I strongly recommend reading this book. The writing is great, the style is flawless, and Ramachandran's self deprecating humor really keeps the material lively. Every issue in contemporary Mind/Brain/Consciousness literature has been addressed in one way or another and I think everyone would have something to gain from reading it. I would put this book right on par with Antonio Damasio's, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, and Paul Nunez's, Brain, Mind, and the Structure of Reality. Along with V.S. Ramachandran, these men, each in his own way, is pointing the way for the entire Neuroscientific community..."The question of how neurons encode meaning and evoke all the semantic associations of an object is the holy grail of neuroscience, whether you are studying memory, perception, art, or consciousness." Ramachandran's book is not to be missed!The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human Overview

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