When I discuss the scientific study of human consciousness with my general-education students, I begin by introducing them to a field-monitoring device used by a colleague in Environmental Studies. It stands three feet high and continually records temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and sun intensity. I ask my students, (...)
June 01, 2012
Books
The Hard Problem
Soul DustThe Magic of ConsciousnessNicholas HumphreyPrinceton University Press, $24.95, 256 pp.
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Consciousness may make some more "avid," but what about pessimists? With no objective meaning to be found, consciousness can feel more like a curse than a gift.