Act: Neuroscience and Consciousness - Paperback

Being a hero means standing up to false heroes. To gain this ability, we need to have a good grasp of the nature of the universe and to be able to understand our minds. This book is an introduction to the most current research in neurobiology and consciousness. It is easy to read, uses numerous examples, and introduces concepts from the ground up. After reading the book, you will be able to explain what it means to be conscious. The book's goal is to give an introduction to neuroscience focused on consciousness. It addresses the following questions: - What is the self?- Does the brain even need a "self"?- What is this seemingly mysterious subjective experience we share?- How can we think, dream, plan, feel, and make decisions?The first part of the book discusses the evolutionary history of primates' brains using real-life examples. The second part builds a flowchart of consciousness (the so-called "loop of consciousness"). It concludes that consciousness must be an umbrella term for many of our brain's abilities: - Sense data: Sense data is registered and pre-processed in the brain.- Attention: The ability of the brain to focus on particular sense data using neural competition.- Awareness: Contents of the working memory, including information of "what," "where," and "who."- Attention schema: The ability to access the working memory to use it to update the prefrontal cortex's models and use those models to suppress or promote individual actions.- Awareness schema: The ability of the brain to manipulate awareness to think about alternative scenarios. The working memory is used to manipulate future loops of consciousness.- Philosophy: Abstract knowledge about awareness, enhancing the brain's ability to create habits and strategies to adapt the id.
What would lead a computer scientist and project manager to turn to philosophy for answers? Clemens Lode has a passion for solving problems by applying ideas from nature. In his examination into what could give lifeless machines a "heart," he found that the answer requires a holistic examination of the world.Becoming a hero requires gaining an understanding of what the greatest minds of history have pondered. Philosophy for Heroes summarizes their wisdom and connects it with the modern world.
What would lead a computer scientist and project manager to turn to philosophy for answers? Clemens Lode has a passion for solving problems by applying ideas from nature. In his examination into what could give lifeless machines a "heart," he found that the answer requires a holistic examination of the world.With his book series Philosophy for Heroes, Lode bridges the gap between science, philosophy, psychology, and ultimately leadership. In this, the third of a five-book series, he takes the reader on a journey through topics at the forefront of science. How did humans evolve? How can we make decisions? What is consciousness, and why do we think it is within our heads? How could we give machines a human-like consciousness?