Published: Aug. 16, 2010
Words: 55,700 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452496788

Short description

So, what is consciousness? Young was blind in half of his visual field when he appeared on NOVA(PBS). But if you threw him a ball from the blind side, he would catch it without knowing what he did. He had blindsight. His brain knew something that he did not. When one's brain acts on its own without the person knowing it, we have a p-zombie. This book is about why we aren't unconscious automatons.

Extended description

Who am I?

No, this is not a religious question that a priest will ask his followers. This is a scientific question. Is the bionic arm of the Bionic Woman part of her? Can she legally pitch for the major league with her bionic arm? How about the new heart of a heart transplant patient? Things just get more interesting when it comes to the brain. If part of your brain needs a transplant, is that new transplant part of you or not? How will you feel after the operation? Have "you" survived the operation even though your body has? What if that transplant is an artificial one? Hello? Anyone still inside the brain?

Who am I? (Read more) Who am I?

No, this is not a religious question that a priest will ask his followers. This is a scientific question. Is the bionic arm of the Bionic Woman part of her? Can she legally pitch for the major league with her bionic arm? How about the new heart of a heart transplant patient? Things just get more interesting when it comes to the brain. If part of your brain needs a transplant, is that new transplant part of you or not? How will you feel after the operation? Have "you" survived the operation even though your body has? What if that transplant is an artificial one? Hello? Anyone still inside the brain?

Who am I?

You may think that there is a little Self sitting somewhere inside your brain to receive those signals that get into your brain. When the Self gets it, you get it. But brain studies reveal that the brain is really a distributed system and there is really no "Self" in it. A signal entering the brain always causes some group of neurons to change their firing patterns, and that's it! No one is inside watching the mind's TV screen. No one, not according to science. So, who is getting the signal? Who am I? Who is that feeler within?

What is consciousness? What is a mind? Why aren't we mindless? Why aren't we unconscious?

Ultimately, the question is: Will we survive our physical death? My answer is yes.

But we need to know who we are before we can talk about our survival and afterlife. If we don't know who we are, we will just be left wondering "who" actually survive.
(Readers can go to Smashwords.com to read 50% of the book for free before deciding to purchase a copy.)
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Tags

consciousness, physics, zombie, philosophy, afterlife, meaning of life, mind, universal mind, existence

Available ebook reading formats

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Reviews

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Review by: Qhaddafy on June 13, 2012 :
'This is not your typical zombie book', wrote the author in the Preface. So I'm probably on the wrong book. It talked about soul, from philosopher's perspective, with a bit of a science. Oh, and Star Trek and The Matrix. I'm not an expert in any of those fields, philosophy, science, or movies, just a regular Joe on the wrong book.

However, I like it! It seriously confusing at times, what with the science and philosophy things, oh... and movies, but it was written with humour. Again, being not an Expert, I might be laughing at the wrong time. Probably won't be changing anyone side's anytime soon, but it's definitely much more interesting to read, compared to the emotionless scientific journal (ha! like I would ever read one), or the offensive, war-like essays. And don't let its pathetic cover discourage you!
(reviewed long after purchase)

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