Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think [Paperback]

Robert Ornstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1992

Based on his life's research, the author of the bestseller The Psychology of Consciousness provides a provocative look at the evolution of the mind. He explains that we are not rational but adaptive, and that it is Darwin, not Freud, who is the central scientist of the brain. Photographs and line art throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ornstein's elegant inquiry into the history of consciousness revises Darwin and Freud by positing that the modern mind is a disunified jumble.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671792245
• ISBN-13: 978-0671792244
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great source for understanding the consciousness, July 23, 2003

By 

Abdullah Z Jefri "Aceous" (Saudi Arabia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think (Paperback)

I came across this book as I was searching for answers to the many questions concerning the consciousness of human beings and the enigmatic process of intelligent thinking. Subsequently, I was attracted to this book by the title and by the credentials of the author, who is a neuropsychiatric researcher and is the president of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge and a professor at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco and at Stanford University. The author has done extensive research on the human brain and is the author of twenty books concerning the human brain. It wasn't difficult to realize that if anyone is to speak about the human consciousness, Dr. Ornstein is the one.

The book begins by shocking the foundations of your knowledge of the human brain. The first thing the author tells you is that "The mind is a squadron of simpletons. It is not unified, it is not rational, it is not well designed - or designed at all." And as you may have noticed by now, you must be a fan of the Evolution theory to even carry on after this sentence as the first third of the book discusses the steps that our ancestors had to evolve through for us to end up with the conscious mind. Dr. Ornstein discusses the most recent biological and paleontological findings that can help us reconstruct the history of the evolution of the human brain. Then, he takes a shot at answering one of the famous dilemmas of the human evolution theory that questions the reasons behind the evolution of the human brain. Why did a brain capable of landing humans on the moon, splitting the atom, painting the Mona Lisa, writing Hamlet, and composing Don Giovanni evolve at a time when human beings were barely working with stone tools? What brought about the ballooning of a Homo habilis' brain measuring 600-750 cubic centimeters to the Homo erectus' brain measuring 775-1,225 cc? The author extends a surprising but logical argument in this case.

Dr. Ornstein proceeds to explain that the environment that shaped and influenced the evolution of our brains ceased to exist only very recently in evolutionary terms. Our brains are equipped to react to events and dynamics that are completely gone, and our brains were not given sufficient time to physically evolve to fit the environments that our own advancements brought about.

The author carries on in his campaign to render more common notions erroneous by explaining that the conscious mind is much weaker than what is publicly thought to be. He demonstrates how the unconscious mind influences our supposedly rational and logical thinking and even our free will. He does that while describing the mechanics of thinking, dreaming, and memorization. I learned many astonishing facts about the way our minds work. I learned how our unconsciousness gets wired up throughout our earliest years and how it continues to affect us for the rest of our lives.

After that, the author begins to define what is the "Self" and how it can be identified. This is a very exciting yet confusing part of the book as the author argues that there are many selves existing within us. He provides evidence proving that not one "I" exists within us, but many. Each "I" has its own priorities and skills and is brought into action by the subconscious when the situation is deemed to require that specific "I." He explains how the working of those minds-in-one affect our lives and how they are being taken advantage of by advertising agencies and politicians to name a few.

The last part of the book discusses the author's view of the future of humanity. He predicts a grim destiny based on the limitations of the human brain to think on a global scale when human activities began to have numerous global effects. The brain is equipped to work in a small environment and never had to deal with events and concerns that affect the world as a whole. He explains how our means of raising children and of education are enforcing these limitations upon our minds. But the author doesn't leave the picture at that. He suggests solutions as to how help the mind evolve consciously to fit our rapidly changing environment. He recommends methods to strengthen our conscious minds and to make us more aware of the workings of our unconscious minds. He concludes the book by saying that "Undertaking conscious evolution, with an understanding of the complexity of our myriad minds within, may be easier, closer at hand, and more liberating than we might normally think."

The book will definitely take you through a fascinating journey into the human brain and its origins. The author's writing style is very accessible to non-professional readers while maintaining a high level of sophistication. You can be assured that you will stumble across many new ideas that will raise your eyebrows in astonishment and amazement. The book contains many drawings to help explain (and sometimes to prove) the author's arguments, though I found some drawings to be too silly and too obvious to be included.

However, you will come across many grammatical and spelling mistakes that might shake your faith a bit in the overall quality of the book as it did to mine.

In summary, this books addresses many questions about what consciousness is, how it affects our lives, and how can we advance it even further. If you find this topic to be interesting then this book is a must read.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of consciousness...and, maybe, conscious evolution, June 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think (Paperback)

Trying to do scientific reading on consciousness studies can often be as pleasant as pulling teeth, the stuff of nightmares for those who are not biology majors. For all those interested in the subject but yearn for an authoritative scientist who speaks layman's English, this book is for you. Dr. Ornstein was one of the groundbreaking researchers in hemispherical differences in brain functioning (right v. left), and here he treats the reader to an eminently enjoyable exploration of how--and why--human consciousness likely evolved, what its true properties are, and what these mean for understanding ourselves. The illustrations in the book are priceless and hilarious (much in the tradition of Macaulay's "The Way Things Work), along with Ornstein's witty writing style and easily digestible prose to communicate complex ideas and concepts in a lucid, exciting manner.

His euphemism "a squadron of simpletons" is a common and welcome refrain--he shows us a human brain equipped with more non-specialized neurons than it will ever need, adaptable to more habitats and social situations we can ever imagine. His tie-in of Freud to Darwin is ingenious, and proves his point that much greater: fundamentally the human brain, he argues (echoing colleagues like Gerald Edelman, etc.), is not a rational mechanism like a computer; it was never designed to be. Instead, it is adaptive: the ultimate gift of evolution to our species of the ultimate survival adaptation--evolution becoming conscious of itself. This book does indeed clear one's mind in a rather "zen"-like fashion, once you understand the transitory and fragmentary nature of ordinary consciousness and the revisionist nature of memory. In the end, Ornstein suggests, such an account of the evolution of consciousness can help our species adjust to its next, possibly final adaptation: conscious evolution, utilizing what we know about human consciousness to better inform our interactions with our species, and with the larger world.

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great easy to read synopsis of how we evloved mentally., February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think (Paperback)

This is a great book for the person on a quest for the evolution of consciousness. Ornstein does a super job of writing about a very complex matter in terms everyone can understand. If you are looking for a place to begin your search on the subject of consciousness be sure to choose this book first.