Customer Reviews

Strange, Familiar, and Forgotten: An Anatomy of Consciousness

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Rosenfield's 1992 book is an interesting overview of a previously neglected area of thought and research. Overall this is a quick and informative tour of consciousness (at only 130 pages its a short afternoon read). His section on the "timelessness" of consciousness and our apparent multiple formations of language (from a neurological perspective) was particularly interesting. Of the latter, the following quote:

"Words transcend the sensory domains to which they refer. And yet they are a consequence of the very same brain processes that make us conscious of visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory stimuli in the first place; they are further elaboration of these processes; they are the result of interactions of much greater complexity."

As a reader, I liked that line of thought/sentence.

The last chapter on multiple personalities seemed less well-thought out and more disjointed than the previous chapters, hence the three stars. That said, this is a very good primer to the subject---very similar in style to the great Dr. Oliver Sacks and recommended.

This was an excellent book examining the vagaries of culture through the lens of psychology.