How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then And Now (Science Masters Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Piaget used to say that intelligence is what you use when you don't know what to do (an apt description of my present predicament as..." (more)
Key Phrases: cloning competitions, stratified stability, superficial pyramidal neuron, Darwin Machine, Universal Grammar, Charles Darwin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

William Calvin, a neurophysiologist and author of The River That Flows Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain, attempts to reclaim the study of human consciousness from physicists like Roger Penrose. Physicists, Calvin suggests, reduce the mind to subatomic particles and mathematical equations, whereas those in his specialty see the seat of consciousness and intelligence in higher levels of brain physiology--the neurons, synapses, and cortex. Calvin is a Darwinist who regards the unique level of human consciousness as the product of evolutionary forces that began with the ice ages two million years ago. The human response to this natural threat, he argues, was to develop mental faculties that allowed high-level communication and, thus, cooperation, leading to complex language capabilities and the distinguishing human characteristic of abstract thought. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Another solid contribution to the Science Masters series encapsulates for nonspecialists current knowledge about the human brain. Author of a half dozen books on the subject, Calvin distills his expertise with trusty Darwinian principles as his guide. Before making his argument that competitive processes in the cerebral cortex account for the content of people's thoughts, he builds a foundation by describing what intelligence is, how it might have evolved amid the ice ages of the past few million years, and the physiology of the brain's neurons and chemicals. Calvin narrows the scope of his subject by confining intelligence to the finding of novel solutions to problems, a stern test that excludes all animals but humans and, rudimentarily, primates. In the how of intelligence Calvin hits his stride, bringing readers along easily as he explains the anatomy of nerve cells, their bundling in groups, and firing of electric pulses. Still partially a mystery, intelligence's nature (and manifestation in language) gets a consummately clear summary in Calvin's hands. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (September 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 046507278X
• ISBN-13: 978-0465072781
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #343,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What to do next?, May 2, 2003

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then And Now (Science Masters) (Hardcover)

Calvin offers an evolutionary description of the development of human intelligence. He's very careful to avoid using "consciousness" since Dennett, Humphreys, Pinker and others have firmly employed that term. Calvin cites Piaget's "intelligence is what you use when you don't know what to do next" as a foundation thesis. From this he compares human mental talents with those of other animals, mostly primates, to demonstrate evolutionary roots for our intelligence. Behaviour issues common to everyday life become visible evidence for what is going on in our brains. Calvin manages to take his analysis into the physical processes that occur as we decide on our actions. It's a well written and "down to earth" explanation of many questions we have on what intelligence is and how we use it.

Piaget's comment reflects the growing knowledge of brain processes. Much of the brain's time is spent collecting, storing, retrieving and applying information. This means that both "unconscious" events and our expressions and actions only come about after numerous and complicated signal processing has already occurred. Calvin describes in both text and graphics how neurons are constructed, convey data, and interact within the brain. Clearly, nothing is instantaneous and many elements are competing for dominance during every moment awake. Clear, too, is the notion that while other primates have many talents to deal with their surroundings, none possess the powers evolution gave humans.

What drives these powerful mental abilities? He rebuffs the idea of the "quantum brain". It's too deep in the brain's structure - "in the subbasement of physics". That's too far removed from areas of vision, speech, and memory. There are certainly quantum events going on with all that chemical and electrical activity inside your skull, but Calvin sees these forces as far to deep to have direct impact on mental processes. Calvin is more concerned with the human level of analysis. One proposal he adopts wholeheartedly, but without attribution, is Daniel Dennett's concept of the "multiple drafts model" of thinking and expression. Calvin, to his credit, outstrips even Dennett's abilities of description in depicting this process. He shows, for example, how the brain's memory storage facility considers many images before it resolves that the round thing flying past is a tennis ball. It's an exquisite example, and you perceive clearly how many other daily occurrences are resolved in a similar manner.

The accumulation of evidence about our evolutionary roots, the environmental changes forced on us and the rise of language and use of syntax are all contained within a device Calvin labels the "Darwin Machine." The Machine has six "essentials" which cover topics like replication, mutation and success in adaptation. He demonstrates how the "essentials" provide a mechanism for complexity from simplicity. Where some creatures modified things like limbs, teeth or hair, it was our brain that evolved from simple to complex.

While evolution of the human brain isn't a new topic, Calvin presents a better summary of its roots and operations than most cognitive scientists. This is a fine book to start any study of the brain, but must be enhanced by other, more complete, works. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Didn't fire my synapses, January 15, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then And Now (Science Masters) (Hardcover)

Calvin's "How Brains Think" makes a reader realize how thankful he or she should be for Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan -- brilliant scientists who can express brilliant thoughts in clear, simple language without resorting to gimcracks that supposedly reassure the lay reader. Calvin's book is relentlessly choppy -- some segments are literally only two paragraphs long -- a strategy possibly suggested by an editor nervous about keeping readers attuned. This is unfortunate: The subject matter is fascinating. For that matter, it's so fascinating that Calvin could have stood not only to spin out his information into clear, sustained chapters -- go ahead, we can take it; we bought the book, didn't we? -- but also to have decided what his point was going to be. He dismisses quantum physicists' ideas about how brains work without telling us what those ideas are. He ambles constantly between morphology, his vacation cruise to Alaska, long and too-frequent quotes from snappier writers, more musing about fjords and rock-throwing (oh, and those awful, cryptic graphics), and references to his other (and presumably better-fleshed-out) books. Popular-science writing: not for the timid

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With Style, Grace, and Wit, January 11, 2000

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Chapter 1 of How Brains Think, William H. Calvin recalls Piaget "who used to say that intelligence is what you use when you don't know what to do." Throughout the balance of this immensely readable as well as informative book, Calvin attempts to explain what is so difficult to understand: the interaction between the brain and the mind, and, the interaction of the mind with the physical world in which it exists. "The big issue for understanding intelligence isn't who has more but what intelligence is, when it's needed, and how it operates. Some of what intelligence encompasses are cleverness, foresight,, speed, creativity, and how many things you can juggle at once."

Although Calvin is an eminent theoretical neurophysiologist, How Brains Think is not a textbook in which he explains in mind-numbing detail the brain, the mind, and their interaction. Calvin has written How Brains Think for the reasonably intelligent non-scientist. As Calvin concludes How Brains Think, he observes:

It behooves us to be a considerate creator [of superintelligent machines], wise to the world and its fragile nature, sensitive to the need for stable footings that will prevent backsliding -- and keep the house of cards we call civilization from collapsing.

Near the end of his book, Calvin quotes from Lewis Thomas' masterpiece The Medusa and the Snail: "We need science, more and better science, not for its technology, not for its leisure, not even for health and longevity, but for the hope of wisdom which our kind of culture must acquire for its survival." Albert Borgmann, Eric Drexler, Thomas Friedman, and Joel Mokyr (among others) rise to their feet to join William Calvin in applauding Thomas' comments.

If intelligence is "what you use when you don't know what to do", then "more and better science" must help to provide the "wisdom" of knowing precisely what to do...and what not to do. That's how brains should think. And will, Calvin believes, but if only we have courage and determination sufficient to the task.

Calvin helps an interested layman (at least this one) to understand a rather complicated body of phenomena...doing so with style, grace, and wit. This is a book I re-read at least twice a year. Are Calvin's ideas that stimulating? Yes.