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Let me start this review with a quote from the introduction: "I am not a Buddhist. I have not joined any Buddhist orders, adopted any religious beliefs, nor taken any formal vows. I say this now because I do not want anyone to think I am writing under false pretenses. Nothing I say here should be taken as the words of a Zen Buddhist...This book is an exploration of ten of my favourite questions and where they took me...This book describes my own attempt to combine science and personal practice in the investigation of consciousness." As someone with a passing interest in philosophy, Buddhism, and the study of consciousness, I found the book quite interesting. My only real complaint is that perhaps Ms. Blackmore could have included a bit more "science." To be fair though, there is brief mention of familiar folks like Antonio Damasio ], Daniel Dennett, Benjamin Libet, Christof Koch, Alva Noe, and Richard Wiseman ], to name of few. On the plus side, I found myself agreeing completely with her general opinions, which she derives by the end of the book, on what consciousness is: "There is nothing it is like to be me. I am not a persisting conscious entity. I do not consciously cause the actions of my body. Consciousness is not a stream of experiences. Seeing entails no vivid mental pictures or movie in the brain. There is no unity of consciousness either in a given moment or through time. Brain activity is neither conscious nor unconscious. There are no contents of consciousness. There is no now."
The ten questions that Ms. Blackmore asks are: 1) Am I Conscious Now? 2) What Was I Conscious Of A Moment Ago? 3) Who Is Asking the Question? 4) Where Is This? 5) How Does Thought Arise? 6) There Is No Time. What is Memory? 7) When Are You? 8) Are You Here Now? 9) What Am I Doing? 10) What Happens Next?
In sum, this book makes a great prelude to her newer book, Consciousness (A Brief Insight), and for an introduction to the study of consciousness, this pair can't be beat. Lastly, I would say that everything neuroscience is telling us now-a-days, [for example: Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind,Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, or The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human] was presaged in many Buddhist writings, which makes this particular line of attack on consciousness studies very unique indeed. Highly recommended.
- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Oneworld Publications; Reprint edition (April 1, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 185168798X
- ISBN-13: 978-1851687985
- Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 8 customer reviews
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