num_pages: 238
description: This book is a tour-de-force on how human consciousness may have evolved. From the "phantom pain" experienced by people who have lost their limbs to the uncanny faculty of "blindsight," Humphrey argues that raw sensations are central to all conscious states and that consciousness must have evolved, just like all other mental faculties, over time from our ancestors'bodily responses to pain and pleasure."Humphrey is one of that growing band of scientists who beat literary folk at their own game"-RICHARD DAWKINS"A wonderful bookbrilliant, unsettling, and beautifully written. Humphrey cuts bravely through the currents of contemporary thinking, opening up new vistas on old problems offering a feast of provocative ideas." -DANIEL DENNETT
language: English
title: A History of the Mind: Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness
titlecomplete: A History of the Mind: Evolution and the Birth of Consciousness
genres: Psychology, History, Biology, Science, Neuroscience, Science Nature, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Evolution
ratings_count: 123
awards: awardedAt: 725875200000
name: British Psychological Society Book Award
publisher: Copernicus