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The title of this 1998 book was inspired by a passage in Charles Sherrington's Man on his Nature. When that famous physiologist died in 1952, the prospects for a scientific explanation of consciousness seemed remote. Enchanted Looms shows how the situation has changed dramatically, and provides what is probably the most wide-ranging account of the phenomenon ever written. Rodney Cotterill bridges the gap between the bottom-up approach to understanding consciousness, anchored in the brain's biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, and the top-down strategy, which concerns itself with behaviour and the nervous system's interaction with the environment. The author argues that an explanation of consciousness is now at hand, and extends the discussion to include intelligence and creativity. This beautifully written and illustrated book will be valued for its easy access to one of science's last great challenges. It will change forever our view of consciousness, and our concept of the human being.
List of contents
1. Introduction; 2. The ultimate black box; 3. Under the lid; 4. Games neurons play; 5. Lasting impressions; 6. From percept to concept; 7. The grand design; 8. The first half second; 9. Midwives of reflection; 10. The depth of reason; 11. The message and the medium.
Summary
Enchanted Looms, first published in 1998, presents an explanation of consciousness in the human brain, based on known anatomy and physiology, and it shows how consciousness arose during evolution. It also argues that it will soon be possible to create consciousness in computers.
