Read by the author and Taylor Clarke-Hill

A concise, elegant, and thought-provoking exploration of the mystery of consciousness and the functioning of the brain. Despite decades of research, remarkable imagery, and insights from a range of scientific and medical disciplines, the human brain remains largely unexplored. Consciousness has eluded explanation. Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness offers a brilliant overview of the state of modern consciousness research in twenty brief, revealing chapters. Neuroscientist and author Patrick House describes complex concepts in accessible terms, weaving brain science, technology, gaming, analogy, and philosophy into a tapestry that illuminates how the brain works and what enables consciousness. This remarkable book fosters a sense of mystery and wonder about the strangeness of the relationship between our inner selves and our environment. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press. PATRICK HOUSE is a neuroscientist and writer. His scientific research focuses on the neuroscience of free will and how mind-control parasites alter their host's behavior. He writes about science, technology and culture for The New Yorker.com and Slate. He has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Stanford University. He lives in Los Angeles, California. 1. Relative to the Observer Who Is Also a Liar 2. Like the Rise and Fall of Pinball 3. The Anxiety Felt While Prevented from Migrating 4. The Music While the Music Lasts 5. A Secondhand Markov Blanket 6. A Simulation Starring You 7. The Median Price of a Thrift-Store Bin of Evolutionary Hacks Russian-Dolled into a Watery, Salty Piñata We Call a Head 8. Sunlight Raining Down on Gridworld 9. An Ante Meridiem Radio Drama 10. A Small Town with Too Much Food 11. The Arbiter of Elegance 12. Swinging Through Ancient Trees While Standing Still and Hearing Voices 13. Endeavoring to Grow Wings 14. The North African Rhino of Charismatic Megaquale 15. An Itsy-Bitsy Teeny-Weeny Quantum-Dot-Like Non-Machiney 16. A Make-Believe Parasite with No Legs and Places to Go 17. A Sex-Starved Cricket Sculpting in Time 18. A Small (or Large) Learning Machine Made Out of Words 19. Not That Hard 20. Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness "Intriguing...impressively rich. This is bursting with insight." -Publishers Weekly "An exploration of the possibilities of consciousness. . .investigations recall Oliver Sacks. . . Mixing science, metaphors, and philosophy, House provides elegant frameworks for ways to think about thinking." -Kirkus Reviews "In Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness, Patrick House explores intensely interesting, beautifully provocative ideas about the neurobiology of consciousness. In addition to being an intellectual pleasure, this is an aesthetic one as well - House writes like a dream, with great drollness and elegance of phrase. This book is a gem." -Robert Sapolsky, New York Times bestselling author of Behave and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers "A highly unusual but brilliant book...with a distinct voice that is fiercely unique." -Christof Koch, president and chief scientist, Allen Institute for Brain Science and author of The Feeling of Life Itself and Consciousness

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