Athanassios Fokas

Ways of Comprehending: The Grand Illusion and the Essence of Being Human

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

To comprehend the world around us, we first have to decipher how our brains work. This book outlines a new approach to knowledge and comprehension based on the elucidation of several basic neuronal mechanisms. It explores the crucial fact that unconscious processes and conscious experiences form a continuum and, importantly, introduces the concept of metarepresentations. This fundamental notion captures the essence of being human, namely, what separates us from our evolutionary predecessors. Important examples of metarepresentations are language, mathematics, technology and the arts. The interdisciplinary, integrative approach of this book demonstrates how different disciplines and notions which appear disconnected are actually closely related. Furthermore, this approach elucidates how we think about topics such as mathematics, physics, painting, music and philosophy. Most significantly, it helps us understand the origin of our thoughts, feelings and actions, bringing deep insight and fulfilment or, more precisely, eudemonia.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd
• Seitenzahl: 424
• Erscheinungstermin: 3. November 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 611g
• ISBN-13: 9781800615199
• ISBN-10: 1800615191
• Artikelnr.: 68580173

Inhaltsangabe

Prologue: Preliminaries
Basic Notions: Elements of Neurophysiology
Elements of Neuroanatomy
Perception as the Solution of an Inverse Problem
From Homeostasis and Consciousness to Rerepresentations: A Uniquely Human Characteristic
The Transformative Role of Rerepresentations and Cultural versus Biological Evolution: The Origin of Rerepresentations and Language
The Rerepresentations of Art, Mathematics, Computations, and Technology
Heterodynamics and Cultural Evolution
The Interplay Between Conscious and Unconscious Processes: Innate Knowledge and Learning
Memory and Learning
The Neuronal Substrates of Unconscious Processes and Conscious Experiences
Details of Visual Perception
Light, Vision, and Art
Functional Imaging, Brain Stimulation, and Medicine: The Functional Imaging Techniques of PET and SPECT, and the Diagnosis of Dementia
The Functional Imaging Technique of fMRI and an Astonishing Medical Application
Different Types of Brain Stimulation, Parkinson's Disease, Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder
The Quest for the Hidden Reality: Abstraction and Generalization are the Essential Features of Mathematics Generated via Associations
How Can the Problem of Consciousness be Solved?
Epilogue
Acknowlegements