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God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World
by
Michael S.A. Graziano (Goodreads Author)
"Essential reading for the devout, the agnostic, and the atheist. In tackling the question of the religious brain, Graziano is respectful, sincere, and scientifically plausible. This might even be an Important Book."—Sam Wang, author ofWelcome to Your Brain
"A beautifully crafted, tightly scripted account of how the far-flung legions of the brain's neurons give rise to soci...more
"A beautifully crafted, tightly scripted account of how the far-flung legions of the brain's neurons give rise to soci...more
Paperback, 170 pages
Published
August 31st 2010
by Leapfrog Press
(first published 2010)
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Can a science book be also a feel-good book? This one is. Thank you, Graziano, for the lift.
Graziano brings to the table a professorship in social neuroscience, and builds atop the work of Dawkins and others in social memes, to explain what makes us human. He explains the workings of the brain to model the world around us, helping us interact socially and “feel” our way through life. Consciousness, the great mystery of our age, is merely “social perception applied inwardly.” It’s a process, not...more
Graziano brings to the table a professorship in social neuroscience, and builds atop the work of Dawkins and others in social memes, to explain what makes us human. He explains the workings of the brain to model the world around us, helping us interact socially and “feel” our way through life. Consciousness, the great mystery of our age, is merely “social perception applied inwardly.” It’s a process, not...more
God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World by Michael S. Graziano
"God Soul Mind Brain ..." is the even-handed and interesting book that shows how burgeoning scientific advances in social neuroscience can explain the special-purpose machinery in the brain that results in making us socially intelligent animals. The book is divided into two parts: Part 1. Mind and Part 2. Brain.
Positives:
1. Short and sweet yet accomplishes so much in 170 pages.
2. Very accessible boo...more
"God Soul Mind Brain ..." is the even-handed and interesting book that shows how burgeoning scientific advances in social neuroscience can explain the special-purpose machinery in the brain that results in making us socially intelligent animals. The book is divided into two parts: Part 1. Mind and Part 2. Brain.
Positives:
1. Short and sweet yet accomplishes so much in 170 pages.
2. Very accessible boo...more
Being both a Neuroscientist and a novelist, Michael S.A. Graziano delves into the subject of our perception of the world in his latest book God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections On The Spirit World, explaining how the perceptions of the world depend on machinery in the brain.
In clear language and with helpful examples like the one of the red apple which, in fact, isn't red as color is just an invented attribute computed inside our heads, the author takes the reader on a fascinating...more
In clear language and with helpful examples like the one of the red apple which, in fact, isn't red as color is just an invented attribute computed inside our heads, the author takes the reader on a fascinating...more
Michael Graziano is a professor of neuroscience at Princeton. He freely identifies himself as an atheist, and suggests that he may somewhere on the autism spectrum and that this may affect his view of the world and of people.
Graziano argues that a belief in God is not imaginary, a delusion, or even a "belief" in the usual sense, but rather a perception that grows directly out of the same neural circuitry that allows us to perceive consciousness not only in other people, but in ourselves. We (tho...more
Graziano argues that a belief in God is not imaginary, a delusion, or even a "belief" in the usual sense, but rather a perception that grows directly out of the same neural circuitry that allows us to perceive consciousness not only in other people, but in ourselves. We (tho...more
Above and Beyond: 'The Great Mediator'
Michael S.A. Graziano continues to amaze. Having been completely entranced by his novels of fiction, THE LOVE SONG OF MONKEY, and THE DIVINE FARCE, this reader was under the impression that his success in the literary realm was solid enough that he could well become one of the next decade's foremost novelists, so strange and compelling were these two brilliant books. But suddenly up pops this new book GOD SOUL MIND BRAIN and Graziano appears healthy on the o...more
Michael S.A. Graziano continues to amaze. Having been completely entranced by his novels of fiction, THE LOVE SONG OF MONKEY, and THE DIVINE FARCE, this reader was under the impression that his success in the literary realm was solid enough that he could well become one of the next decade's foremost novelists, so strange and compelling were these two brilliant books. But suddenly up pops this new book GOD SOUL MIND BRAIN and Graziano appears healthy on the o...more
Well it has certainly been thought provoking to say the least and it has been the inspiration behind two different "heavier" posts this week. "God, Soul, Mind, Brain" was a decent book and it was refreshing to find a mild amount of humor interlaced with something that you almost expect to be dry. Graziano introduced some interesting perceptions and followed up with example scenarios. Graziano expressed that Chapters 4 and 7 in the book were the most important conceptually. I found however that t...more
"Brain Asplosion"
Obviously my brain didn't actually explode when I read God Soul Mind Brain by Michael Graziano. XP
Though I do believe it's a bad sign when a book aimed at "the most general, non scientific audience"(p 11) has me searching for a dictionary multiple times throughout the course of the book. The author adores ten-dollar words. I have a fairly large vocabulary myself, or I thought I did before reading this book.
For example, the author really likes the word ubiquitous. I thought I kne...more
Obviously my brain didn't actually explode when I read God Soul Mind Brain by Michael Graziano. XP
Though I do believe it's a bad sign when a book aimed at "the most general, non scientific audience"(p 11) has me searching for a dictionary multiple times throughout the course of the book. The author adores ten-dollar words. I have a fairly large vocabulary myself, or I thought I did before reading this book.
For example, the author really likes the word ubiquitous. I thought I kne...more
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This is a very significant book on this subject. Neuroscience is the new frontier and Graziano delivers a very reader-friendly treatment here. He is especially clear on the difference between belief in God and the perception of God and he does a great job of explaining his position. God, as a 'perceptual construct' of the brain, is a valid hypothesis and although I am basing my review after reading an advance copy, I highly endorse this book and plan to read it in its officially published form....more
An intriguing concise discussion of the neurological basis for our sense of self, construction of the consciousness of others, and tendency to perceive consciousness and intention in many phenomena in the world around us. "Perceive" is the operative word. His explanation of the models the brain constructs for perceiving the world (using color as the sensory example, agency as the other), which are useful but not exact or necessarily accurate, was very clear. He brought in enough of the neuroscie...more
Apr 04, 2013
Aleko Gharibashvili
marked it as to-read
Feb 18, 2013
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Sep 30, 2012
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