Click for larger image and other views
Buy Cheap Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] - Sale price!
Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] Review
1141 of 1251 individuals found the subsequent review useful.
Derivative and vague
By whiteelephant
Perhaps I should not have browse this book. i'm a neuroscientist, and clearly this can be meant for a lay audience, but I usually relish such books for his or her concise synthesis of analysis and therefore the freedom they provide the author to invest. sadly it became clear quickly that this could not be such a book - p.19 announces that the author is from the Malcolm Gladwell faculty of nonfiction "Why was Topsy the elephant electrocuted by Thomas Edison in nineteen? ... is there a true Mel Gibson? ... why do strippers create extra money at sure times of month?" raise intriguing queries, link them with imprecise explanations, file them beneath a catchy one-word title, and voila NY Times bestseller. whereas I even have very little doubt that this book can do well commercially and be enjoyed by several, I cannot advocate it to anyone with a significant interest in neuroscience.
While chapter 2 may be a solid introduction to perception as inference, it's downhill from there. It becomes clear that Eagleman isn't curious about any systematic review of the unconscious factors that influence our choices, however is simply curious about presenting flashy examples. This by itself would not be therefore objectionable, if he had really come back up with attention-grabbing and novel examples, rather than merely reciting previous standards and cribbing from different authors. Eagleman has borrowed most of his material that V.S. Ramachandran ought to demand royalties. However, Eagleman apparently hasn't browse Ramachandran rigorously enough, as he references his paper "Why do gentlemen like blondes?", apparently unaware that the paper was satirical. How embarrassing.
Eagleman tries to travel beyond the flashy examples in Chapter five, declaring that the brain may be a "team of rivals." This reference to D.K. Goodwin's book regarding Lincoln is each unfortunate and imprecise. it's imprecise as a result of Eagleman never makes it clear what the 'rivals' are. What neural circuits are competing? What are their respective computations? it's unfortunate as a result of it simply is not an honest analogy for the brain. If we tend to stick to the straightforward rational-emotional dichotomy, the goal of 'rationality' isn't to rival emotion. Emotion forms the premise for all rational computation - while not emotion there's no goal. whereas it's cliche, Eagleman's second analogy to a company (with consciousness as CEO) looks a much better match than a 'team of rivals'.
Chapter six may be a rather sophomoric explore the legal implications of brain analysis. Forty self-important pages will be summarized by saying that Eagleman believes that the legal system ought to specialise in rehabilitation. Eagleman speculates that future brain science can tell us how 'modifiable' a brain's circuits are, suggesting that 'prefrontal workout' may be used to rehabilitate sure transgressors - people who are hopeless would be 'warehoused'. Even with 'warehousing' of the incurable, Eagleman's read is essentially naive. He fully ignores the role of punishment as a deterrent. Stephen Pinker's fight this subject in 'The Blank Slate' is much a lot of balanced and thoughtful.
The book ends with Eagleman providing the acquainted refrain that consciousness is an unspecified emergent property, and then declaring himself agnostic on deeper queries. it is a disappointing ending to a disappointing book. Eagleman's material is for the foremost half spinoff and cliched, and his tries at synthesis are muddled and imprecise.
More Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] reviews available
Read more..
Where To Buy Cheapest Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] ?
Product Details Amazon Sales Rank: #1547 in Books Published on: 2012-05-15 Released on: 2012-05-15 Original language: English Number of items: 1 Dimensions: eight.00" h x .63" w x 5.20" l, .64 pounds Binding: Paperback 304 pages
Incoming search term
- Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] review
- Buy cheap Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover]
- Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] on sale
- Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] cheapest discount
- Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia [Hardcover] black friday
0 comments:
Post a Comment