The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch
The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Feeling of Life Itself
Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed

Author: Christof Koch

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 7 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/25/2020

Synopsis

Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain. In The Feeling of Life Itself, Koch outlines such a theory, based on integrated information.

Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has been used to build a clinically useful consciousness meter. The theory predicts that many, and perhaps all, animals experience the sights and sounds of life; consciousness is much more widespread than conventionally assumed. Contrary to received wisdom, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not have consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious. Its simulation is fake consciousness. Consciousness is not a special type of computation—it is not a clever hack. Consciousness is about being.

About Christof Koch

Christof Koch is President and Chief Scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, following twenty-seven years as a professor at the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach, and other books.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Katia on November 27, 2020

It has been 3 weeks since I’ve written any review of sensible length due to problems both with hardware (my pc is being constantly in use) and software (my mind is being constantly in use as well). This is because it has been almost 3 weeks since my son has been to his normal school. They had a covi......more

Goodreads review by Alan on November 20, 2019

Koch is a neuroscientist, and the book is devoted to promoting a theory of consciousness, which in its essentials he attributes to his mentor Crick (of Crick and Watson,) and to G. Tononi. The core problem addressed by Koch is what philosophers call "the hard problem" - how does being a subject of e......more

Goodreads review by Markus on August 22, 2022

Bewusstsein und Informatik - endlich einmal ein Sachbuch, das mich vollends begeistert hat, nicht zuletzt angesichts des Schwurbels, den so manch prominenter Philosoph (aber auch IT-Gläubige) zu dem Thema verbreiten! Es geht um die von Giulio Tononi und Kollegen entwickelte Integrated Information The......more

Goodreads review by Benji on December 16, 2019

'Consciousness is not a clever algorithm. Its beating heart is causal power upon itself, not computation. And there's the rub: causal power, the ability to influence oneself or others, cannot be simulated. Not now, nor in the future. It has to be built into the physics of the system.'......more

Goodreads review by Oskari on January 04, 2022

Arvostelu venyi vahingossa yhtä pitkäksi kuin kirja... Tsemppiä. Tietoisuus on lempiaiheitani sekä psykologiassa että filosofiassa ja luen mielelläni lähes kaikkea siihen liittyvää. Tästä huolimatta olen suhtautunut panpsykismiin (epäreilun) skeptisesti, sillä se on omassa pienessä päässäni yhdistyny......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List