An Anatomy of Thought: The Origin and Machinery of the Mind

by Ian Glynn

Book Overview

Drawing on a dazzling array of disciplines--physiology, neurology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and philosophy--Ian Glynn explains virtually every aspect of the workings of the brain, unlocking the mysteries of the mind.
Glynn writes with exceptional clarity as he illuminates the mechanics of nerve messages; the functioning of sensory receptors; the processes by which the brain sees, tastes, and smells; the seats of language, memory,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195158032
• ISBN13: 9780195158038
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

my Bible

I call "An Anatomy of Thought" my Bible. Having a background of tertiary education on chemistry and medicine, some time ago I came up with a crazy thought that the chemical activities in our brains, the nervous impulses only obey the laws of physics, or, the laws of nature. Hence we are like machines. I abandoned that thought as it was too crazy, until I found "An anatomy of thought" of Ian Glynn. Using the scientific approach, the author came up with the most profound philosophical view I have ever met. Armed with the scientific and philosophical knowledge of the book(especially Ian Glynn's view on free will), one would have a much deeper understanding on many Eastern philosophies (Taoism, Buddhism). To me, the philosophical part of the book could lead readers to the enlightenment state, as religions could do to their believers, but via a logical, scientific path. As far as I understand the book, we, human beings, are "conscious automata", meaning we are a kind of machines, operating automatically. That is hard to believe, but it is much harder to not believe it, after reading Ian Glynn's "an natomy of thought".It may change the readers 'views, hence change their feelings, emotions. That's why it's my Bible.

A fantastic amount of knowledge in easily digestible form!

This is essential reading for anyone who is interested in human behaviour. I am a manager, currently studying behavioural psychology and its impact on performance, and received the book as a Christmas Present. From the first of its more than 500 pages to the last, it held my attention, and it seemed like every paragraph contains an insightful piece of wisdom. I can safely say that I have learned more about evolution, about psychology, psychiatry and philosophy, and about the factors that impact the brain and its working, during the 5 weeks it took me to finish than in any other 5 weeks of my life. At times dispassionately relating observed facts, at times showing a shrewd sense of humour, Professor Glynn makes easy work of a subject that can only be described as gargantuan. Full of references to academic work accumulated through centuries of scientific study, he has created an easy introduction that brings together a multitude of apparently conflicting fields of study into a coherent whole. Whether your interest is in practical matters such as training and development, or you are looking for a more academic review of physiology and neurology, you simply cannot find a more comprehensive, relevant and readable book on the subject.

Mental Machinery Examined

This is another "primer" on nerve and brain function written for the layman. I should qualify that statement by saying that this subject is never an easy read. You need to have more than a middling interest in order to pursue such studies beyond a superficial level. My way of studying scientific topics is to read several books on a subject, gaining different perspectives, and letting it all sink in by the repetition involved.Anatomy of Thought is a fine place to start. Unlike other brain books such as Richard Thompson's "The Brain", Glynn decided to expand his coverage to include a discussion of evolution, origins of life, and the history of nervous system discovery. It's all very interesting, but some readers may be put off by having to wait until after page 100 to start learning about the main topic. Glynn describes neuron structure and activity, and focuses much attention on vision and linguistics. A very nice coverage of those topics, but only four pages are dedicated to hearing. Much fascinating information is provided on how brain damage affects vision and speech (read also books by Klawans, Sacks and Ramachandran if this topic interests you). Personally I think much of the "nervous history" section could have been skipped in order to provide a carefully detailed description of nerve function. More pictures and diagrams would also have been helpful.The final section of the book is quite interesting. Forty some pages are devoted to the philosophy of mind, a discussion of the mind-body problem, and free will vs.determinism. If philosophy leaves you cold then you'll be relieved to know that this is really an elective section that can be easily skipped.

Thorough Brain, Short Shrift to Mind

This book begins with an excellent review of neuro-chemistry and this is followed with a clear and lucid discussion of how nerve signals propagate throughout the body. It then discusses where various functions reside in the brain (for instance, vision, understanding, data reduction and the like). As a scientist, with very little background in neurophysiology, I found this part of the book very interesting and informative. I would highly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in this information.The book then changes direction into a discussion of consciousness. I did not find this portion of the book very satisfying. The book became rather fuzzy and speculative and read in many places as a poorly edited introductory philosophy book.It is clear that Ian Glynn is a good writer, with a fine command of the relevant neurobiology. I learned a lot. But I believe that a reader interested in bridging the brain-mind barrier will not find this book as helpful in this topic as one might hope.

The robotic underpinnings of thought processes.

AN ANATOMY OF THOUGHT This book is essentially, in the words of the author, Prof. Dr. Ian Glynn of Trinity College in Cambridge, a guided tour of the brain `'...without too much expenditure of time or effort...to get a general idea of the area to be toured, hurry through the dull parts, linger in those that are more interesting, and emerge knowing a little of the history and features of the area and much better equipped to make more detailed visits later.'' Like all well prepared tours through foreign territory, there is a thorough preparation for the journey. In this long-winded introduction the well-traveled guide takes you by the hand through the phylogenesis, ontogenesis and history of the human brain, from Darwinian evolutionary theory through the origin of life to a neuro-physiology of the human brain. He brings observations, experiments and arguments to bear on a view of how networks of interacting neurons form the basis of control systems capable of detecting environmental changes, coding the acquired information, transmitting it along nerves to be processed in such a way that adaptive decisions can be made, a memory of the experienced can be compiled and learning results in the process. All of this worthwhile effort is necessary for the reader to understand how events in such neural networks account for the emergence of human sensations, thoughts and feelings. Like so many other attempts by outstanding scholars, in the opinion of this reviewer, Prof. Glynn has succeeded in providing a fairly complete picture of the robotic aspects of our brains, however, he has not been able to account for the existence of the same sensations, thoughts and feelings, the current contents of consciousness.... The trip sails along relatively safe as the author courses through memory, emotions and attention but, as expected, things get rough again as he approaches the end of the tour, when he discusses the philosophy of the mind. Of the varieties of approaches menu, behaviorism, functionalism, etc., he selects a variant of the `ídentity' theory and immediately gets tangled in the logic of the argument when trying to distinguish a `necessary' identity from a `contingent' identity and challenging Kripke's argument. ...As we finally come to the end of the tour (Freewill and Morality) of the brain, we travel from the concrete to the abstract. Things get really out of hand, when the author, having confessed being an identity theorist, finds himself in the conundrum of having to admit that, ultimately, the thoughts preceding his actions are determined by physical forces (outside his volitional power to control) and thus he has no free will! To escape his own trap, he argues that, being a unique creation (DNA signature), he exercises his free will in a more restricted immanent domain. He never confesses as to the possibility of being determined by any extra physical agency, from another domain. Is there any other alt