Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think

by Robert Ornstein

Book Overview

Based on his life's research, the author of the bestseller The Psychology of Consciousness provides a provocative look at the evolution of the mind.

In Evolution of Consciousness Robert Ornstein explains that we are not rational but adaptive, and that it is Darwin, not Freud, who is the central scientist of the brain.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671792245
• ISBN13: 9780671792244
• Release Date: November 1992
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great source for understanding the consciousness

I came across this book as I was searching for answers to the many questions concerning the consciousness of human beings and the enigmatic process of intelligent thinking. Subsequently, I was attracted to this book by the title and by the credentials of the author, who is a neuropsychiatric researcher and is the president of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge and a professor at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco and at Stanford University. The author has done extensive research on the human brain and is the author of twenty books concerning the human brain. It wasn't difficult to realize that if anyone is to speak about the human consciousness, Dr. Ornstein is the one.The book begins by shocking the foundations of your knowledge of the human brain. The first thing the author tells you is that "The mind is a squadron of simpletons. It is not unified, it is not rational, it is not well designed - or designed at all." And as you may have noticed by now, you must be a fan of the Evolution theory to even carry on after this sentence as the first third of the book discusses the steps that our ancestors had to evolve through for us to end up with the conscious mind. Dr. Ornstein discusses the most recent biological and paleontological findings that can help us reconstruct the history of the evolution of the human brain. Then, he takes a shot at answering one of the famous dilemmas of the human evolution theory that questions the reasons behind the evolution of the human brain. Why did a brain capable of landing humans on the moon, splitting the atom, painting the Mona Lisa, writing Hamlet, and composing Don Giovanni evolve at a time when human beings were barely working with stone tools? What brought about the ballooning of a Homo habilis' brain measuring 600-750 cubic centimeters to the Homo erectus' brain measuring 775-1,225 cc? The author extends a surprising but logical argument in this case.Dr. Ornstein proceeds to explain that the environment that shaped and influenced the evolution of our brains ceased to exist only very recently in evolutionary terms. Our brains are equipped to react to events and dynamics that are completely gone, and our brains were not given sufficient time to physically evolve to fit the environments that our own advancements brought about.The author carries on in his campaign to render more common notions erroneous by explaining that the conscious mind is much weaker than what is publicly thought to be. He demonstrates how the unconscious mind influences our supposedly rational and logical thinking and even our free will. He does that while describing the mechanics of thinking, dreaming, and memorization. I learned many astonishing facts about the way our minds work. I learned how our unconsciousness gets wired up throughout our earliest years and how it continues to affect us for the rest of our lives.After that, the author begins to define what is the "Self" and how it can be identi

Evolution of consciousness...and, maybe, conscious evolution

Trying to do scientific reading on consciousness studies can often be as pleasant as pulling teeth, the stuff of nightmares for those who are not biology majors. For all those interested in the subject but yearn for an authoritative scientist who speaks layman's English, this book is for you. Dr. Ornstein was one of the groundbreaking researchers in hemispherical differences in brain functioning (right v. left), and here he treats the reader to an eminently enjoyable exploration of how--and why--human consciousness likely evolved, what its true properties are, and what these mean for understanding ourselves. The illustrations in the book are priceless and hilarious (much in the tradition of Macaulay's "The Way Things Work), along with Ornstein's witty writing style and easily digestible prose to communicate complex ideas and concepts in a lucid, exciting manner. His euphemism "a squadron of simpletons" is a common and welcome refrain--he shows us a human brain equipped with more non-specialized neurons than it will ever need, adaptable to more habitats and social situations we can ever imagine. His tie-in of Freud to Darwin is ingenious, and proves his point that much greater: fundamentally the human brain, he argues (echoing colleagues like Gerald Edelman, etc.), is not a rational mechanism like a computer; it was never designed to be. Instead, it is adaptive: the ultimate gift of evolution to our species of the ultimate survival adaptation--evolution becoming conscious of itself. This book does indeed clear one's mind in a rather "zen"-like fashion, once you understand the transitory and fragmentary nature of ordinary consciousness and the revisionist nature of memory. In the end, Ornstein suggests, such an account of the evolution of consciousness can help our species adjust to its next, possibly final adaptation: conscious evolution, utilizing what we know about human consciousness to better inform our interactions with our species, and with the larger world.

A great easy to read synopsis of how we evloved mentally.

This is a great book for the person on a quest for the evolution of consciousness. Ornstein does a super job of writing about a very complex matter in terms everyone can understand. If you are looking for a place to begin your search on the subject of consciousness be sure to choose this book first.

Not for those who are a part of a belief system!

Cool....is the word for this book. Its better that a Zen book, or even Taoism! Right to the heart of what really is and isn't. If you want to know the truuth about what is real and what is not.. get this book. I dare you!

Awesome, expanding and mindbending. 100% fun!

I had to run to the mirror and look at the expression on my face. I kept saying "This is unbelievable, I can't believe what I've been." By the end of the book I knew, I had never really laid my eyes on anything, seen anything or known anything. However, I had become capable of seeing through my own mind. Magically, a reality grew before me that could never go away. Cranial fire lit off. Fusion started taking place. Thoughts are things with a life of their own and this book is alive. It is the spark that can create from pieces a whole healthy individual. After this book you will know why there is no color in nature. There is no sound in nature. In fact life is nothing but a dream, drempt by the dreamer, the human being.