Not just Mind Candy...
588680
I picked up this book looking for a simple afternoon read that I could finish and then add to my ever-growing pile of books to donate to the salvation army.  Much to my joy, this was not that kind of book.

A lot of romance novels lately are sacrificing excellent plot lines in exchange for large quantities of sex, which is comparable to dating a beautiful brainless man.  Its wonderful at first but eventually you just end up dissappointed and annoyed.

Voices of the Night had everything I look for in a romance.  Great sex, yes, but also wonderfully crafted, easy to relate to characters and a story line that draws you in immediately and doesn't let go.

Maggie was wonderful.  She wasn't a martyr, but she was willing to do just about anything for the people she considers her family.  When situations force her to accept Lord Edgington's offer to help him win his bet, she is very practical about it.  A woman in her situation wouldn't allow herself to get caught up in dreaming.  She knows her position in life is so far beneath Lord Edgington that their isn't any hope for them but she allows herself to fall in love anyway, knowing that their time together is finite.

Lord Edgington likewise was an extremely well-developed hero.  He seemed like a real person to me, and by the end of the story you were rooting for him and Maggie to work things out.

And the twist at the end of the story, was really a surprise to me.  Its usually so easy to see them coming, but in this book you don't know what is happening until the author reveals it.

I would recommend this book to anyone.  It will be going on my keeper shelf to be re-read until it falls apart.
2108714
We all have a brain and it is interesting to learn more about it. I found a lot in this book that was worth reading - a few new things, and many opportunities to consolidate or challenge already existing understanding. I also liked the personal stories the author could add from his own professional practice.

On the other hand, I think our knowledge of our brain is still largely enigmatic, perhaps even misunderstood. The whole practice of psychiatry and psychology I treat with some disdain - calling it 'astrology of the brain'. That's not to say these professionals cannot help people - manifestly they often do. But it seems to me that our limited knowledge of how the brain truly functions must compromise our ability to provide reliable relief to sufferers - unlike the ability of medical doctors. Mr Winston's book strengthens my doubts about our understanding. Perhaps the brain is not something that a scientific approach - such as the researches referred to by Mr Winston - can resolve alone. The final part of this book, which strays into areas such as out-of-body experience, near-death experience, ESP and the like, adds further to a sense of our lack of understanding of the brain.

Other recommendations:

'Why is Sex Fun?'  Jared Diamond

'Male Infertility - Men Talking'  M. Mason

'Upheavals of Thought

 - The Intelligence of Emotions'  Martha Nussbaum

'How the Mind Works'  Steven Pinker
5710
A really stimulating mind bender to provoke much thought and discussion with friends.
3031752
This book provides an interesting theory of the mind via labels (constructs).  His notion of dilating our perceptual field, which leads one to better psychological health, has led me to dig deeper into my own mind.  It has also allow me to begin to develope my own theory of the mind.  Thanks George
2535748
I enjoyed this book. It's well done and opens up new possibilities.... of thought. A great book does more than entertain. Recommended.
4104209
Right away you notice something different about the book.  It is written from the point of view of a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, which is essentially a type of autism.  He is amazingly brilliant with math, and likes everything in his life being orderly and as mathematically based as possible.  He is constantly coming up with equations to help him understand the world around him.  He cannot however understand emotions, does not like being touched, and has little (if any) intuition in many scenarios.  (For example, when asked to guess what was in a candy tin, he said candy.  It was opened and there was a pencil inside.  The tin was then re-closed and he was asked "What would your mother walked in right now, what would she guess is inside the tin?" and he said a pencil.)  The best way to describe him is being almost entirely left brained.  All logic; no emotion.  In a sense, he is entirely objective... no emotions to cloud the thought.

As I continued my journey, I got pulled out of my world and into his.  If you've ever wanted to get inside someone's heads and know their thoughts, know how they perceive the world around them, what upsets them, how they react to things, how they deal with stress, how they feel about others... really get inside the brain... well, this book is for you!  You are totally immersed in this brilliant child's mind.  Suddenly you become fully aware of this entirely different way of viewing the world, a different way of processing information and facts.  It seemed like I gained a whole new understanding of the world about me by reading the book.  (A truly special journey for those who are very right-brained, especially!)

I get lost in thought sometimes, wondering about our brains and how so much is unused and how great it would be to utilize those portions... or I think how great it would be if my memory was able to remember everything... but then I think that would be too much, too difficult... there is perhaps a defense mechanism within most brains that allows us to only see what we need or want to see, so we don't become totally over stimulated and shut down.

Christopher, the autistic narrator, seems to have proved my theory correct.  He sees and remembers everything.  He can't just glance down a street and think, "here is a tree lined street with several three flats" he takes it all in.  Every last detail is forever stored in his brain.  How many trees, how tall, which kind, their exact location, what flowers are around them, how many cars, what colour they are, what stickers they have on them, the type, where street lights are placed, etc etc etc ad nausem.  He won't forget any of it.  He can say on which day at which time he was where, and what the exact looks of everything was.  For this reason he has an immense distaste for new places.  They are too overwhelming, his brain taking every detail in.  Imagine trying to go to a mall when your brain is taking in every detail in camera-like precision.  How many people there are, what they are wearing, where they are located, where they are moving, what they are doing, and the overall surroundings about you.  As Christopher describes it, it is like the blue screen of death.

I could go on and on, being in his brain is a truly fascinating trip!  However, if I go much further I would take the joy out of reading the book for yourself!
2097879
I learned quite a bit from this book. The brain is even more amazing than I had ever imagined. Mr. Kaku explores the intricacies of the different areas of the brain, how memories are stored, how the eyes work with the brain to allow us to see a seamless picture of the world, and so many other things that I didn't know about. He discusses dreams, and how the mind uses sleep. He talks about telekinesis, and how the mind can make artificial limbs move.

Mr. Kaku then goes on to postulate different possibilities for the future of the human mind. He explores different methods to capture the whole of a human's mind, and store it, or transfer it to computer memory, or maybe even a light-beam. He says that a laser may be able to transfer the mind to the body of an avatar on a distant planet, at the speed of light. That way we wouldn't have to travel great distances in a slow rocket. He also talks about the alien mind. How we might be different, so different that we could come in contact and never even know. He compares our minds to alien minds, like how we see insects, or other animals in comparison to ourselves.

This was a very interesting science book. Mr. Kaku never talks down to you. He doesn't use a lot of scientific jargon. Everything is understandable, without feeling like a grade school science book. There is a lot of meat to this book. He brought up some ideas that seemed to be prefect science fiction plots. I will have to keep them in mind and see who uses them first.

This was a very well written, and entertaining scientific look at the human mind. I give The Future of the Mind 4 1/2 Stars out of 5 and A Big Thumbs Up. I recommend it to anyone who ever wondered what goes on inside their skull, how it all works so well, or maybe so badly.

I received this Digital Review Copy for free from edelweiss.com.
1664951
Richard Menary has done a very good job! The books beginns with an contribution by philosophers Clark and Chalmers who coined the term "extended mind". What is their prototypical example? Think of Inga hearing from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art recalling that the museum is on 53rd street. She uses her memory for recall and does what must be done: she walks to the MOMA on 53rd street. Now think of Otto who suffers from Alzheimer's and who forgot the adress. He asks his notebook which he carries with him everywhere. His memory is outside of his head but he uses his notebook in a way of special coupling. This coupling, Clark and Chalmes argue, is an example for the extension of cognition. It's not the notebook working as a cognitive system. No, both of them when coupled in this special way. - Here the debate starts. Well known authors in the cognitive field contribute. There is a fair and detailed discussion on what "coupling" means, on the role of active externalism, on cognitive integration, on the kind of meaning making implied here and on the mother-child-coupling when babies need being understood and are enabled only for utterances. So, what another researcher in the field, Ed Tronick, has termed "dual consciousness" and considered as very important in human development finds strong confirmation and engaged debate. The term "extended mind" or "extended cognition" has an ability to correct a failure of trivial neuroscientific reductionism. Mind is constituted in interaction with other minds. This volume presents a strong argument for those who cannot see mind emerging upward from brain, only. Mind in cooperation with other minds uses brains. This is an urgently needed complementary view. I can recommend this book to everyone interested in new developments of cognitive science, philosophhy and developmental psychology.
Prof. Dr. Michael B. Buchholz
698173
It would have been a huge loss to me if I'd chosen not to read this book just because a portion of it lightly touches on sexual subjects other then the usual male & female goings on.
I applaud  this author's inclusion and delicate treatment of a usually (religious dictated) taboo subject in a main stream book.
You are NOT going to become a murderer because you read about murder. Nor do you become a princess by reading all about Princess Diana.  But reading anything on those 2 subjects opens your eyes, mind and give you greater understanding on many levels about those subjects and how they might impact on your life, or someone you know or love.  So why keep your mind closed and ignorant on a subject that effects a third or more of the world's population and does impact your life, whether you realize it or not.
Besides it's a VERY entertaining read.
4849318
beautiful and smart, and far more relevant that merely "quirky", this album centers on the lives of insects, creatures we are more likely to ignore than try to relate to. give this cd a listen, and really think about the meaning and intention behind it...
898324
Exploring the possibility of human minds communicating directly and non-verbally as well as the creativity of the intelligent human mind, the book kept me interested until the end. Although this is targeted to a young adult audience, the story holds up for older readers. An interesting voyage into the power of the mind.
213365
I ordered this book because the title caught my eye; did I get an eyefull! Not only is it well written - come on, when was the last time you read a book and enriched your vocabulary at the same time?? - but it makes sense!

I was in the camp of 'oh no, not another book about childhood and psychology' when I started it, but a couple of chapters into it my reticence transformed into curiosity and 5 or so chapters into it I was hooked.  What stayed with me well after finishing reading it are the character types, the emotional reactions in all sorts of settings and - yes, at the risk of sounding like an advertisement -  how to experience the moment.

I recommed this book to anyone who is a seeker or anyone trying to make sense of the incomprehensible.
498015
In today's world of smartphones and phubbing, few things are more important than taking the time to be mindful...and this book is a great opportunity to do just that. Starting with her epiphany at Glastonbury Abbey, the author has us take a closer examination of ourselves, and of what is truly importantand unimportant. This is a book to be savored and considered thoughtfully, not rushed through with iPhone in hand.
2420946
Loved it!  A bit more of a mind trip than typically like, but still, five stars!
430130
Presents the brain and the mind from the knowledgeable perspective of a neuroscientist. Has diagrams and pictures accompanying the text, sometimes these are difficult to see on the kindle. The chapter about art and aesthetics is, to me, a bit long and conjecture based, however very interesting. The other parts of the book focus on the inner workings of our minds with lots of examples from clinical studies. The last part of the book, presenting how the brain can malfunction due to disease and accidents, is very enlightning. Truly, after reading this book, the reader wondering what does it mean to think, exist, and function as an individual and as a society, might get closer to some answers.
438419
I might be a bit biased, having known the author, BUT I really enjoyed this book! It is certainly not for everyone and if you are the type who prefers, I don't know, Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey, you probably won't like this book. It's a short read, but not an easy one. The narration pulls you into the mind of a drugged, injured man whose thoughts are about as comprehensible as a drugged, but not injured man. It really is fun to piece together the events and to follow the story of the main character's mental fight for his life as it appears in a unique way. Thanks for the good read, Mr. Kent!
3269733
In our "virtual" (and at least mildly insane!) world, the nature of connection and commitment is more esoteric then ever before...and, I think, especially important to explore.  Karen's experience and unique perspective add a valuable voice to an essential conversation - one definitely worth considering.  Thanks, Karen.  Great work.