Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind

by Ian Stewart , Jack Cohen

• ISBN13: 9780521571555
• ISBN10: 0521571553
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-07-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Is the universe around us a figment of our imagination? Or are our minds figments of reality? In this refreshing new look at the evolution of mind and culture, bestselling authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen eloquently argue that our minds necessarily evolved inextricably within the context of culture and language. They go beyond conventional reductionist ideas to look at how the mind is the response of an evolving brain trying to grapple with a complex environment. Along the way they develop new and intriguing insights into the nature of evolution, science and humanity.

Author Biography

Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, UK, and Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In 1995 he was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal. Jack Cohen is an internationally known reproductive biologist who was a university teacher for thirty years and has published nearly a hundred research papers. He acts as a consultant to top science fiction writers and frequently appears on radio and television.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Figure Acknowledgements	xiii
Prologue	1	(4)
The Origins of Life	5	(28)
The Reductionist Nightmare	33	(30)
Ant Country	63	(14)
Winning Ways	77	(32)
Universals and Parochials	109	(26)
Neural Nests	135	(30)
Features Great and Small	165	(28)
What is it Like to be a Human?	193	(34)
We Wanted to Have a Chapter on Free Will, but We Decided not to, so Here It Is	227	(16)
Extelligence	243	(28)
Simplex, Complex, Multiplex	271	(30)
Epilogue	301	(4)
Notes	305	(8)
Further Reading	313	(4)
Index	317