Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T18:57:33.610Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

Ian Stewart
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Jack Cohen
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Get access

Summary

Isn't it strange that the animal we used to be developed into the creature that we now are? How – and why – did human intelligence and culture evolve? How did we evolve minds, philosophies and technologies? And now that we have them, where are they taking us?

The orthodox answer to these questions looks inside our brains to see what they are made of and how the various components operate. This leads to a story based upon DNA biochemistry, the evolution of nerve cells as pathways for sensory information, and their organisation into complex networks – brains – that can manipulate neural models of natural objects and processes. Mind is seen as a property of an unusual brain – complex enough to develop culture – but here the ‘reductionist’ story starts to lose its thread. Many people see mind as something that transcends ordinary matter altogether. Philosophers worry that the universe around us may be a figment of our own imagination.

In Figments of Reality we explore a very different, but complementary, theory: that minds and culture co-evolved within a wider context. Every step of our development is affected by our surroundings. Our minds are rooted in ordinary matter; they are complex processes – or complexes of processes – that happen in material brains. Our brains are linked to reality by their molecules; but they are also linked to reality on another level, their ability to model reality within themselves.

Type
Chapter
Information
Figments of Reality
The Evolution of the Curious Mind
, pp. ix - xii
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Preface
  • Ian Stewart, University of Warwick, Jack Cohen, University of Warwick
  • Book: Figments of Reality
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541384.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Preface
  • Ian Stewart, University of Warwick, Jack Cohen, University of Warwick
  • Book: Figments of Reality
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541384.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • Ian Stewart, University of Warwick, Jack Cohen, University of Warwick
  • Book: Figments of Reality
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541384.001
Available formats
×