{"product_id":"the-crucible-of-consciousness-an-integrated-theory-of-mind-and-brain","title":"The Crucible of Consciousness: An Integrated Theory of Mind and Brain","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn interdisciplinary examination of the evolutionary breakthroughs that rendered the brain accessible to itself. In The Crucible of Consciousness  Zoltan Torey offers a theory of the mind and its central role in evolution. He traces the evolutionary breakthrough that rendered the brain accessible to itself and shows how the mind-boosted brain works. He identifies what it is that separates the humans self-reflective consciousness from mere animal awareness  and he maps its neural and linguistic underpinnings. And he argues  controversially  that the neural technicalities of reflective awareness can be neither algorithmic nor spiritualneither a computer nor a ghost in the machine. The human mind is unique; it is not only the epicenter of our knowledge but also the outer limit of our intellectual reach. Not to solve the riddle of the self-aware mind  writes Torey  goes against the evolutionary thrust that created it. Torey proposes a model that brings into a single focus all the elements that make up the puzzle: how the brain works  its functional components and their interactions; how language evolved and how syntax evolved out of the semantic substrate by way of neural transactions; and why the mind-endowed brain deceives itself with entelechy-type impressions. Torey first traces the language-linked emergence of the mind  the subsystem of the brain that enables it to be aware of itself. He then explores this system: how consciousness works  why it is not transparent to introspection  and what sense it makes in the context of evolution. The \"consciousness revolution\" and the integrative focus of neuroscience have made it possible to make concrete formerly mysterious ideas about the human mind. Toreys model of the mind is the logical outcome of this  highlighting a coherent and meaningful role for a reflectively aware humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44952277516341,"sku":"ByrdShop_026251284X","price":224.52,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780262512848.jpg?v=1770157361","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-crucible-of-consciousness-an-integrated-theory-of-mind-and-brain","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}