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| THE INTEGRITY PAPERS | Genre Group | ceptualinstitute.com |
Page mirrored at Ceptual Institute, November 1998
by Alwyn Scott
CRITICAL COMMENTS
"All levels of readers will appreciate the linkage of basic sciences to a nonlinear theory of human consciousness. A reader not quite conversant with quantum mechanics can learn from the 26-page appendix ot equations covering a `theory-of-almost-everything' from Schroedinger's cat to the Hodgkin-Huxley equations. Even skimming the mathematical part allows the reader to grasp the premise that consciousness arrises in a hierarchical, emergent fashion from physical systems but in a nonlinear, nonreductive manner. The text is a jewel of presentations--a small package of 187 pages of ideas presented intelligently, poetically, and even humorously, on a serious subject that has confounded famous thinkers for centuries. This elegant neuroscience overview provides a few intoxicating insights as well (e.g. consciousness is an atom at the level of human culture). Illustrations, chapter references, bibliography, and index complete this valuable acquisition (tell the math and physics professors as well as the psychologists). Scott [Math. U. Ariz., Inst. Math. Modelling] is the Founding Director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the author of NEUROSCIENCE (1977). Not your father's Oldsmobile, nor your science for dummies, it IS an impressive and concise accomplishment. All levels." --- L. Gillikin, College of William & Mary
"On the other side, the latest entry to the scientists' ranks is Alwyn Scott's STAIRWAY TO THE MIND. Although dealing with some very heady material, such as quantum theory and biophysics, Scott has clearly made an enormous effort, in which he is largely successful, to be intelligible to the general reader. Not only is the depth of his topics impressive, but the breadth is astonishing for such a concise book. We travel chapter by chapter from physics through chemistry to neurophysiology via systems to brains, then on to a survey of some 18 contributions to mind-brain theories: pausing at a survey of the contribution of anthropology the reader finally arrives at a theory of consciousness. The distribution is slightly top-heavy, or rather bottom-heavy, in that much time is spent on the finer points of physics and chemistry which might frustrate the reader anxious to press on towards understanding consciousness; at the same time the critical survey of 20th-century thought is fascinating and highly rlelvant, although the reader is again frustrated, this time because the material is too brief.
"However the equal allocation of chapter space to the more basic physical sciences becomes apparent as Scott's approach unfolds. The general idea behind this progress through science is one of a ladder from simpler components to ever more complex phenomena. The take-home message is that emergent properties arise at all levels of science from more `basic' components or disciplines. Hence consciousness is seen as the most complex phenomena of all, the result of assemblies of assemblies of neurons. In arguing this idea, Scott puts a cogent case against both vitalism and nonbiological functionalism. His third alternative is appealing, though not necessarily highly original and still rather vague. But neither of these symptoms is terminal to a theory; moreover, the main point of Scott's book is primarily to show how the physical world is composed of nested levels of emergent propeerties, and hence how consciousness can escape the snares of both the computationalist as well as the spiritualist."
"Alwyn Scott, a mathematician with a strong background in physics and chemistry, and a `sometime neuroscientist', as he calls himself, has given us a clear and competent synthesis of empirical data from many disciplines bearing on the mind-brain problem. Without popularizing, and in a style that is both precise and entertaining, he succeeds in making the material accessible to the general scientific audience..."
"STAIRWAY TO THE MIND is a work of enormous scope and ambition, yet written in a lucid style, with great modesty. Scott is a expert guide on this exciting journey, doing justice to all the human qualities without leaving the solid footing of science."
"The best popular introduction to the new science of consciousness."
Also in a THES PERSPECTIVE on Tucson II, Tony Durham notes:
"The scientific instinct has always been to reduce every phenomenon to its simplest components, be they physical or neurophysiological. But in a resounding rejection of reductionism, 40 per cent of the [Tucson II] respondents subscribed to what might be called the `emergent' theory, popularized by Alwyn Scott's book STAIRWAY TO THE MIND. In this view, each hierarchical level from physics upwards adds something unique to make consciousness possible. Consciousness is not susceptible to simple explanations based on any single branch of science."
"A very elegant, thorough and informative defense of his viewpoint concerning the mind as an `emergent phenomenon.' I recommend it very warmly indeed."---Sir Roger Pen, University of Oxford (author of SHADOWS OF THE MIND)
"An enormously ambitious undertaking, which Scott accomplishes deftly and with considerable charm...a refreshing excursion through difficult territory."---Erich Harth, Syracuse University (author of THE CREATIVE LOOP)
"Stimulating and lucid...I would recommend it to anyone seriously interested in the philosophy and biology of mind."---M. Deric Bownds, University of Wisconsin
"A tour de force: a quick but rich portrait of today's mind...[Scott's] writing is imbued with an artistic, almost spiritual quality which suits neurosciences very well."---Arnold J. Mandell, Florida Atlantic University (MacArthur Fellow and author of NIGHTMARE SEASON)
"I couldn't recommend a more accessible starting place for this fascinating quest."---Arthur T. Winfree, University of Arizona (author of THE GEOMETRY OF BIOLOGICAL TIME)
5 August 1996 Page mirrored at Ceptual Institute, November 1998
THE INTEGRITY PAPERS (links to CEPTUAL READINGS)
GENRE WORKS (other writers)
POETICS
MINDWAYS (links to GLOBAL THINKERS)