Biology 202 Book Commentary

While there are many surprising insights in Daniel J. Siegel’s The Developing Mind, I was most intrigued by how information from the brain and body combine as output to the mind. Merging class discussion with the material in this book offers two ways in which the internal processes of the brain combine with stimulus input from the body to give rise to a picture in the mind. The way discussed in class is that input from the body is supplemented by the brain before it reaches the mind, such as the filling in of the blind spots in the eye. A different way that was touched on in the book is the idea that the brain generates output to the mind that is supplemented by input from the body, such as when it looks to

The Tipping Point: telling us what we want to hear, or changing the way we see the world?

            OnIntelligence: How A New Understanding Of The Brain Will Lead To The Creation ofTruly Intelligent Machines offers a new perspective on the inner workingsof the most complex human organ. Written by Jeff Hawkins, this book links together the science of thebrain and the logic of the world of computers.  Hawkins is founder of Palm Computing and Handsping, twocomputing companies which invented the Palm Pilot and the Treo, respectively.  Known for his ability to innovateintelligent technology, Hawkins is yearning for more. 

            This book has helped me to understand the self, identity, and social interaction as often guided by processes below the level of consciousness. In this book Gladwell describes a construct he terms the “adaptive unconscious,” that processes incoming information without our conscious awareness, producing judgments and behaviors within seconds. Themes elaborated here expand on discussions we have had in class, particularly those of accountability for our actions and what constitutes conscious choice. (Gladwell argues that although unconscious processes occur automatically and without our awareness, that through concerted effort or practice and through altering our environments we can in fact learn to control even implicit aspects of the self). For me this book was a highly useful part of the course and advanced my understanding of the nervous system’s relationship with behavior and identity.           

Aside from the beautiful and charismatic style which makes the procession through The Diving Bell and the Butterfly absolutely enthralling, complete appreciation of this book requires an acknowledgement of the implausible efforts of its creator. It is rare that a book can be inspiring based not only on the content of the writing but also on the process of its creation. Jean-Dominique Bauby does not explicitly give details about his condition, nor about how he went about writing this book. This seems to be the main theme of the book: it is not why, but how. He does not want the reader to know much about his accident or the painstaking method of communication he has been forced to resort to, but

A Girl’s Experience

A Book Review after Reading: Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher, Ph.D

Computing The Creative Mind: How Margaret Boden Sails, then Scales, the Psyche

Commentary on The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D.