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The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness
A world at once familiar and unimaginably strange exists all around us–and within us. It is the world of consciousness, a protean mental landscape that each of us knows intimately in bits and pieces yet understands in its totality scarcely at all. Tied to the body and the brain, consciousness is nonetheless beyond our ability to measure or quantify. Despite the attempts of scientists and mystics, poets and dreamers, crackpots and geniuses, to map its contours and explain its secret workings, the mind remains mysterious. And the more we learn about it, the more mysterious it becomes.
But that is not to say that we know nothing about consciousness. In fact, as gonzo science journalist Jeff Warren demonstrates in this provocative, often hilarious, and always fascinating synthesis of cutting-edge research and personal experience, just how much we do know is little short of astonishing. And when Warren fits the pieces together, the implications of that knowledge are, well, mind-blowing.
Warren begins with the insight that consciousness is not a simple on-off proposition, with rigid demarcations separating waking awareness from the murky depths of sleep, but rather a round-the-clock continuum regulated by natural biorhythms. He then sets out to explore, and to experience for himself, the seemingly miraculous, all-but-untapped potential of the human mind.
From the full-immersion virtual realities of lucid dreaming to the esoteric disciplines of Eastern meditative practices that have reached outposts of consciousness far beyond the grasp of Western science, from techniques of hypnosis and neurofeedback to such exotic states of awareness as the Watch and the Pure Conscious Event, Warren takes us on an incredible journey through our own heads–a journey conducted with the adventurous spirit and intellectual curiosity of a Darwin coupled with the sensibility of a stand-up comedian.
Part user’s manual and part travel guide, The Head Trip is an instant classic, a brilliant summation of consciousness studies that is also a practical guide to enhancing creativity, mental health, and the experience of what it means to be human. Many books claim that they will change you. This one gives you the tools to change yourself.
But that is not to say that we know nothing about consciousness. In fact, as gonzo science journalist Jeff Warren demonstrates in this provocative, often hilarious, and always fascinating synthesis of cutting-edge research and personal experience, just how much we do know is little short of astonishing. And when Warren fits the pieces together, the implications of that knowledge are, well, mind-blowing.
Warren begins with the insight that consciousness is not a simple on-off proposition, with rigid demarcations separating waking awareness from the murky depths of sleep, but rather a round-the-clock continuum regulated by natural biorhythms. He then sets out to explore, and to experience for himself, the seemingly miraculous, all-but-untapped potential of the human mind.
From the full-immersion virtual realities of lucid dreaming to the esoteric disciplines of Eastern meditative practices that have reached outposts of consciousness far beyond the grasp of Western science, from techniques of hypnosis and neurofeedback to such exotic states of awareness as the Watch and the Pure Conscious Event, Warren takes us on an incredible journey through our own heads–a journey conducted with the adventurous spirit and intellectual curiosity of a Darwin coupled with the sensibility of a stand-up comedian.
Part user’s manual and part travel guide, The Head Trip is an instant classic, a brilliant summation of consciousness studies that is also a practical guide to enhancing creativity, mental health, and the experience of what it means to be human. Many books claim that they will change you. This one gives you the tools to change yourself.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
52 people are currently reading
1773 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
April 1, 2013
An absolutely fascinating account of the lived experience of consciousness as told through a mix of popular science and accounts of self-experimentation. I’ve started this book a couple of times, but until now something always got in the way of me finishing it.
Warren goes through the “wheel” of both sleeping and waking life, with various stages like REM sleep, The Watch, the Zone, and daydreaming. At almost every stage, which is to say within every chapter, there was something that I recognized from my own experience and understood in a different way, or within a greater context. That, I think, is the book’s greatest strength: that it tackles what it feels like to be alive, to be inside your head, this fuzzy mass of input and output, perceptions and conceptions, awake or asleep, and gives you the back story. As a consequence, I found something compelling on almost every page.
It is not a classic work of pop-science literature, though. There are some sections where it’s difficult to understand what he’s saying, or where his explanatory powers seem to completely fail him. There were two whole chapters, on neurofeedback and another on meditation, that bored the pants off me, probably because they bore no relevance to my life. My mom pointed out to me that they were also the two stages of consciousness that he had the least success with himself, which is also probably relevant. That being said, it is one of the few books that I’d recommend to just about every thoughtful and curious person. It is endlessly interesting, largely well-written, and often even funny.
Warren goes through the “wheel” of both sleeping and waking life, with various stages like REM sleep, The Watch, the Zone, and daydreaming. At almost every stage, which is to say within every chapter, there was something that I recognized from my own experience and understood in a different way, or within a greater context. That, I think, is the book’s greatest strength: that it tackles what it feels like to be alive, to be inside your head, this fuzzy mass of input and output, perceptions and conceptions, awake or asleep, and gives you the back story. As a consequence, I found something compelling on almost every page.
It is not a classic work of pop-science literature, though. There are some sections where it’s difficult to understand what he’s saying, or where his explanatory powers seem to completely fail him. There were two whole chapters, on neurofeedback and another on meditation, that bored the pants off me, probably because they bore no relevance to my life. My mom pointed out to me that they were also the two stages of consciousness that he had the least success with himself, which is also probably relevant. That being said, it is one of the few books that I’d recommend to just about every thoughtful and curious person. It is endlessly interesting, largely well-written, and often even funny.
September 25, 2014
This book is wonderful from so many different angles that it almost boggles my mind (like, wow, man):
—the author's Gen X sensibility and sense of humor;
—his lovely illustrations, charts, and diagrams;
—his choice of the "altered states" of consciousness to explore here, most of which the "normal" human being experiences on a regular basis, and without ingesting anything: parasomnias, hypnagogia, slow-wave sleep, "the Watch," REM dreams, lucid dreams, hypnopompia, trances, daydreams, SMR (sensorimotor rhythm), "the Zone," and the "Pure Conscious Event";
—his interdisciplinary literacy, reading in and interviewing with Buddhist monks, neuroscientists, psychologists, dream scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, neurologists, cognitive scientists, mystics, and consciousness researchers;
—his phenomenological approach, his attempts to get into the states of mind he discusses, whether through meditation retreats, exercise, keeping a dream journal, or wearing a lucid dreaming mask to bed; and
—his openness to uncertainty, to a sense of the mystical without indulging in New Age tropes, and to the possibility that mind might be an emergent property of matter via the brain.
Heck, the list of suggested reading alone is worth the price of admission!
—the author's Gen X sensibility and sense of humor;
—his lovely illustrations, charts, and diagrams;
—his choice of the "altered states" of consciousness to explore here, most of which the "normal" human being experiences on a regular basis, and without ingesting anything: parasomnias, hypnagogia, slow-wave sleep, "the Watch," REM dreams, lucid dreams, hypnopompia, trances, daydreams, SMR (sensorimotor rhythm), "the Zone," and the "Pure Conscious Event";
—his interdisciplinary literacy, reading in and interviewing with Buddhist monks, neuroscientists, psychologists, dream scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, neurologists, cognitive scientists, mystics, and consciousness researchers;
—his phenomenological approach, his attempts to get into the states of mind he discusses, whether through meditation retreats, exercise, keeping a dream journal, or wearing a lucid dreaming mask to bed; and
—his openness to uncertainty, to a sense of the mystical without indulging in New Age tropes, and to the possibility that mind might be an emergent property of matter via the brain.
Heck, the list of suggested reading alone is worth the price of admission!
October 2, 2016
Although I do not agree with the topics arrangement's concept and all the details the author came with it under those topics, But I really did like the book's concept in general. On the other hands, Is there anyone figured out some conflicts in some ideas? I mean, without a special specialization in any field in general, as a simple reader, do anyone figured out some conflicts as I did?
August 21, 2020
Engaging insight into the phenomenology and science of consciousness. Disagreed with his conclusion but very much enjoyed reading.
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September 22, 2022Q:
Years later, while reading Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I was excited to find this passage: “I saw the backyard cedar where the mourning doves roost charged and transfigured, each cell buzzing with flame. I stood on the grass with the lights in it, grass that was wholly fire, utterly focused and utterly dreamed. It was less like seeing than like being for the first time seen, knocked breathless by a powerful glance.” It was, Dillard writes later, as if a great door had opened on the present, and the tree flickered with “the steady, inward flames of eternity.” Same sentiment, different tree. Dillard calls these moments “innocence”: “the spirits’ unselfconscious state at any moment of pure devotion to any object . . . at once a receptiveness and total concentration.” My friend Dawn, more prosaically, calls them “Matrix moments,”after the film’s signature frozen-in-air martial arts scenes. (c)
Q:
Years later, while reading Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I was excited to find this passage: “I saw the backyard cedar where the mourning doves roost charged and transfigured, each cell buzzing with flame. I stood on the grass with the lights in it, grass that was wholly fire, utterly focused and utterly dreamed. It was less like seeing than like being for the first time seen, knocked breathless by a powerful glance.” It was, Dillard writes later, as if a great door had opened on the present, and the tree flickered with “the steady, inward flames of eternity.” Same sentiment, different tree. Dillard calls these moments “innocence”: “the spirits’ unselfconscious state at any moment of pure devotion to any object . . . at once a receptiveness and total concentration.” My friend Dawn, more prosaically, calls them “Matrix moments,”after the film’s signature frozen-in-air martial arts scenes. (c)
Q:
September 29, 2017
This book was a jumble of neurological research findings, personal journey entries and metaphysical speculation. While there is plenty of interesting research findings in the book there is also an unfortunately significant amount of space devoted to personal journal-like entries by the author. These can occasionally serve to flesh out the subjective take for the reader but are more often distracting when the author is not capable of, or interested in, entering the said state, like in the chapter on meditation. Similarly, the author's tendency to fly off the handle and speculate endlessly about the metaphysical importance of some of these states ends up becoming aggravating really quickly. This is also the case with his use of unexplained neurological jargon that seems to be used to make the book “sound” scientific without bothering to use the language to increase the reader’s understanding of the subject. Lastly, as previously mentioned, it seemed that the author did not really enjoy, or was interested in, some of the states that he seeks to describe, like meditation. This results in a description that is completely based on second hand knowledge without adding anything of significant value. My suggestions to the interested reader would be to flip through the book and focus on the states that the author seems to have tried to experience firsthand, like lucid dreaming, the “watch” of bimodal sleep and the hypnogogic state, and ignore the rest of the work. Advice that should have been given by the editor to the author.
April 18, 2020
I’ve seen Jeff Warren doing meditation in Dan Harris’ meditation app, and he is an extremely likable guy. He seems gentle and friendly, and is one of those few guys that spout something about meditation and you think, “Well, it seems to have worked for him”.
In his book “The Head Trip”, which he wrote in 2017, we probably see a prequel of what Warren is today. In the book, he goes through deep lengths to really understand his mind, by focusing on each aspect of your brain in a different chapter, and usually by getting himself personally involved. So, we have chapters regarding lucid dreaming, where he would spend weeks to do it himself, or chapters on Neurofeedback where he would spend months scheduling sessions and having it done on him. The book is long, and at times I was getting bored, but I applaud Jeff Warren for going on this journey and inviting us along.
In his book “The Head Trip”, which he wrote in 2017, we probably see a prequel of what Warren is today. In the book, he goes through deep lengths to really understand his mind, by focusing on each aspect of your brain in a different chapter, and usually by getting himself personally involved. So, we have chapters regarding lucid dreaming, where he would spend weeks to do it himself, or chapters on Neurofeedback where he would spend months scheduling sessions and having it done on him. The book is long, and at times I was getting bored, but I applaud Jeff Warren for going on this journey and inviting us along.
March 27, 2016
Highly readable blend of personal anecdotes and the latest experimental research and speculation. If you have an interest in the nebulous field of human consciousness, you'll probably enjoy this book.
September 21, 2020
Was going to give this one 3, but Jeff started spreading misinformation when he started to talk about quantum mechanics and waves collapse being dependent on a conscious observer. No Jeff.. that's not how it works - consciousness has nothing to do with it.
We subtract one more star.
We subtract one more star.
December 13, 2023
I got to know Jeff Warren, the author, through his meditation audios, called day trip, in the Calm app. As I like his approach and teachings in meditation, I looked for his writings and I came across this book. This is a collection of his notes and experiments to understand the human consciousness. Jeff is curious about our curious mind, and address them by asking and experimenting. He wants to understand sleep, he goes to sleep institutes and become their subject by allowing them to monitor his EEG signals while dreaming. He wants to understand meditation, he goes to a meditation center in Scotland Highlands and practice it there. He wants to experiment hypnosis, he goes to a research lab, and given his unsuccessful experience, he visits a hypnosis pioneer. He attends workshops organized by well-known psychiatrists and holds interviews with them.
During his book, he walks you through the Wheel of Consciousness, while sharing his knowledge and experience. I briefly list them below:
Night-time
- The hypnagogic: the relaxing state we experience just before falling asleep. The theta brain wave and abundance of melatonin is the signature at this stage.
- The slow wave: the sleep phase when we are deep unconscious but have not gone into REM dreams yet. The delta brain wave is its signature.
- The watch: when we get awake in the middle of the night. We are relaxed in bed and cannot not sleep. Our brain is dominated with alpha waves.
- The REM dream: our eye balls move while we are dreaming at this stage.
- The lucid dream: when we know that we are asleep in our dream, so we can explore (or exploit!) the sleep space.
Day-time
- The hypnopompic: the sluggish state before becoming fully awake after sleep.
- The trance: hypnosis state.
- The daydream: we are relaxed at this stage. The alpha brain wave is its signature.
- The SMR: given its description in the book, I thought of the state explained in Power of Now. When you are relaxed and also alert and highly perceptive. The brain wave frequency is 13-15 hertz.
- The Zone: the state of flow.
- The pure consciousness event: meditative state.
During his book, he walks you through the Wheel of Consciousness, while sharing his knowledge and experience. I briefly list them below:
Night-time
- The hypnagogic: the relaxing state we experience just before falling asleep. The theta brain wave and abundance of melatonin is the signature at this stage.
- The slow wave: the sleep phase when we are deep unconscious but have not gone into REM dreams yet. The delta brain wave is its signature.
- The watch: when we get awake in the middle of the night. We are relaxed in bed and cannot not sleep. Our brain is dominated with alpha waves.
- The REM dream: our eye balls move while we are dreaming at this stage.
- The lucid dream: when we know that we are asleep in our dream, so we can explore (or exploit!) the sleep space.
Day-time
- The hypnopompic: the sluggish state before becoming fully awake after sleep.
- The trance: hypnosis state.
- The daydream: we are relaxed at this stage. The alpha brain wave is its signature.
- The SMR: given its description in the book, I thought of the state explained in Power of Now. When you are relaxed and also alert and highly perceptive. The brain wave frequency is 13-15 hertz.
- The Zone: the state of flow.
- The pure consciousness event: meditative state.
August 4, 2022
The author writes on sleep and sleep-like states of the human brain. These include hypnogogic phase were the transition to sleep occurs, slow-wave sleep, REM sleep, lucid dreaming where the individual becomes aware that he is dreaming, trances, hypnotism, meditation and more.
The author summarizes past views on these states, and relates his own experiences in investigating them. In the end, one is left with a hug collection of anecdotes and it is hard to know whether they signify anything. At times it is bizarre such as the recording of ECG's and reading a bunch of arbitrary interpretations into the traces. While it is interesting to read of research in this area, it doesn't seem to be coalescing into a better understanding of these states.
Interesting ideas:
- some work suggests that there are five cycles of sleep each night
- segmented sleep with an intervening wakeful period is natural to humans
- the hypnogogic state may ease learning, problem solving and the inspiration of new ideas (championed by Edison)
- sleep and wakefulness can overlap causing such things as sleepwalking and paralysis upon waking
- perhaps hypnotism is related to the placebo effect - both depend upon suggestion and don't work for everyone
The author summarizes past views on these states, and relates his own experiences in investigating them. In the end, one is left with a hug collection of anecdotes and it is hard to know whether they signify anything. At times it is bizarre such as the recording of ECG's and reading a bunch of arbitrary interpretations into the traces. While it is interesting to read of research in this area, it doesn't seem to be coalescing into a better understanding of these states.
Interesting ideas:
- some work suggests that there are five cycles of sleep each night
- segmented sleep with an intervening wakeful period is natural to humans
- the hypnogogic state may ease learning, problem solving and the inspiration of new ideas (championed by Edison)
- sleep and wakefulness can overlap causing such things as sleepwalking and paralysis upon waking
- perhaps hypnotism is related to the placebo effect - both depend upon suggestion and don't work for everyone
August 13, 2021
Whooo-weee this is a heady read (pun intended).
It helps that for the past year I have been listening to Warren's 10-minute "daily trips" on the Calm App. So I had a good sense going in what to expect about how he might frame a very deep dive into our waking and sleeping state of consciousness.
It reminded me a bit of Wilber's Theory of Everything, in that Warren does his best to include it all and then wrap it up in one final framework.
I am astounded how much work went into this -- both the researching the state of the fields and the personal interviews with those in the field. Not to forget, the author's own foray into experimenting with different states.
Unclear if his final framework makes a useable contribution to the field, but it was a very helpful way to bring knowledge to they layperson.
The author has one very complex, active mind.
It helps that for the past year I have been listening to Warren's 10-minute "daily trips" on the Calm App. So I had a good sense going in what to expect about how he might frame a very deep dive into our waking and sleeping state of consciousness.
It reminded me a bit of Wilber's Theory of Everything, in that Warren does his best to include it all and then wrap it up in one final framework.
I am astounded how much work went into this -- both the researching the state of the fields and the personal interviews with those in the field. Not to forget, the author's own foray into experimenting with different states.
Unclear if his final framework makes a useable contribution to the field, but it was a very helpful way to bring knowledge to they layperson.
The author has one very complex, active mind.
March 20, 2021
Enjoyable book on an interesting topic. It contains a lot of scientific insights, but they are presented in a not-so-very scientific way. Jeff Warren is describing his personal quest to find out more about our consciousness, our perception of self, and ways of knowing. He must have spent a lot of time and energy experimenting.
I have always been very interested in these same issues myself, and I also enjoyed this book even more because I could relate to his manner of thinking about these things: from very enthusiastic about any new ideas, to very sceptical and frustrated, blaming yourself for getting in the way of true knowledge, eventually leading to some more balanced acceptance that we just don't know so much. And then back to enthusiastic again :-)
I have always been very interested in these same issues myself, and I also enjoyed this book even more because I could relate to his manner of thinking about these things: from very enthusiastic about any new ideas, to very sceptical and frustrated, blaming yourself for getting in the way of true knowledge, eventually leading to some more balanced acceptance that we just don't know so much. And then back to enthusiastic again :-)
December 8, 2021
Great exploration of the mind! The Wheel of Consciousness is a wild roller-coaster, and the author has the relentless tenacity necessary when taking such a deep dive into brain matter.
Some of the revelations and discussions about the present mental state paradigm are mind-blowing. Our brain is a hive where a lot of wave transmitting goes on. All this vibrating intensity can somehow explain a lot about our well-being.
One of the most intricate facts is the notion that sleep and wake states are somehow interchangeable. LaBerge amazes his students by revealing that a dream is nothing but awakeness minus the sensory input, concluding that we, more or less, are dreaming all the time, even now. Dream on.
Some of the revelations and discussions about the present mental state paradigm are mind-blowing. Our brain is a hive where a lot of wave transmitting goes on. All this vibrating intensity can somehow explain a lot about our well-being.
One of the most intricate facts is the notion that sleep and wake states are somehow interchangeable. LaBerge amazes his students by revealing that a dream is nothing but awakeness minus the sensory input, concluding that we, more or less, are dreaming all the time, even now. Dream on.
March 3, 2020
Listened to the audiobook version.
Firstly there is a fair bit you can learn from this book. It was interesting to get an overview of a range of different consciousnesses that I wasn't aware of before.
However, I was relieved to get through it by the end. A few of the levels of consciousness blend into each other (the varying levels of sleep) and therefore feels a bit repetitive and dull. What's worse is the childish jokes that the author sprinkles throughout the book which made it hard for me to take it seriously. Maybe I just didn't like it so much because I listened to it right after Pollan's How to Change Your Mind, which I found much more accessible, interesting, and fun.
Firstly there is a fair bit you can learn from this book. It was interesting to get an overview of a range of different consciousnesses that I wasn't aware of before.
However, I was relieved to get through it by the end. A few of the levels of consciousness blend into each other (the varying levels of sleep) and therefore feels a bit repetitive and dull. What's worse is the childish jokes that the author sprinkles throughout the book which made it hard for me to take it seriously. Maybe I just didn't like it so much because I listened to it right after Pollan's How to Change Your Mind, which I found much more accessible, interesting, and fun.
April 6, 2018
Not perfect by any means, but an incredibly unique book that reveals a lot of insight about the mind from a primarily first-person perspective, with a healthy dose of neuroscience thrown in as well. Jeff isn't afraid to get a bit esoteric and even mystical, but is also careful to qualify things when necessary. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
September 6, 2018
Engaging study of consciousness: sleep, trance, meditation, hypnosis, neural feedback, etc. Author uses himself as a guinea pig to test many of the ideas various experts are touting, and doesn't take himself too seriously.
December 10, 2019
Great in parts with some useful information. It reads like a series of essays and sometimes the style will cause the reader to lose focus...sometimes scientific, always playful, sometimes too personal or journalistic.
April 6, 2022
I really love Jeff Warren. I discovered him on the Calm app. This book is pretty amazing. Definitely worth a read if you’re interested in meditation or dreaming. I listened to the book on Audible and the performance was very good as well.
May 31, 2017
At some points I was seriously uninterested and thus not enjoying. The conclusion chapter made a lot of sense.
October 8, 2017
A fun book, I liked the writing a lot. Sort of a travelogue of various states of consciousness, along with the author’s personal experiences trying them out and talking to scientists and experts.
May 10, 2020
I would like to read more books like this. Easy to read, fun, covers a lot of ground. I initially read it in 2007, but I think it is nearly time to read it again.
May 27, 2021
Jeff can do no wrong.
July 26, 2022
Meh...
July 2, 2023
This book was entertaining and informative. The author's writing style is so quirky I would have read it just for that. I had a smile on my face the whole time.
April 3, 2011
I love this book. It works wonderfully on many levels. There is lots of good information about the mind and the brain. It becomes very personal as the author goes into (or at least attempts to) all of the states of consciousness in the book. It is inspirational as one learns what the mind and brain are capable of. Also, I was continually inspired by the process of the author's writing of this book. The author(Warren) worked so very hard and long on this book, and this process became for me part of the enjoyment of the book. Warren is just a 'lay person' (i.e. not formally educated in the science and ways of the mind and the brain) that was driven by his extreme curiosity for the subject. Where some would go far, Warren goes farther. This is the best kind of 'self help' book in that the author goes through the process (of learning about and improving the mind) and demonstrates it to us. The author is not an expert that delivers his message on a tablet from above. But he is very knowledgeable and well read and CURIOUS, and this shines through in his writing. I liked the author's casual style, and I would get in line to be his 'drinking buddy'.
I continually thought of the Einstein as I read this book. Like Einstein, the author was driven by a desire to find UNITY among different (but related) subjects. Warren continually looked for commonality in all of the states of consciousness. The author even drew his own map of consciousness, demonstrating how much he learned about the subject.
There is a section (in the book) for each state of consciousness (as well as a conclusion that I found very satisfying). The author is well aware that his list of the 'consciousness states' is fallible. My fave sections are the meditation and lucid dreaming sections.
One particular insightful (and instructing and inspiring and irrestible and on and on) analogy in the book was the 'tornado analogy'. Warren was interviewing an 'expert' about (among other things) the different ways to analyze the mind and the brain. Generally speaking, there are a couple of approaches (top-down and bottom-up). The 'expert' preferred the top top-down approach. He brought up the example of how a tornado gathers up all in its path. So how useful is it to study all of the small things (that a tornado gathers) when one can study the tornado itself? It seems like another way to say "Don't sweat the small things". I realize that there are plenty of examples where this 'tornado analogy' breaks down (sometimes we got to "sweat the small things"). But we have to be careful about not seeing the forest for the trees.
But I digress. I think that there are a lot of readers out there that would love to read this book.
I continually thought of the Einstein as I read this book. Like Einstein, the author was driven by a desire to find UNITY among different (but related) subjects. Warren continually looked for commonality in all of the states of consciousness. The author even drew his own map of consciousness, demonstrating how much he learned about the subject.
There is a section (in the book) for each state of consciousness (as well as a conclusion that I found very satisfying). The author is well aware that his list of the 'consciousness states' is fallible. My fave sections are the meditation and lucid dreaming sections.
One particular insightful (and instructing and inspiring and irrestible and on and on) analogy in the book was the 'tornado analogy'. Warren was interviewing an 'expert' about (among other things) the different ways to analyze the mind and the brain. Generally speaking, there are a couple of approaches (top-down and bottom-up). The 'expert' preferred the top top-down approach. He brought up the example of how a tornado gathers up all in its path. So how useful is it to study all of the small things (that a tornado gathers) when one can study the tornado itself? It seems like another way to say "Don't sweat the small things". I realize that there are plenty of examples where this 'tornado analogy' breaks down (sometimes we got to "sweat the small things"). But we have to be careful about not seeing the forest for the trees.
But I digress. I think that there are a lot of readers out there that would love to read this book.
October 16, 2008
Personally and societally, I, we have strayed away from introspection in the last few years. This is probably a side-effect of our nation at war, and its self pity and xenophobia. We focus on 'practicalities' like who we should be killing, and who wants to kill us.
In this fear mongering climate we forget to ask important questions like "why do folks want to kill us?" Introspection is not impractical. At the very least, Sun Tzu said, "Know thyself, know thy enemy" At best, perhaps some of our current and future conflicts may be avoided.
I am rating this four stars for the timely ideas in it. The writing style is down to earth and accessible, but strays into goofy banter a bit too often for me. That said, the content discussed is extremely interesting and timely.
This book looks at states of mind through the day, from 'second sleep' to dreaming, stress, etc. We see that what seems commonplace, happening to us every day of our lives is really a fascinating landscape of neural, cognitive, and biochemical activity.
Since one of my core beliefs is that you need to know a system to work within it, this could also be considered a powerful self- help book. Enjoy.
In this fear mongering climate we forget to ask important questions like "why do folks want to kill us?" Introspection is not impractical. At the very least, Sun Tzu said, "Know thyself, know thy enemy" At best, perhaps some of our current and future conflicts may be avoided.
I am rating this four stars for the timely ideas in it. The writing style is down to earth and accessible, but strays into goofy banter a bit too often for me. That said, the content discussed is extremely interesting and timely.
This book looks at states of mind through the day, from 'second sleep' to dreaming, stress, etc. We see that what seems commonplace, happening to us every day of our lives is really a fascinating landscape of neural, cognitive, and biochemical activity.
Since one of my core beliefs is that you need to know a system to work within it, this could also be considered a powerful self- help book. Enjoy.
July 25, 2011
Wow! Jeff Warren's restless intellect takes you on
a journey through the known (non drug induced) states of consciousness that is truly mind expanding. Quoting research and interviewing internatonal experts in the emrerging field of consciousness studies, Warren's treatise is at once fascinating, mind boggling and suprosongly hilarious as he includes his own experiences and anecdotes while he takes us through his journey of writing this book. Warren's style is refreshing and lucid. His use of diagrams, post it note style summaries and even comic strip illustrations is remarkably effective. I found myself reading every footnote and for perhaps the first time ever found the most rewarding part of a book in the epilogue. We tend to think of consciosness, if we think about it at all, as a simple split between sleeping and waking. Join Warren in his exploration of states of consciousness from the hypnogogic state through, the lucid dream, the zone, the trance,
right through to the rarified meditative state of the "pure conscious event" and you will never think of sleeping and waking the same way again. Thoroughly enjoyable and mind expanding!
a journey through the known (non drug induced) states of consciousness that is truly mind expanding. Quoting research and interviewing internatonal experts in the emrerging field of consciousness studies, Warren's treatise is at once fascinating, mind boggling and suprosongly hilarious as he includes his own experiences and anecdotes while he takes us through his journey of writing this book. Warren's style is refreshing and lucid. His use of diagrams, post it note style summaries and even comic strip illustrations is remarkably effective. I found myself reading every footnote and for perhaps the first time ever found the most rewarding part of a book in the epilogue. We tend to think of consciosness, if we think about it at all, as a simple split between sleeping and waking. Join Warren in his exploration of states of consciousness from the hypnogogic state through, the lucid dream, the zone, the trance,
right through to the rarified meditative state of the "pure conscious event" and you will never think of sleeping and waking the same way again. Thoroughly enjoyable and mind expanding!
October 23, 2010
This book was fascinating to me as someone who is interested in mindfulness and observing how the mind works. This is less of a science book and more a first-hand account of Warren's adventures in studying his own brain: getting hooked up to all kinds of equipment (no fMRI, though, sad!), having his brain examined from all kinds of angles, experimenting with different states of consciousness in various controlled (and uncontrolled) settings, and interviewing top thinkers in neuroscience and psychology.
Many opposing viewpoints are presented, and a wide variety of professional and non-professional literature is cited in the endnotes.
I'm struck by how our ability to study the brain is currently advancing with great rapidity, and yet still pitifully simplistic and limited compared to the unfathomable complexity of our brains themselves. If you think of human beings as starstuff that happens to be organized into a form that is able to think about the Universe, how wonderful, then, that the lump of matter that is the brain can think about itself!
Many opposing viewpoints are presented, and a wide variety of professional and non-professional literature is cited in the endnotes.
I'm struck by how our ability to study the brain is currently advancing with great rapidity, and yet still pitifully simplistic and limited compared to the unfathomable complexity of our brains themselves. If you think of human beings as starstuff that happens to be organized into a form that is able to think about the Universe, how wonderful, then, that the lump of matter that is the brain can think about itself!
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