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Войны мозга. Научные споры вокруг разума и сознания
Сегодня происходит стремительное развитие технологий. Благодаря развитию науки мы знаем все больше о мире и о себе. Самые заманчивые и перспективные рубежи науки XXI века демонстрируют нам поразительные модели реального и возможного, которые невозможно объяснить материалистически. При этом у нас появляются совершенно новые инструменты, с помощью которых мы можем исследовать природу взаимоотношений между нашим разумом — нашим сознанием, нашим "я" — и нашим мозгом. Что же известно о связи разума и мозга сегодня? Остается ли в современном мире место для духовной реальности, мистики и тайны?
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2012
59 people are currently reading
456 people want to read
About the author
Mario Beauregard
28 books19 followersMario Beauregard's groundbreaking work on the neurobiology of mystical experience at the University of Montreal has received international media coverage. Before becoming a faculty member there, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas and the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University). Because of his research into the neuro-science of consciousness, he was selected by the World Media Net to be among the "One Hundred Pioneers of the 21st Century." He lives in Montreal, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
November 22, 2020
Kai neurologas tvirtina, kad žmogus tai daugiau nei smegenys, kad būna patirčių nuo jų nepriklausančių, su tuo aš sutinku, nes tai tik patvirtina ir namo asmenines patirtis. Tačiau jei jūs tikite, kad už mūsų nervų sistemos veiklos daugiau nieko nėra, kad visas patirtis organizuoja įvairios tarpneuroninės sąveikos, geriau šios knygos ir neskaitykit.
June 13, 2014
Are human beings truly nothing more than "computers made of meat," which cease to exist when the power's turned off?
This book takes a look at some of the evidence that consciousness exists in addition to and outside of the brain, and shows that the mind can do seemingly impossible things. Why/how placebos work, what has been documented to happen during OOB (Out of Body) and NDE's (Near Death Experiences). How "remote viewing" is a thing and has been used by the US government.
And what does quantum physics have to do with it all?
While I can't begin to explain all the points this book touches upon, I came away from it with a renewed belief that the brain and body are important tools, but are no more "us" than our favorite jeans are "us." A mind-expanding read.
This book takes a look at some of the evidence that consciousness exists in addition to and outside of the brain, and shows that the mind can do seemingly impossible things. Why/how placebos work, what has been documented to happen during OOB (Out of Body) and NDE's (Near Death Experiences). How "remote viewing" is a thing and has been used by the US government.
And what does quantum physics have to do with it all?
While I can't begin to explain all the points this book touches upon, I came away from it with a renewed belief that the brain and body are important tools, but are no more "us" than our favorite jeans are "us." A mind-expanding read.
February 22, 2013
Well documented by a Canadian research neurologist. the point of the book is that the current scientific "materialism" view of the mind is inadequate and that there are hundreds of well researched and documented phenomena that don't fit the current, prevalent view of how the mind and brain and body work together. Interesting.
September 29, 2012
Why oh why do I waste time with this sort of thing?
The majority of the book, up through chapter five, not only fails to support the author's contention that the mind is separate from the brain, it actually supports the opposite opinion. Even if one takes for granted that the anecdotes about the placebo effect and psychosomatic healing and so forth are true, the chapters actually mention the various neurological and chemical pathways that could explain the effects solely through interaction between the physical brain and the rest of the body.
The remaining chapters are just the usual anecdotes and uncritical meta-analyses of tiny supposed effects, combined with the author's admiration for people who have nothing better to do than sit and stare at walls or pray or whatever until their brains go wonky out of sheer boredom and they declare it a mystical experience.
File this book with Chris Carter's stuff as being all storytelling and grandiose claims with nothing particularly persuasive about it. If you must read something for a sympathetic take on psi evidence, Dean Radin is a far better choice.
The majority of the book, up through chapter five, not only fails to support the author's contention that the mind is separate from the brain, it actually supports the opposite opinion. Even if one takes for granted that the anecdotes about the placebo effect and psychosomatic healing and so forth are true, the chapters actually mention the various neurological and chemical pathways that could explain the effects solely through interaction between the physical brain and the rest of the body.
The remaining chapters are just the usual anecdotes and uncritical meta-analyses of tiny supposed effects, combined with the author's admiration for people who have nothing better to do than sit and stare at walls or pray or whatever until their brains go wonky out of sheer boredom and they declare it a mystical experience.
File this book with Chris Carter's stuff as being all storytelling and grandiose claims with nothing particularly persuasive about it. If you must read something for a sympathetic take on psi evidence, Dean Radin is a far better choice.
February 25, 2016
Dr. Beauregard does not hide his wish to believe, therefore this is by no means an unbiased position. However, he makes a thorough review of a wide amount of research that seem to back his point of view. The resulting book is extremely interesting and an easy read. The topics are not fully explainable phenomenon, such as placebo, hypnosis, psi abilities, meditation etc. While there is much controversy about most of them, the fact remains that they are often documented and cannot be explained by traditional science. I am open to possibilities and the book points me in many interesting directions to do my own research and investigation. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I read in two days.
July 29, 2014
This really made me think and desire to live in the present. It took me a while to read but was worth it! I have stared meditation practices and have had wonderful results in my every day life thanks to this book.
October 6, 2013
The author of this book has also written The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul. Brain Wars reviews studies around the placebo effect, the effects of neurofeedback on the brain, neuroplasticity (the ability to alter the brain’s structure), the connection between the mind and the body, effects at a distance (psi), near death experiences (NDE) and mystical experiences (ME).
Beauregard, like others, is taking to task the materialist worldview that permeates our culture and which gives rise to anomalies in the sense of that term used by Thomas Kuhn. The materialist worldview, based on the ‘old physics’ maintains that the universe and everything within it, consists of material objects consisting, at their base of atoms, and molecules, that interact with each other in the ways described by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Newtonian physics has been hugely successful and still usefully aids in explaining many observations in daily life as well as sending spacecraft to orbit or to other planets etc. It’s interesting that although this worldview cannot explain effects at a distance, basic to Newton’s thinking was just such an effect i.e. gravity. Of course Newton’s mystical writings far exceeded, in volume, his writings in physics, something that is frequently neglected in histories of science.
Early in the 20th century philosophers such as A. N. Whitehead were probing the fallacies of materialist science and offering alternative models. As theoretical physics grappled with the anomalies that increasingly became apparent, quantum physics was developed. This changed the direction of physics, but, for most has had little observable effect on the materialist worldview of our culture. By ‘our culture’ I mean what is loosely called the ‘West’, as in McNeil’s book The Rise of the West or Morris’ Why the West Rules-for Now and so forth. Materialism is so deeply a part of our culture that to appreciate another perspective is as difficult as a fish conceiving of a world without water. Nevertheless, for some time now alternative viewpoints have arisen. It is often pointed out that other cultures both historically and currently, have been evolved without a materialist worldview.
Materialism has great difficulty explaining our subjective experiences. How does the ‘meat of the brain’ make possible our appreciation of a magnificent work of art or a sunset or our love of others? The new neuroscience, embedded in a materialist science seeks the answer in a more detailed understanding of the circuitry of the brain. Coming from this perspective, theories of the mind suggest that the mind arises from the ‘epiphenomenon’ of complex neural circuits as if that is an explanation. Trying to explain observations such as effects at a distance or out of body experiences (OBE) or NDE are not possible with a materialist approach. They are, however, within the realm of quantum physics.
As Beauregard briefly lays out the elements of what he calls the expanded view reality: it includes the mental, the physical, the subjective and the objective, the first-person perspective, and the third-person perspective; it assumes that mind and consciousness area prerequisite for reality because they allow us to perceive and experience the world; it assumes that mind and the physical world are continuously interacting because they are not really separated; it assumes that the mind and consciousness are not pr oduced by the brain; in this way MEs represent a diret, intuitive apprehension of the undivided wholeness.
Given the subtitle (The Scientific Battle over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives), especially the last phrase, I was disappointed that so little of the book dealt with that “proof that will change…”
I found the references to be out-dated and had hoped for some more current ones. He doesn’t mention such books as The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles by Lipton or Lazlo’s Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, or Rolston’s Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Life, Mind or the extensive writings of Ken Wilber all of wish add more substance to his argument.
Beauregard, like others, is taking to task the materialist worldview that permeates our culture and which gives rise to anomalies in the sense of that term used by Thomas Kuhn. The materialist worldview, based on the ‘old physics’ maintains that the universe and everything within it, consists of material objects consisting, at their base of atoms, and molecules, that interact with each other in the ways described by Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Newtonian physics has been hugely successful and still usefully aids in explaining many observations in daily life as well as sending spacecraft to orbit or to other planets etc. It’s interesting that although this worldview cannot explain effects at a distance, basic to Newton’s thinking was just such an effect i.e. gravity. Of course Newton’s mystical writings far exceeded, in volume, his writings in physics, something that is frequently neglected in histories of science.
Early in the 20th century philosophers such as A. N. Whitehead were probing the fallacies of materialist science and offering alternative models. As theoretical physics grappled with the anomalies that increasingly became apparent, quantum physics was developed. This changed the direction of physics, but, for most has had little observable effect on the materialist worldview of our culture. By ‘our culture’ I mean what is loosely called the ‘West’, as in McNeil’s book The Rise of the West or Morris’ Why the West Rules-for Now and so forth. Materialism is so deeply a part of our culture that to appreciate another perspective is as difficult as a fish conceiving of a world without water. Nevertheless, for some time now alternative viewpoints have arisen. It is often pointed out that other cultures both historically and currently, have been evolved without a materialist worldview.
Materialism has great difficulty explaining our subjective experiences. How does the ‘meat of the brain’ make possible our appreciation of a magnificent work of art or a sunset or our love of others? The new neuroscience, embedded in a materialist science seeks the answer in a more detailed understanding of the circuitry of the brain. Coming from this perspective, theories of the mind suggest that the mind arises from the ‘epiphenomenon’ of complex neural circuits as if that is an explanation. Trying to explain observations such as effects at a distance or out of body experiences (OBE) or NDE are not possible with a materialist approach. They are, however, within the realm of quantum physics.
As Beauregard briefly lays out the elements of what he calls the expanded view reality: it includes the mental, the physical, the subjective and the objective, the first-person perspective, and the third-person perspective; it assumes that mind and consciousness area prerequisite for reality because they allow us to perceive and experience the world; it assumes that mind and the physical world are continuously interacting because they are not really separated; it assumes that the mind and consciousness are not pr oduced by the brain; in this way MEs represent a diret, intuitive apprehension of the undivided wholeness.
Given the subtitle (The Scientific Battle over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives), especially the last phrase, I was disappointed that so little of the book dealt with that “proof that will change…”
I found the references to be out-dated and had hoped for some more current ones. He doesn’t mention such books as The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles by Lipton or Lazlo’s Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything, or Rolston’s Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Life, Mind or the extensive writings of Ken Wilber all of wish add more substance to his argument.
January 28, 2013
This is one of those books that I would beg every person who subscribes to the scientific materialist worldview because it is a book on all of the current science that challenges that worldview. If you don't know what materialism means, in layman's terms its the belief that the basis of reality is matter and there is no such thing as spirit. However, as this book shows, the mystical/spiritual idea that consciousness plus matter is the basis of reality is being borne out by the science into such things as: the placebo effect, hypnosis and NDEs among other things. It is a very well-written book and concludes very positively, showing that this changing worldview may have seriously positive effects on our culture, as we KNOW we are more connected to each other and to the world around us, thus increasing our empathy and our environmental perspective.
August 9, 2023
It was like reading the "Studies Show" website. A lot of weird studies and experiments, but few conclusions.
August 27, 2012
This is an excellent overview of the key issues and questions related to the current study of human consciousness. Are we mere "meat puppets" or might our consciousness actually play an integral role in the manifestation of physical reality? The author presents compelling evidence for the latter paradigm. Brain Wars is, however, an introductory book, meaning that the questions posed and the topics covered are discussed at a level for a reader who has recently broached the topic. That's not a criticism - Brain Wars is a terrific addition to the body of knowledge, especially for readers who are newly confronting the frustrating intellectual limitations of a neuroscience anchored preferentially in materialism. This anchor inevitably defines (limits) the breadth of the experimental questions posed as scientists race to unravel the mystery of human consciousness with new imaging technology. The structure of the book works well, and the chapters on NDEs (my particular area of knowledge) are solid and somewhat inspiring, even if the anecdotes presented are old news at this point.
May 25, 2012
For a book aiming to "convert" or convince materialists that the mind is independent of the body, it sure did coorelate the two an awful lot. When it there was no way to tie the two in together, the author began to argue that people who disagreed with him were "pseudoskeptics," without considering the fact that, even with the evidence presented, there were other possible explanations for the observed phenomena. This book would have been much better if it were objective, always. There were times where I sensed frustration that no one agreed with him. Many of the sources and arguments were dated, shaky or both. Nevertheless, I was given a new perspective. It would be wrong to say I didn't learn anything, or even only a little. This is a very useful book for anyone to read. Although, it was not what I was looking for at all.
June 24, 2014
Some fascinating data, but it all seems to point to the exact opposite of the author's conclusion. With the possible exception of the chapter on NDE's, all his anecdotes seem to indicate that mind and brain are functions of one another.
December 26, 2014
1 star because I can't give 0. Horrible pseudoscience.
February 10, 2017
When I picked up this book I thought it was about something else, specifically that neuroscience was overly reductive in some of its claims. It is about that in a way, but the contention the author makes is that neuro-scientific evidence supports "substance dualism" or as lay people call it, the soul. For the first few chapters I was worried about how I was going to review this book, since I thought Beuregard to be very lucid and that a lot of his arguments could very well support a different and equally interesting thesis than the one he had chosen. However, about halfway through the book he makes a left turn straight into pseudoscience, making my review that much easier to write.
Things start to go bad in the chapter where he discuses hypnosis. I was willing to forgive his anecdote about yogis stopping their hearts because I thought it was going somewhere, but Beauregard cites a number of discredited studies about hypnosis that any scientist should know better than to use. What makes this so maddening is he does have some fairly solid data mixed in there.
Then he writes a whole chapter defending the belief in ESP. I think perhaps this could be done if one wanted to defend the idea that there is some interesting research in that area, but Beauregard basically argues that it is irrefutable that ESP exists and is documented but the rest of the scientific community won't accept it because of their bias.
The only chapter that really defends Beauregard's thesis is the one on near death experiences. Once again, he fluctuates between lucid critique of the research and a reliance on anecdotal evidence and accusations of bias toward the scientific community. I don't actually doubt that some researchers have a bias because they dislike religion or could never be convinced that the supernatural is real no matter what evidence is presented, but Beauregard is obviously a believer, and both his last chapter conclusion make this abundantly clear.
Things start to go bad in the chapter where he discuses hypnosis. I was willing to forgive his anecdote about yogis stopping their hearts because I thought it was going somewhere, but Beauregard cites a number of discredited studies about hypnosis that any scientist should know better than to use. What makes this so maddening is he does have some fairly solid data mixed in there.
Then he writes a whole chapter defending the belief in ESP. I think perhaps this could be done if one wanted to defend the idea that there is some interesting research in that area, but Beauregard basically argues that it is irrefutable that ESP exists and is documented but the rest of the scientific community won't accept it because of their bias.
The only chapter that really defends Beauregard's thesis is the one on near death experiences. Once again, he fluctuates between lucid critique of the research and a reliance on anecdotal evidence and accusations of bias toward the scientific community. I don't actually doubt that some researchers have a bias because they dislike religion or could never be convinced that the supernatural is real no matter what evidence is presented, but Beauregard is obviously a believer, and both his last chapter conclusion make this abundantly clear.
February 20, 2020
I found the book very interesting. The brain has always fascinated me, the powers of positive/negative thought, meditation and other processes of the brain and mind are bewildering. While the books conclusions appear to be backed up by science, all determinations made reference specific studies, I have 2 problems with the book which are the reasons for the 3 star rating.
1. Almost every study has a very small sample size which doesn't discredit the results, but makes them less conclusive. Many studies involved less than 20 people.
2. It seems the author made the fatal mistake of setting out to prove his point instead of letting the results determine the facts. Every single study cited shows what he seems to already "know" is true, which makes me think the studies may have been cherry picked (just a suspicion no evidence to support it) and any part of a study that he disagrees with he attempts to explain away. For example: 2 conflicting studies regarding temporal lobe effects on MEs were performed, the one he agrees with is taken as fact and the other he discredits but doesn't really explain why. We are expected to go along with his assertion, one was legitimate and the other was flawed without an explanation of why.
Overall I enjoyed the book even though I found some flaws in it. There are certainly thought provoking ideas here and I am interested in reading more about the topic and getting different perspectives. Very quick read and engaging, definitely recommend it
1. Almost every study has a very small sample size which doesn't discredit the results, but makes them less conclusive. Many studies involved less than 20 people.
2. It seems the author made the fatal mistake of setting out to prove his point instead of letting the results determine the facts. Every single study cited shows what he seems to already "know" is true, which makes me think the studies may have been cherry picked (just a suspicion no evidence to support it) and any part of a study that he disagrees with he attempts to explain away. For example: 2 conflicting studies regarding temporal lobe effects on MEs were performed, the one he agrees with is taken as fact and the other he discredits but doesn't really explain why. We are expected to go along with his assertion, one was legitimate and the other was flawed without an explanation of why.
Overall I enjoyed the book even though I found some flaws in it. There are certainly thought provoking ideas here and I am interested in reading more about the topic and getting different perspectives. Very quick read and engaging, definitely recommend it
August 25, 2021
An interesting look at different phenomena and the scientific experiments that have been shaped around proving the existence of these supernatural phenomena.
Author examines several examples of different metaphysical phenomena related to the brain. This includes remote sensing, telepathy, clairvoyance, placebo and nocebo effect, NDES. etc. Whilst intriguing some of the examples just seem way too far fetched to even be written in an academic discussion on the subject which makes me doubt the authors skepticism and objectivity.
Will this turn a materialist into a dualist or idealist ?
I doubt it but it definitely will make you curious to research further
Author examines several examples of different metaphysical phenomena related to the brain. This includes remote sensing, telepathy, clairvoyance, placebo and nocebo effect, NDES. etc. Whilst intriguing some of the examples just seem way too far fetched to even be written in an academic discussion on the subject which makes me doubt the authors skepticism and objectivity.
Will this turn a materialist into a dualist or idealist ?
I doubt it but it definitely will make you curious to research further
July 10, 2024
Repeatedly through out this book experts that disagree with Beauregard are misrepresented and their motives framed as malicious. At the start the questions raised have some reasonable support but as the book progresses the support for claims made becomes thinner and thinner until in the final page of the book it is claimed that "big pharma" has been proven to not be necessary since we can heal ourselves with our minds. (This is a call back to much weaker claims about the extent we can improve our health with thought earlier in the book.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2018
Interesting read about various cases of mind over matter regarding the use of hypnosis, meditation, neurofeedback etc with compelling cases that are often corroborated to some degree by others where possible. If you're interested in overcoming your body with your mind, this might be worth a read as a means of dipping your toes in to look at the possibilities. If you're closed-minded, this will just be another snark read.
August 20, 2018
The author challenges many of our commonly held ideas about our brains/minds/bodies as well as the status quo in mainstream science on these topics by presenting a wide range of studies which raise questions about those understandings. The book provides plenty of food for thought on these topics. It will be very interesting to see what further research in these areas yields and if they’ll eventually lead to a paradigm shift.
February 28, 2023
My recommendation to readers is to take from it what you will, as it will challenge most beliefs & worldviews. I was both impressed & intrigued to discover more. If it causes a significant reaction in you, work to discover where that comes from. I've looked into more of the anecdotes & research mentioned (there is a lot), but ultimately I appreciate the way the concepts are fit together & offered for readers to digest or reject what they will. You decide!
July 21, 2017
This is an interesting and thought-provoking discussion of how the brain relates to the mind and the body. I am quite intrigued by the first five chapters.
September 2, 2013
As my star rating indicates, Brain Wars was OK.
I found that the book, in the end, did not adequately justify Beauregard's beliefs that materialism is wrong and that mind is separate from the physical. That, of course, is not to say that materialism is the position in accordance with reality. I picked up this book hoping for strong arguments and scientific evidence not only supporting Beauregard's belief, but also arguments which showed that materialism is incorrect. However, that hope wasn't fully satisfied.
To quickly sum up the main two reasons why I wasn't satisfied: 1. The evidence/arguments/anecdotes were ambiguous (meaning they could support either position) and 2. Beauregard did not really define what he was trying to prove.
In regards to reason #1, one example of this ambiguity I found was with the placebo effect. Beauregard's 2nd chapter, The Power of Belief to Cure or Kill, focuses entirely upon the placebo/nocebo effects. The author recounts many anecdotes where pseudo-medicine (an injection of water in one case) was given to a patient with a serious diseases and, the patient strongly believing that this medicine would heal, miraculously was cured. I did not clearly see how this supported the "existence of the mind" and the author didn't do a great job of explaining it to me. Near the end of the chapter Beauregard wrote this, "It seems likely that the signals associated with the placebo intervention are interpreted and translated into specific brain events" (41). Well, it seems to me that Beauregard just materialized the placebo effect by declaring that "signals" are translated, by the brain, into "brain events". Perhaps he meant the word "signals" to be defined as being associated with the mind rather than brain; which brings me to reason #2.
In the introduction to the book, definitions for certain beliefs are given and other positions are introduced. He introduced many interpretations and analogies of the mind-brain duo, but never blatantly asserted or defined it for the purposes of the book. Despite this, it seemed to me that, as I read through the book, Beauregard claimed that your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, emotions, etc. are your mind. This was unsatisfying. Obviously it is difficult to define something such as one's mind as independent from the physical brain, but it seemed as if the author did not even attempt to define it. He just gave many analogies and philosophical positions and hoped the reader would nod their head in agreement to one of them. This may be one of the reasons why so many of the alleged proofs Beauregard gave were ambiguous to me.
Even though I may have not been convinced by the book, at all, I still think it's worth something. It tackled many subjects which are seen in a negative/controversial light in the scientific community such as psi, mystical experiences, and near-death experiences. I noticed, while reading, that I had a very unfair bias against most of these subjects. If anything, this book has helped me to become a more open-minded person because of its somewhat serious treatment of these subjects. It has helped me to acknowledge innate biases I otherwise wouldn't have recognized.
Also, being a layman, I have learned a great deal about the subjects discussed in the book. Although, those well-versed in the history of psychology might find this book boring as it deals with famous accounts of anomalies and somewhat old studies. If I were to recommend this book to anyone it would be to those who, like me, know very little about psychology and would like an interesting take on it.
I found that the book, in the end, did not adequately justify Beauregard's beliefs that materialism is wrong and that mind is separate from the physical. That, of course, is not to say that materialism is the position in accordance with reality. I picked up this book hoping for strong arguments and scientific evidence not only supporting Beauregard's belief, but also arguments which showed that materialism is incorrect. However, that hope wasn't fully satisfied.
To quickly sum up the main two reasons why I wasn't satisfied: 1. The evidence/arguments/anecdotes were ambiguous (meaning they could support either position) and 2. Beauregard did not really define what he was trying to prove.
In regards to reason #1, one example of this ambiguity I found was with the placebo effect. Beauregard's 2nd chapter, The Power of Belief to Cure or Kill, focuses entirely upon the placebo/nocebo effects. The author recounts many anecdotes where pseudo-medicine (an injection of water in one case) was given to a patient with a serious diseases and, the patient strongly believing that this medicine would heal, miraculously was cured. I did not clearly see how this supported the "existence of the mind" and the author didn't do a great job of explaining it to me. Near the end of the chapter Beauregard wrote this, "It seems likely that the signals associated with the placebo intervention are interpreted and translated into specific brain events" (41). Well, it seems to me that Beauregard just materialized the placebo effect by declaring that "signals" are translated, by the brain, into "brain events". Perhaps he meant the word "signals" to be defined as being associated with the mind rather than brain; which brings me to reason #2.
In the introduction to the book, definitions for certain beliefs are given and other positions are introduced. He introduced many interpretations and analogies of the mind-brain duo, but never blatantly asserted or defined it for the purposes of the book. Despite this, it seemed to me that, as I read through the book, Beauregard claimed that your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, emotions, etc. are your mind. This was unsatisfying. Obviously it is difficult to define something such as one's mind as independent from the physical brain, but it seemed as if the author did not even attempt to define it. He just gave many analogies and philosophical positions and hoped the reader would nod their head in agreement to one of them. This may be one of the reasons why so many of the alleged proofs Beauregard gave were ambiguous to me.
Even though I may have not been convinced by the book, at all, I still think it's worth something. It tackled many subjects which are seen in a negative/controversial light in the scientific community such as psi, mystical experiences, and near-death experiences. I noticed, while reading, that I had a very unfair bias against most of these subjects. If anything, this book has helped me to become a more open-minded person because of its somewhat serious treatment of these subjects. It has helped me to acknowledge innate biases I otherwise wouldn't have recognized.
Also, being a layman, I have learned a great deal about the subjects discussed in the book. Although, those well-versed in the history of psychology might find this book boring as it deals with famous accounts of anomalies and somewhat old studies. If I were to recommend this book to anyone it would be to those who, like me, know very little about psychology and would like an interesting take on it.
April 26, 2021
Although conceptually interesting at times, Beauregard's book leaves many holes to be filled. I enjoy explorations of existence and consciousness that tie in scientific foundations and new research--especially when human physiology and quantum theory are involved. However, the author's arguments are incredibly weak and leave out so many other interesting ideas related to this topic! I am certainly not a materialist/reductionist and do believe that there is much more to discover, but I am also a skeptic.
December 5, 2012
I'm not sure why I continue to read this to almost the end. It did offer some interesting anecdotes and information on the brain but would then spin it to support his proposition that there exists a mind separate from the brain. However, most of his "evidence" doesn't support his conclusion. It seems he began with a conclusions and attempted to shoehorn that evidence to fit the conclusion. There are far better books on the brain with far less of an agenda.
June 22, 2013
A fascinating and refreshing book on the nature of the human brain (and mind). I found myself putting the book down every so often just to reflect on the implications of Beauregard's views. Interesting!
July 7, 2013
The author makes a compelling case that there is more to existance than materialist science would indicate. There are enough cases of our minds being something separate from our physical brains that it causes me to think...
December 27, 2025
Highly informative, and yet easily understood. Brain Wars provides an interesting insight to the battle between mind and brain, while also laying out piles of evidence to support any claims or conclusions made.
May 7, 2012
Interesting review of the current research on mind over body, not sure if the arguments will convince materialists.
Read
August 19, 2015just dont
July 3, 2012
Beauregard has some good data on NDE, but wanders off in other areas with much less justification.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews