Act: Neuroscience and Consciousness

by Clemens Lode, Conna Craig (Editor)

Being a hero means standing up to false heroes. To gain this ability, we need to have a good grasp of the nature of the universe and to be able to understand our minds. This book is an introduction to the most current research in neurobiology and consciousness. It is easy to read, uses numerous examples, and introduces concepts from the ground up. After reading the book, you will be able to explain what it means to be conscious. The book’s goal is to give an introduction to neuroscience focused on consciousness. It addresses the following What is the self?- Does the brain even need a "self"?- What is this seemingly mysterious subjective experience we share?- How can we think, dream, plan, feel, and make decisions?The first part of the book discusses the evolutionary history of primates’ brains using real-life examples. The second part builds a flowchart of consciousness (the so-called "loop of consciousness"). It concludes that consciousness must be an umbrella term for many of our brain’s Sense Sense data is registered and pre-processed in the brain.- The ability of the brain to focus on particular sense data using neural competition.- Contents of the working memory, including information of "what," "where," and "who."- Attention The ability to access the working memory to use it to update the prefrontal cortex’s models and use those models to suppress or promote individual actions.- Awareness The ability of the brain to manipulate awareness to think about alternative scenarios. The working memory is used to manipulate future loops of consciousness.- Abstract knowledge about awareness, enhancing the brain’s ability to create habits and strategies to adapt the id.
What would lead a computer scientist and project manager to turn to philosophy for answers? Clemens Lode has a passion for solving problems by applying ideas from nature. In his examination into what could give lifeless machines a "heart," he found that the answer requires a holistic examination of the world.Becoming a hero requires gaining an understanding of what the greatest minds of history have pondered. Philosophy for Heroes summarizes their wisdom and connects it with the modern world.
What would lead a computer scientist and project manager to turn to philosophy for answers? Clemens Lode has a passion for solving problems by applying ideas from nature. In his examination into what could give lifeless machines a "heart," he found that the answer requires a holistic examination of the world.With his book series Philosophy for Heroes, Lode bridges the gap between science, philosophy, psychology, and ultimately leadership. In this, the third of a five-book series, he takes the reader on a journey through topics at the forefront of science. How did humans evolve? How can we make decisions? What is consciousness, and why do we think it is within our heads? How could we give machines a human-like consciousness?

280 pages, Paperback

Published December 31, 2020

About the author

What would lead a computer scientist to write about publishing books with LaTeX? Clemens Lode is passionate about clean design and streamlined workflows in software projects. The same methods can be applied to typesetting and publishing.

Clemens has been writing books since he could hold a pencil and use a mechanical typewriter. Starting with creating interactive books, he later turned to programming computer games and tools, using AI long before the topic was in the public eye. He has spent 15 years as a software architect and agile coach, lectured on artificial intelligence at university, and published 10 books on topics from philosophy to project management.

Clemens Lode is the founder of LODE Publishing, established to help authors turn complex ideas into polished, professional publications. With his "Philosophy for Heroes" series, he bridges the gap between coding, science, philosophy, and leadership—taking readers from the foundations of knowledge to practical heroism.

Clemens received his Masters in computer science from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. After focusing his studies on nature-inspired optimization, and his professional career on large-scale healthcare server applications, he moved on to optimizing businesses and, ultimately, helping authors realize their publishing dreams.

Before creating LODE Publishing, he founded a company dedicated to bringing the power of nature to computers. Its most successful product was a program that used evolutionary algorithms to optimize game strategies—a task Google later adopted for AI development.

Clemens currently works as an author, publishing coach, and business IT consultant in Dusseldorf, Germany. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking, singing, reading mind-bending books, and designing board games.