The Strange, Familiar, And Forgotten: An Anatomy of Consciousness

by Israel Rosenfield

An explanation of what consciousness is and how the brain creates and sustains it reconsiders famous clinical cases, as well as new evidence from science, to show how memories, language, thoughts, and drives make up consciousness.

Genres: Science, Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy

157 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 1992

Reviews

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book along the lines of Oliver Sacks's writings, but focusing more on how people build a consciousness and a sense of self. Those with traumatic brain injuries that cause them to, say, forget the names of colors, or to no longer be aware that they have hands, tend to also have an altered self-concept. When we cannot interact with the world in the same way, the way we see ourselves is also changed.

This was an especially good book for me to read at this point when I'm getting tired of theory and more interested in empiricism. I like philosophy and all but man, you can't just pull stuff out of nowhere.