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Title: How Brains Make Up Their Minds by Walter J. Freeman ISBN: 0-231-12008-7 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: unclear and unconvincing
Comment: In this book, Prof. Freeman is trying to resolve a very difficult problem : if my brain operates as mechanically as a car, then how can I be free to make choices and be responsible for my decisions ? He makes a detail ( lengthy ) presentation on his proposed solution. Unfortunately, after reading the whole book, I think he fails to provide a clear answer to the question.
His main idea is that there is an important difference between human brain and other substances in the universe such as a car. The brain is a complicated nonlinear system and capable of self-organization. It does not respond directly to incoming stimuli like a reflex action, but it is continuously changing and constructing its own neural activity patterns in order to adapt to and synchronize with the external stimuli. The active involvement of the brain can be seen from the fact that we won't interpret the world as moving backward when we know we are walking on a street. This self-awareness and the real-time interactions between the brain and the environment form what he called the circular causality. He concludes that a behaviour comes from the final decision of the brain itself who therefore bears the responsibility.
However, I find that what he is talking about is how the brain works ( yes, the title of the book is correct ), but it doesn't follow that the nature+nurture determinism is wrong. Of course our decision depends on our history ( memory and experience ), but we should ask what then the history depends on ? Genetic makeup and continuous stimuli from environment are the only factors or sources that cause people different from each other, while chaos and self-organization are just the mechanism within ( the laws of nonlinear dynamics are universal ). As a result I consider his circular causality as a misleading myth, at least he has ignored the initial condition : genes.
Although I disagree with Prof. Freeman's idea, I respect him as the greatest neuroscientist in our times. Readers can find more of his information from his website at U C Berkeley...
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting combination of neuroscience, philosophy and math
Comment: This is one of several books in the last couple of years written by leading neuroscientists attempting to explain consciousness. Outstanding examples are Damasio's "The Feeling of What Happens" and Edelman and Tononi's "A Universe of Consciousness," which are both very worthwhile reading. Freeman takes a different tack, based on his years of research into the olfactory system. Though this short book appears to be aimed at the educated layman, many will be stopped short in their tracks by his "ten building blocks" of "how neural populations sustain the chaotic dynamics of intentionality," such as the ever-popular #8, "Attenuation of microscopic sensory-driven activity and enhancement of mesoscopic amplitude modulation patterns by divergent-convergent cortical projections underlying solipsm." These ten statements form the core of the book, and although they are ultimately explained with some degree of clarity, I found myself wishing for more specific examples from the neuroscientific literature beyond the very limited samples provided, which tended to be either very basic circuit diagram type drawings, or taken from his work in the olfactory system. I did find the application of chaos theory to brain dynamics fascinating, though for a critique of Freeman's approach and an alternative view see the article by Laurent et al in the 2001 Annual Review of Neuroscience. Overall, though, I found the book a stimulating and interesting read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting new ideas and some valuable information
Comment: Freeman wraps up a long history (30 years, I believe) as a neurophysiologist with a good general overview of some interesting information and philosophy. The book starts with a general overview of the brain, using a salamander's brain structure as the building block from which to start the discussion.
Freeman's main area of study revolves around the olfactory sense which is not a very common area within the "mainstream" of currently in-vogue neural work. This might explain why his views are rather different from many of his colleagues as well as those who stand on the "edge" of the whole mind-brain debate such as the Churchlands and Dennett.
Freeman details how we usually represent problems in a linear fashion and how this type of philosophy is not at all appropriate for the study of the nervous system. Freeman does a great job of delving into circular causality (feedback systems) and why this naturally leads to some interesting conclusions about the interrelationship of the brain and mind.
Freeman refers to himself as a "pragmatist" in the book although I found this to be a bit confusing based on some of his views. He is clear that he is not a materialist (like the Churchlands and Searle) but also not a dualist (such as Penrose and Chalmers) but I think he should have gone a further step and really stepped outside of the constraint of calling himself a "pragmatist".
He has some good and easy-to-digest information about chaotic systems and how they tend to seek islands of stability (that is, there is emergent order in a sea of unpredictability) but he never really gets down to the nitty and gritty of tackling how the physical realm ultimately manages to link causally to the mental. Tallis' book has some better leads on this "problem" and it would be interesting if these two and Austin ("Zen and the Brain") could get together to discuss some ideas.
All in all a pretty good read that won't hurt anyone who doesn't have a background in science. But we have a long way to go understanding the "hard problem" still...
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Title: I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self by Rodolfo R. Llinás ISBN: 0262621630 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 07 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Volitional Brain : Towards a Neuroscience of Free Will by Benjamin Libet, Anthony Freeman, Keith Sutherland ISBN: 0907845118 Publisher: Imprint Academic Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.90 |
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Title: Societies of Brains: A Study in the Neuroscience of Love and Hate: The Spinoza Lectures: Amsterdam, Netherlands (The International Neural Networks) by Walter J. Freeman ISBN: 0805820175 Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc Pub. Date: April, 1995 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination by Gerald M. Edelman, Giulio Tonomi, Giulio Tononi ISBN: 0465013775 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 06 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker ISBN: 0670031518 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 26 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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