professor_x's review against another edition
3.0
Have you ever wondered how the brain works and how our intelligence evolved? If your brain has presented to you this question, then this might just be the book for you. Your brain wants to know about itself! Whoa.
Firstly, this book was written in the 70's so its possible that some of the information contained here is out of date. Regardless of that fact however, Carl Sagan has that certain charm and special way of writing about subjects and makes it a joy to read. Although he does warn you that Chapter 2 gets super technical and jargon-heavy, the rest of the book is smooth sailing.
Sagan writes about the triune brain model and how the brain has evolved into 3 layers; the R-Complex which is where our reptilian brain functions stem from (aggression and territorial behavior) and is the oldest part of the brain, the Limbic System (social emotions) and the Neocortex (sight, sound, knowledge absorption). He also speaks about the left and right hemispheres and how they interact with one another to absorb knowledge and to be able to come up with solutions and theories.
There is information contained within these pages about our early ancestors like Australopithecus, Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis and show how the different sizes of the fossilized skulls show the progression of the size of the brain. Sleep and dreams are also talked about as well as how our distant cousins, the apes, can learn ASL and show some form on intelligence. It begs the question; If other mammals on this planet exhibit a form of intelligence, why don't we take better care of them and instead lock them up in zoos?
The book was a bit hard to get into but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sagan asks more questions than he gives answers so it turned out to be a great exercise for my brain (maybe that's what my brain wanted all along!) If you want to think critically and expand your horizons a bit, give this gem a shot!
Firstly, this book was written in the 70's so its possible that some of the information contained here is out of date. Regardless of that fact however, Carl Sagan has that certain charm and special way of writing about subjects and makes it a joy to read. Although he does warn you that Chapter 2 gets super technical and jargon-heavy, the rest of the book is smooth sailing.
Sagan writes about the triune brain model and how the brain has evolved into 3 layers; the R-Complex which is where our reptilian brain functions stem from (aggression and territorial behavior) and is the oldest part of the brain, the Limbic System (social emotions) and the Neocortex (sight, sound, knowledge absorption). He also speaks about the left and right hemispheres and how they interact with one another to absorb knowledge and to be able to come up with solutions and theories.
There is information contained within these pages about our early ancestors like Australopithecus, Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis and show how the different sizes of the fossilized skulls show the progression of the size of the brain. Sleep and dreams are also talked about as well as how our distant cousins, the apes, can learn ASL and show some form on intelligence. It begs the question; If other mammals on this planet exhibit a form of intelligence, why don't we take better care of them and instead lock them up in zoos?
The book was a bit hard to get into but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sagan asks more questions than he gives answers so it turned out to be a great exercise for my brain (maybe that's what my brain wanted all along!) If you want to think critically and expand your horizons a bit, give this gem a shot!
juanjo_albor's review against another edition
5.0
Emocionante, fabuloso, apasionante, fascinante. La forma de explicar y ligar múltiples temas alrededor de la evolución del cerebro y la inteligencia es bella.
remocpi's review against another edition
5.0
Sin ser Sagan biólogo evolutivo ni neuroanatomista, le sale un relato muy interesante sobre la evolución del cerebro hasta llegar al neocórtex avanzado de los sapiens. Por el camino nos cuenta mil cosas interesantes y nos enseña a ver cómo todas las partes que vamos conociendo sobre él van encajando en una única historia coherente. Hacia el final del libro cuenta como ciertas algunas cosas que eran solo hipótesis (relación entre el sistema límbico y la capacidad onírica, por ejemplo, y cómo uno lleva a la otra), y otras cosas en l as que aventura cuando parece que enuncia.
Sigue siendo un pilar de la divulgación científica y un libro imprescindible.
Sigue siendo un pilar de la divulgación científica y un libro imprescindible.
pluto_kat's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.0
lcdthethird's review against another edition
5.0
Carl Sagan is a boss! This book is 40 years old and some of his predictions on the future discoveries of the human brain and technology were spot on. This is my first Carl Sagan book and I loved it. He has an ability to take very complicated scientific concepts and ideas and explain them in a non-scientific manner. In particular the past of the book when he takes the cosmic calendar and fits it into a human year to show when certain events occurred or when human milestones were reached is AMAZING!
This is a must read.
This is a must read.
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
5.0
The most hauting question that this book poses is this :
Chimpanzees can abstract. Like other mammals, they are capable of strong emotions.Why, exactly, all over the civilized world, in virtually every major city, are apes in prison?
For a species that has proclaimed itself to be the rulers of Earth, this is not a very difficult question to answer for us. It is a single word : suppression. We humans never much liked competition from other creatures and history tells us that this was how we overcame all our natural predators through weaponry or guile in the eons past. A moment of reflection on our past brings up that question : why did the other humanoids not survive while our ancestors did ? How did they all gt wiped out ? Natural selection could not have been the only answer.This book is one that shook me out of cerebral complacency and like a good author, Sagan opens the cobweb laden windows of my brain and lets the light in.
This is a book length introspection into the nature of human intellect. From the first tottering steps of our primate ancestors to today's technologically addicted life forms, how has the journey been for that mass of tissue between our ears ? This is what Sagan attempts to answer. In simple,lucid and easy to comprehend prose the author breaks down the story of how our brains assumed today's form and reflexes. It is a tour de force that mixes and matches history,paleontology, psychology and other branches of human understanding to come up with a fascinating study.
The evolution of the brain and how the most primal fears in our psyche still rule our subconscious is a fascinating observation and forms the best part of this book. The aspect of the Triune brain and the R-complex's involvement in human behavior is what Sagan calls the Dragons chained away in the dungeons of our minds. Our basic aversion to reptiles and the dreams populated with snakes coupled with the dreams of a fall from a height are all speculated upon by Sagan in teh backdrop of our dreams. They were quire revelatory and while I might at a later point in time (with more reading)debate these points, they did rekindle my interest in the human brain's inner workings.
I finished reading, put down the book and ran my fingers through my hair and muttered You are a rockstar to my brain. The kind of rockstar who you can never fully figure out is how it might react to that comment !
This book is highly recommended and it is no fluke that I rate all of Sagan's books so far as five stars. This is stuff that will genuinely interest the skeptical mind.
Chimpanzees can abstract. Like other mammals, they are capable of strong emotions.Why, exactly, all over the civilized world, in virtually every major city, are apes in prison?
For a species that has proclaimed itself to be the rulers of Earth, this is not a very difficult question to answer for us. It is a single word : suppression. We humans never much liked competition from other creatures and history tells us that this was how we overcame all our natural predators through weaponry or guile in the eons past. A moment of reflection on our past brings up that question : why did the other humanoids not survive while our ancestors did ? How did they all gt wiped out ? Natural selection could not have been the only answer.This book is one that shook me out of cerebral complacency and like a good author, Sagan opens the cobweb laden windows of my brain and lets the light in.
This is a book length introspection into the nature of human intellect. From the first tottering steps of our primate ancestors to today's technologically addicted life forms, how has the journey been for that mass of tissue between our ears ? This is what Sagan attempts to answer. In simple,lucid and easy to comprehend prose the author breaks down the story of how our brains assumed today's form and reflexes. It is a tour de force that mixes and matches history,paleontology, psychology and other branches of human understanding to come up with a fascinating study.
The evolution of the brain and how the most primal fears in our psyche still rule our subconscious is a fascinating observation and forms the best part of this book. The aspect of the Triune brain and the R-complex's involvement in human behavior is what Sagan calls the Dragons chained away in the dungeons of our minds. Our basic aversion to reptiles and the dreams populated with snakes coupled with the dreams of a fall from a height are all speculated upon by Sagan in teh backdrop of our dreams. They were quire revelatory and while I might at a later point in time (with more reading)debate these points, they did rekindle my interest in the human brain's inner workings.
I finished reading, put down the book and ran my fingers through my hair and muttered You are a rockstar to my brain. The kind of rockstar who you can never fully figure out is how it might react to that comment !
This book is highly recommended and it is no fluke that I rate all of Sagan's books so far as five stars. This is stuff that will genuinely interest the skeptical mind.