20 Best Books About Consciousness (2023 Update)

Drawing on laboratory studies of the brain and clos examination of archaeological evidence, the author concludes that consciousness is not a product of evolution but of catastrophic events in our own history, events that occurred as recently as three thousand years ago.

For decades, neuroscientists, psychologists, and an army of brain researchers have been struggling, in vain, to explain the phenomenon of consciousness. now there is a clear trail to the answer, and it leads through the dense jungle of quantum physics, zen, and subjective experience and arrives at an unexpected destination. in this tour-de-force of scientific investigation, evan harris walker, a pioneer in the science of consciousness, describes the outcome of his fifty-year search for the true nature of reality. drawing on a deep knowledge of quantum physics and zen philosophy, walker shows how the operation of bizarre yet actual properties of elementary particles support a new and exciting theory of reality, based on the principles of quantum physics; a theory that answers questions such as "what is the nature of consciousness, of will?" "what is the source of material reality?" and "what is god?" clearly written in non-technical, lyrical prose, the physics of consciousness is more than just the explanation of a science – it is a new vision of life.

"consciousness is all is insightful and breathtaking–it will literally take your breath away multiple times throughout. if you are ready to take a more advanced step, it is a must read." rhonda byrne, author of the secret and the greatest secret"consciousness is all is an inspiring picture of the nonlocal, infinite, eternal nature of consciousness. this is affirmed not only by ancient wisdom, but is emerging as well in several areas of science. bravo!" larry dossey, md, author of one mind and healing words." words cannot express the gratitude i'm experiencing as a result of this book. for years i've been searching for the experience of 'god, ' without knowing what i'm looking for. i have read countless books and explored several 'systems.' never before have i felt i understood oneness nor consciousness. the moment i read chapter one, there was a 'shift, ' and a feeling of joy and expansion of the 'heart.' with each chapter, both the understanding and experience have grown. i want to buy several copies for friends who have been searching 'fruitlessly' as have i." c.r., florida"if you want to know what is true about you, about life, this is the most important book you will ever read. it hits the mark in its thoroughly supported explanations of why consciousness really is all there is. this is not a self-help book, or a book of 'how to.' it is a book of 'what is'." j.z. new hampshire

Philosopher peter godfrey-smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in other minds although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. in captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes. how is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own? what does it mean that evolution built minds not once but at least twice? in other minds, peter godfrey-smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. as godfrey-smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. tracking the mind’s fitful development, godfrey-smith shows how unruly clumps of seaborne cells began living together and became capable of sensing, acting, and signaling. as these primitive organisms became more entangled with others, they grew more complicated. the first nervous systems evolved, probably in ancient relatives of jellyfish; later on, the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous mollusks, abandoned their shells and rose above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so. taking an independent route, mammals and birds later began their own evolutionary journeys. but what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? drawing on the latest scientific research and his own scuba-diving adventures, godfrey-smith probes the many mysteries that surround the lineage. how did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? what is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually “think for themselves”? what happens when some octopuses abandon their hermit-like ways and congregate, as they do in a unique location off the coast of australia? by tracing the question of inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, godfrey-smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind—and on our own.

A new york times bestseller when it appeared in 1989, roger penrose's the emperor's new mind was universally hailed as a marvelous survey of modern physics as well as a brilliant reflection on the human mind, offering a new perspective on the scientific landscape and a visionary glimpse of the possible future of science. now, in shadows of the mind, penrose offers another exhilarating look at modern science as he mounts an even more powerful attack on artificial intelligence. but perhaps more important, in this volume he points the way to a new science, one that may eventually explain the physical basis of the human mind. penrose contends that some aspects of the human mind lie beyond computation. this is not a religious argument (that the mind is something other than physical) nor is it based on the brain's vast complexity (the weather is immensely complex, says penrose, but it is still a computable thing, at least in theory). instead, he provides powerful arguments to support his conclusion that there is something in the conscious activity of the brain that transcends computation–and will find no explanation in terms of present-day science. of particular interest is penrose's extensive examination of quantum mechanics, which introduces some new ideas that differ markedly from those advanced in the emperor's new mind, especially concerning the mysterious interface where classical and quantum physics meet. but perhaps the most interesting wrinkle in shadows of the mind is penrose's excursion into microbiology, where he examines cytoskeletons and microtubules, minute substructures lying deep within the brain's neurons. (he argues that microtubules–not neurons–may indeed be the basic units of the brain, which, if nothing else, would dramatically increase the brain's computational power.) furthermore, he contends that in consciousness some kind of global quantum state must take place across large areas of the brain, and that it within microtubules that these collective quantum effects are most likely to reside. shadows of the mind provides an illuminating look at where these profound changes may take place and what our future understanding of the world may be.

How does the water of the brain yield the wine of conscious experience? what is the link between bodily activity and our inner feeling of what its like to be ourselves? the problem of qualia-the so-called "hard problem" of consciousness-has intrigued philosophers, for generations, and remains the greatest challenge to contemporary science. in this path-breaking book, nicholas humphrey examines the issues in the fight of evolutionary history and proposes a solution very different from any previously offered. he takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through little-known areas of biology, psychology, and philosophy, to discover the origins of all forms of self-awareness in the primitive pain and pleasure responses of our distant ancestors. packed with psychological information and ingenious speculation, a history of the mind not only recasts the debate about the nature of conscious experience but provides fascinating insights into many other topics along the way. already a classic, this book is as informative and entertaining as it is profound.

From the best-selling author of gratitude, on the move, and musicophilia, a collection of essays that displays oliver sacks's passionate engagement with the most compelling and seminal ideas of human endeavor: evolution, creativity, memory, time, consciousness, and experience. oliver sacks, a scientist and a storyteller, is beloved by readers for the extraordinary neurological case histories (awakenings, an anthropologist on mars) in which he introduced and explored many now familiar disorders–autism, tourette's syndrome, face blindness, savant syndrome. he was also a memoirist who wrote with honesty and humor about the remarkable and strange encounters and experiences that shaped him (uncle tungsten, on the move, gratitude). sacks, an oxford-educated polymath, had a deep familiarity not only with literature and medicine but with botany, animal anatomy, chemistry, the history of science, philosophy, and psychology. the river of consciousness is one of two books sacks was working on up to his death, and it reveals his ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless project to understand what makes us human.

The aim of this book is to show that scientific and spiritual quests are one and the same. the search for truth, the truth of our existence, is one in which consciousness is its essential reality that drives and unifies all, at every level of existence, seen and unseen. views from the foundations of science, philosophy and spirituality are presented. adnani highlights the key discoveries that lead to paradigm shifts in our evolution of consciousness, and how these shifts have brought us closer to the nature of reality that must exist at every level from the simple to the complex, and the inanimate to the sentient. it is the absolute certainty of our existence. the nature of reality is presented as a series of models or views that are more meditations on the self, rooted in the science of consciousness, since any description of reality can only be communicated in a limited fashion through words. in this book, the foundations of science and spirituality are explored with the aim to present a unified view integrating the objective outer view and the subjective inner view as a science of oneness free from conflict.

These have become known as peak experiences. soon after colin wilson became aware of this phenomenon in the 1960s, he wondered about its history and how its power could be harnessed, and began a forty-year investigation. by looking in detail through the different areas where this phenomenon has occurred—and by offering anecdotes and examples of how many people in history (as well as himself) were affected—wilson reveals a pattern of insight with emotions. he ends the book with an instructional section on achieving power consciousness for yourself.

“pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured.” —new york timesa #1 new york times bestseller, new york times book review 10 best books of 2018, and new york times notable book a brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs–and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences when michael pollan set out to research how lsd and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. but upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.a unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, how to change your mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. by turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world.

“pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured.” —new york timesa #1 new york times bestseller, new york times book review 10 best books of 2018, and new york times notable book a brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs–and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences when michael pollan set out to research how lsd and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. but upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.a unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, how to change your mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. by turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world.

2010 reprint of 1905 edition.this work is the magnum opus of bucke's career, a project that he researched and wrote over many years. in it, bucke described his own experience, that of contemporaries (most notably whitman, but also unknown figures like "c.p."), and the experiences and outlook of historical figures including buddha, jesus, paul, plotinus, muhammad, dante, francis bacon, and william blake. bucke developed a theory involving three stages in the development of consciousness: the simple consciousness of animals; the self-consciousness of the mass of humanity (encompassing reason, imagination, etc.); and cosmic consciousness – an emerging faculty and the next stage of human development. among the effects of this progression, he believed he detected a lengthy historical trend in which religious conceptions and theologies had become less and less fearful. a classic work.

An accessible exploration of best-selling author's most famous work, the map of consciousness, that helps readers experience healing and transcendence. – using a unique muscle-testing method, dr. hawkins conducted more than 250,000 calibrations during 20 years of research to define a range of values, attitudes, and emotions that correspond to levels of consciousness. this range of values-along with a logarithmic scale of 1 to 1,000-became the map of consciousness, which dr. hawkins first wrote about in his best-selling book, power vs. force. – with the map, dr. hawkins laid out the entire spectrum of consciousness, from the lower levels of shame, guilt, apathy, fear, anger, and pride; to courage, acceptance, and reason; all the way up to the more expanded levels of love, ecstasy, peace, and enlightenment. these "higher" energy fields are a carrier wave of immense life energy. – an essential primer on the late dr. hawkins's teachings on human consciousness and their associated energy fields, the map of consciousness explained offers readers an introduction and deeper understandingof the map, with visual charts and practical applications to help them heal, recover, and evolve to higher levels of consciousness and energy. – this book is a light unto the path of any individual who wants to become more effective in any area of life.

How can some people come to believe that their poodle is an impostor? or see colors in numbers? internationally acclaimed neuroscientist v.s.

What is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? in consciousness and the social brain, princeton neuroscientist michael graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. the human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. this social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. one function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others: to compute that person y is aware of thing x. in graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory. now in an affordable paperback edition!

As a cardiologist, pim van lommel was struck by the number of his patients who claimed to have near-death experiences as a result of their heart attacks. as a scientist, this was difficult for him to accept: wouldn't it be scientifically irresponsible of him to ignore the evidence of these stories? faced with this dilemma, van lommel decided to design a research study to investigate the phenomenon under the controlled environment of a cluster of hospitals with a medically trained staff. for more than twenty years van lommel systematically studied such near-death experiences in a wide variety of hospital patients who survived a cardiac arrest. in 2001, he and his fellow researchers published his study on near-death experiences in the renowned medical journal the lancet. the article caused an international sensation as it was the first scientifically rigorous study of this phenomenon. now available for the first time in english, van lommel offers an in-depth presentation of his results and theories in this book that has already sold over 125,000 copies in europe. van lommel provides scientific evidence that the near-death phenomenon is an authentic experience that cannot be attributed to imagination, psychosis, or oxygen deprivation. he further reveals that after such a profound experience, most patients' personalities undergo a permanent change. in van lommel's opinion, the current views on the relationship between the brain and consciousness held by most physicians, philosophers, and psychologists are too narrow for a proper understanding of the phenomenon. in consciousness beyond life, van lommel shows that our consciousness does not always coincide with brain functions and that, remarkably and significantly, consciousness can even be experienced separate from the body.

Legendary psychologist mihaly csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. during flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. in this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, csikszentmihalyi ("the leading researcher into ‘flow states’" —newsweek) demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. mihaly csikszentmihalyi is a professor at claremont graduate university and former chair of the department of psychology at the university of chicago. his previous books include the evolving self and the national bestseller flow.

Millions of people have used the ancient systems of manifestation and visualization to find health, success, love, friendship, wealth, and more. but does the “law of attraction” actually work? and more important, is this kind of life-changing philosophy within reach for everyone, even the most skeptical among us? as dr. swart reveals how and why these systems actually work by offering the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and behavioral psychology, including lessons in neuroplasticity, magneticism, emotional and logical thinking, and even hydration, self-care, and relaxation. next, she describes her own journey from skeptic to believer, and guides readers through the scientific breakthroughs and personal revelations that changed her from an unhappy, close-minded, and disconnected woman wanting more from life, to a successful entrepreneur living with confidence, purpose, and joy. swart combines the insights and inspiration of the secret with the practical lessons of the master key system to help a new generation fulfill their dreams. the source is a rigorous, proven toolkit for unlocking our minds—and reaching our fullest potential.

A classic account of the psychedelic experience the joyous cosmology is alan watts's exploration of the insight that the consciousness-changing drugs lsd, mescaline, and psilocybin can facilitate "when accompanied with sustained philosophical reflection by a person who is in search, not of kicks, but of understanding." more than an artifact, it is both a riveting memoir of watts's personal experiments and a profound meditation on our perennial questions about the nature of existence and the existence of the sacred. includes watts's article "psychedelics and religious experience"

The divine design reads like a sci-fi movie, yet it is a groundbreaking account of the courageous and complicated history of earth and humanity. get ready to witness the design and creation of earth, the human body, and all living organisms; the fall of humanity from a 5th dimensional state of awareness to a 3rd dimensional state of awareness; and the last 10,000 years of evolution as earth and humanity slowly shift their consciousness back into a 5th dimensional state of awareness. – by reading this book, you will embark on a journey of deep remembrance that will bring into your awareness the ancient knowledge and memories buried deep inside your cells. you will finally understand why you incarnated at this time and the role you came here to play during this grand awakening on the planet. – this book will also enable you to: find your life purpose and reclaim your infinite personal power – gain a deeper understanding of life – get unstuck on your spiritual path – navigate challenging times – accept and love yourself just the way you are – the time has come for you to embrace the power of remembrance and express your full potential, and the divine design is your faithful companion on this lifelong journey.