Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
Product Description
Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about the brain are matched only by the stunning simplicity of his experiments — using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs, glasses of water and dime-store mirrors. In Phantoms in the Brain, Dr. Ramachandranrecounts how his work with patients who have bizarre neurological disorders has shed new light on the deep architecture of the brain, and what these findings tell us about who we are, how we construct our body image, why we laugh or become depressed, why we may believe in God, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves and dream, perhaps even why we’re so clever at philosophy, music and art. Some of his most notable cases:A woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands offers a unique opportunity to test … More >>
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
The author of this book has an almost palpable arrogance throughout the text. One feels that he is rambling endlessly about his own unique findings! He takes the most amazing part of the human body and boils it down to a few inconclusive ideas. I felt that he minimalized the grand splendour of the human psyche by attaching an obvious (at least to him) physical cause and effect for everything that happens to us. Sorry, Mr. Ramachandran but the brain, nor life for that matter is so easily summarized. Oh how wonderful it would be if it were!
i saw this guy on a nova tv show and was very impressed. i’m an atheist/libertarian and it is refreshing to see someone with a open, scientific mind like him.
Excellent service from vender: well packaged, fast delivery!
Note, I am not a medical professional. I have extracurricular interests in neuroscience and neurology that lead me to seek out information on topics like those in this book. Though the topics in this book are wholly fascinating, the text was such a torture to read, I could only wonder why I was being punished as I gritted my teeth through every page.
The book reviews a broad spectrum of neurological sequalae from the domains of vision, hearing, memory, and so on. Case studies are used to illustrate symptoms and results of simple experimentation. “Conversations” with patients are presented to vary the text and to keep the reader “involved.” Unfortunately, while the presentation is good in theory, the author(s) fails woefully in creating an engaging and well-paced presentation.
After the book introduction emphasizes the quest to appeal to a “lay” audience, the author (or co-author) assumes an intensely patronizing tone accompanied early on by analogies to “Baywatch” and Madonna literature. Activation in temporal or parietal lobes is referred to as activity along the “What” or “How Pathways,” in keeping with the proposition that technical terms like “brain” are not appropriate for a lay audience. Furthermore, though purportedly a long term, studied expert in neurology and neuroscience, the author seems to possess a great lack of empathy (or even sympathy) of his patients’ attributes from the patients’ points-of-view. At least, he adopts only a “gosh dern patient must be bonkers” attitude that he perhaps feels will ingratiate himself with the “lay” audience. Finally, he introduces nearly every experiment and theory as if they are his own original work. Though he should claim some of the studies as his own, particularly concerning phantom limbs, by no means are all or even most of his experiments original.
If you have *never* read any literature concerning the brain before, including any high-level Sacks material, you might find this book appropriately simplistic and generalized. Otherwise, there are better (and less painful) ways to come by the information herein.
I was very disappointed with this book. I bought it because The Man With the Phantom Twin was a very good book and when I heard he was writing another book in a similar vein, I preordered it right away. Unfortunately, when I got the book, I found that it contains nothing that wasn’t in his previous book. It’s rewritten – not the same book with different title – but I don’t think I’d even say the writing style was better with this book.
If you’ve read his previous book, don’t bother with this one.