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The Knowledge Illusion cover art

The Knowledge Illusion

By: Steven Sloman,Philip Fernbach
Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
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Summary

Human reasoning is remarkably shallow - in fact our thinking and justifications just scratch the surface of the true complexity of the issues we deal with. The ability to think may still be the greatest wonder in the world (and beyond), but the way that individuals think is less than ideal.

In The Knowledge Illusion, Sloman and Fernbach show that our intelligence resides not in individual brains but in the collective mind. To function, individuals rely not only on knowledge that is stored within our skulls but also on knowledge stored elsewhere, be it in our bodies, in the environment, or especially in other people. Put together, human thought is incredibly impressive, but at its deepest level it never belongs to any individual alone.

And yet the mind supports the most sublime, incredible phenomenon of all: consciousness. How can any of this be possible with a mind that is so imperfect? This is one of the key challenges confronted in this book. The Knowledge Illusion ties together established scientific facts whilst also considering what the mind is for. Understanding why the mind is as it is and what it is for will show why we need to consider it as extending beyond our skulls; why we should think about 'the mind' as far more than an extension of the brain, as an emergence from multiple brains interacting. Simply put, individuals know relatively little, but the human hive that emerges when people work together knows a lot.

©2017 Steven Sloman, Philip Fernbach (P)2017 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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Disappointing

A few interesting insights, but a lot of paddling, stating the obvious and things you've probably heard before.

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The narrator narrator does a terrible job!

I couldn't to finish the book, the content was interesting but the narrator is just awful. He does a terrible job. I wish I could return the book.

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Muddled but with interesting vignettes

The work doesn't quite gel. Perhaps this is what happens when you have two authors: it reduces the ability of each to present an intelligent argument

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