food for thought.. inconclusive in its assertions

Any additional comments?

I found this an interesting attempt to do away with materialism. Within is a hypothesis of a mechanism that attempts to establish both mind body dualism and free will utilizing quantum mechanics . Unsurprisingly it falls short and fails to deal with the seemingly intractable problem nicely elucidated by Schopenhauer as "Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills."

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In the end it doesn't go far enough

The authors certainly do the groundwork for their proposition, most of the book is spent explaining (clearly and engagingly, admittedly) aspects of neurology and psychology that are not even cross-referenced with the authors' theory until over half way through the book.

The idea of conscious free will as mindful attention is as old as recorded history, present to some extent in almost all (if not all) religions, most obviously Buddhism, and spin-off writings of spiritualists and mystical teachers, Gurdjieff being IMO the best example (he is not mentioned in the book). The authors make an evidential and compelling link between attention and neural plasticity in the brain but this is as far as they take it. What exactly IS will if it is not, as the authors assert, just another brain function? Where did it come from and how did it evolve? I was left wondering if the authors had fallen into the religious trap of assuming humans are somehow special in the general natural scheme, as there is no mention of will existing outside of the human condition. If this is the case then will logically cannot be an external force as the authors claim. This contradiction is not resolved in the book.

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Exceptionally good

Beautiful explanation of differences of mind and matter. And still unproven hypothesis of mind controlling the brain plasticity.

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Masterful!

A truly scintillating, intellect discourse on the case for Mind over Matter! A patient and articulate argument put forth with Clarity. Wonderful 'read!' Confirmation that the Mind runs the Show, and that the Brain is subject to the Mental Force (wow! What a phrase!) of the Mind! Awesome read!
Proof positive that Success is an Inside Out Job!

Mervyn Barrett

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5 people found this helpful