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  • Your Brain Is a Time Machine

  • The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
  • By: Dean Buonomano
  • Narrated by: Aaron Abano
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (161 ratings)
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Your Brain Is a Time Machine

By: Dean Buonomano
Narrated by: Aaron Abano
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Summary

A leading neuroscientist embarks on a groundbreaking exploration of how time works inside the brain.

In Your Brain Is a Time Machine, brain researcher and best-selling author Dean Buonomano draws on evolutionary biology, physics, and philosophy to present his influential theory of how we tell and perceive time. The human brain, he argues, is a complex system that not only tells time but creates it; it constructs our sense of chronological flow and enables "mental time travel" - simulations of future and past events. These functions are essential not only to our daily lives but to the evolution of the human race: without the ability to anticipate the future, mankind would never have crafted tools or invented agriculture. The brain was designed to navigate our continuously changing world by predicting what will happen and when.

Buonomano combines neuroscience expertise with a far-ranging, multidisciplinary approach. With engaging style, he illuminates such concepts as consciousness, spacetime, and relativity while addressing profound questions that have long occupied scientists and philosophers alike. What is time? Is our sense of time's passage an illusion? Does free will exist, or is the future predetermined? In pursuing the answers, Buonomano reveals as much about the fascinating architecture of the human brain as he does about the intricacies of time itself. This virtuosic work of popular science leads to an astonishing realization: Your brain is, at its core, a time machine.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Dean Buonomano (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

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What listeners say about Your Brain Is a Time Machine

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good but too much padding in the early chapters

This book came up as a suggested title after I listened to Carlo Rovelli's The Order of Time, as one of the few books available on the subject it is definitely worth a listen. I'd recommend listening to this one first though!

Be aware that the author does take a bit of a liberty by using the majority of the work to highlight things like how clocks have evolved in history, the language of time and other, albeit interesting items, but "The neuroscience and Physics of Time" doesn't really start until Chapter 8. Which was in my opinion a shame, it felt like a whole book of content was then condensed in to the five remaining chapters.

I became frustrated at times by the lack of explanation of some concepts, for example, quite some time is spent explaining Presentism and Eternalism at the beginning of the book, yet later on other new concepts are raised without any explanation at all. For example bringing in the Block Universe Theory by simply saying 'this supports the theory of the Block Universe' and talking around the concept, and referencing back to it, without ever actually explaining specifically what the Block Universe Theory is. Likewise again towards the end of the book, the author suddenly slips in a reference to "consciousness", and by the closing remarks “consciousness” features highly, yet there is no attempt made to define what the author actually means by their concept of consciousness. Again, because the later portions of the book seem a bit rushed, I feel an opportunity was missed to delve in to more aspects of the philosophy of time and consciousness. For example if time doesn't really exist, does consciousness? Are consciousness and time the same thing? Does one give rise to the other etc etc - except the author seems to assume everyone has the same understanding of what "consciousness" is and it's already a well defined established fact.

In short, I thought too much time was devoted to the 'fluffy' stuff, which was explained in great detail, and too little time to the real nitty-gritty with little explanation, which given the sub-title of the book, was quite disappointing. That said, anything that helps deepen our understanding of the world is without a doubt worth a listen, and this book does exactly that, it's given me a good few concepts to research further. Like other reviews have said you do need to devote your attention to it or you will find yourself rewinding quite often!

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting, but not an easy listen!

Some very interesting ideas, with lots of scientific expressions . Worth a listen, but prepare yourself that it's not an easy one. I guess if you have a more scientific background it's really good, however, if you don't, then you might end up scratching your head thinking:
"suprachiasmatic nucleus what?!".

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

excellent and interesting topic . highly
recommend it.. narrated very well. great job. Thanks

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

pretty interesting stuff to listen to.

i would recommend this to anyone who loves understanding the world and the human mind :)

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book well explained examples and detail

Chapters lead on from each other well. Good narrator. Would highly recommend to anyone from any background

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mind blowing!

Loved it. This is a must for those on the jorney. Lots of food for thought. Enjoyed every second.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

mindblown 🤯

Definitely not what I anticipated (ironic...).
Fascinating nonetheless and, GPS workings? Mind Blown 🤯
Gets metaphysical at the end too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

Ienjoyed this audio book. Interesting and thought provoking theories that has given me much to think about.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring! Unless You Are Into Maths &. Physics

Bored me to tears! Made me angry. Had to finish it! Didn’t enjoy it at all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

an interesting listen~☆

a look at time and the physics of time,. A great narrator brings this story to life~☆

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