Man's Search For Meaning

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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is among the most influential works of psychiatric literature since Freud. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps. Freud believed that sexual instincts and urges were the driving force of humanity's life; Frankl, by contrast, believes that man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. Frankl's logotherapy, therefore, is much more compatible with Western religions than Freudian psychotherapy. This is a fascinating, sophisticated, and very human book. At times, Frankl's personal and professional discourses merge into a style of tremendous power. "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is," Frankl writes. "After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

Book Description

Man's Search for Meaning is the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl's struggle to hold on to hope during his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps where he endured unspeakable horror. Frankl's training as a psychiatrist informed every waking moment of his ordeal and allowed him a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival.

Customer Reviews:

"Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.".......2007-10-10

"Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete."

What is the meaning of life? Frankl try's to answer that through his experience as a prisoner in a concentration camp in Auschwitz (among others) and in his psychiatry practice after the war. Be it by grace, a miracle, or chance, he made it out alive. And now he is here to tell this powerful, optimistic story and help us with an age old question.

He try's to answer this question: " How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?" This would later influence psychotherapy. Even being surrounded by so much evil there was still kindness to be found in an occasional guard. The prisoners were not always kind to there fellow inmates: there were sellouts and CAPO's; Capo's were Jews that watched over their fellow captives for favors, food, and extended life. Who is to say what any one of us would do. With misery and suffering beyond comprehension, "having a why to live for enabled them to bear the how". I will never look at that last leftover pea the same way.

Writing on his concentration camp experience Frankl briefly discusses "logotherepy". In a later chapter he goes into detail: Logotherepy (which he coined), the "striving to find a meaning in ones life is the primary motivational force in man". In his practice he uses a form of reverse psychology. The last chapter is on optimism during tragedy.

Freedom is only part of the story, he writes: "I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast"

There are many quotables from Frankl, I will leave you with this: "Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

In the end, there is that need for a reason.

Wish you well
Scott

A great alternative to self-help books.......2007-10-06

I first heard of this book years ago through a strong recommendation by Stephen Covey in the 7 Habits, but didn't think about it until earlier this year when I was at Half Price. I was at the bookstore to buy another Covey book, "The 8th Habit", and then I spotted Dr. Frankl's book.

Nothing against most self-help/productivity books (I know I've read more than my share) but after a while they can seem kind of stupid. There's a point where some random dude telling you how you should live your life becomes a highly ineffective approach to growth.

Which is why Man's Search for Meaning appealed to me. Not only does the author back up his thoughts on suffering and meaning through extensive research, Dr. Frankl applied his ideas to help survive his three-years in the Holocaust, and so has a huge personal connection to the ideas he's presenting.

What he's talking about, as many others have agreed, is pretty straightforward: by creating meaning in life, you have the capacity to move beyond any hardship in life. But Dr. Frankl provides a way to really help internalize this idea, which is why I highly, highly recommend this book.

greatest self-help book ever written.......2007-08-30

Viktor Frankl's journey and his amazing survival techniques in the Auschwitz death camps prove to be one of the most meaningful books ever written. If there was 1 book that everyone should read in their life this would be my choice. Forget all those meaningless self-help books on getting rich, getting in touch with your inner self and all that new age baloney that might enhance your life but if your life has no meaning, no foundation for growth than nothing will ever bring you true happiness. In the midst of our greatest struggles we learn our greatest lessons and a life without struggle is not a life with meaning.

Look to a higher purpose and transcend your situation.......2007-08-30

This book is really two works in one. In the first, longer part, Frankl details his experiences in Nazi concentration camps. His purpose is to demonstrate to the reader that even in the most horrific of circumstances it is possible to hold your head high and maintain your sense of purpose and optimism. In the second part, Frankl describes just how his "logotherapy" works.

This book, highly popular in the 1970s, is both informative and practical. If you hadn't previously figured out how to rise above the fleeting events of your life when they distress you, this book makes the process clear and explicit. It is in fact one Western version of some of the main tenets of Buddhism, which tells us that life is only an illusion of endless change, and you must constantly reach for the unchangeable truths beyond that illusion.

Having missed reading the book when it was first popular, I am glad to have finally gotten to it, if a bit late in life. I strongly agree with Frankl's point that "self-actualization is possible...only as a side-effect of self-transcendence". There are additional tidbits I found useful, such as the notion of "paradoxical intention", in which you try to consciously perform some action you are trying to cure yourself of, such as stuttering. Frankl also rightly reminds us that in each situation, you will know for yourself what the one *right* thing to do is, and you must chose that in order to be at peace with yourself.

I gave the book only four stars, since I felt it was a bit repetitive (I wonder what the original 20-volume German-language version was like), continually recycling a single core idea which could have been explained in fewer words - though shortening the text might admittedly have made it less effective. It is in any case a great work, a classic in the psychology and self-help genre, not to be missed.

A good book to read if you are and don't know why........2007-08-15

Very interesting book for anyone who suffers and cannot find any meaning from it. Victor Frankel survived the concentration camps of the Holocaust during World War II. If anybody knows about suffering it would be Frankel. This is an about Christianity or Judaism... it's about believing that there is value in suffering and that nobody can take away your ability to decide how you will think about things in your life. Only you control your own thoughts. This is of course not for children.

Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law

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The Fall of Strings
Woit dissects "the only game in town"
Right on the button
contains interesting information on physics as well as criticism of String Theory
A Good Proposal for Using Government Funds More Effectively

Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law
Peter Woit
Manufacturer: Basic Books
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0465092756

Book Description

Has physics gone off in the wrong direction? Peter Woit presents the other side of the growing debate on string theory--arguing that it's not even science

At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as "not even wrong," meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not.

In Peter Woit's view, superstring theory is just such an idea. In Not Even Wrong, he shows that what many physicists call superstring "theory" is not a theory at all. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed the subject to survive and flourish.

Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth.

In the face of many books from enthusiasts for string theory, this book presents the other side of the story.

Customer Reviews:

The Fall of Strings.......2007-10-06

String theorists have so far been unable to use their results to predict new experimental findings. This book and Smolin's 'The Trouble with Physics' both attempt to document this failure of string theory. Smolin's book is better, but a tougher read. But this book is not bad, and you may want to read them both.

Woit dissects "the only game in town".......2007-10-02

"The fundamental problem with string theory is that, as far as its central goal of unifying physics goes, over the last nearly 25 years it has not only not made any progress toward explaining anything about particle physics, but, quite the opposite. Everything that has been learned about string theory makes it more and more clear that the original hopes for getting unification this way were just misguided and can't work. The derivative here is the wrong sign." Peter Woit, posted on his weblog September 13, 2007.

Some readers may think that this book gets off to a painfully slow start, given the author's long telling of the history of particle physics, particularly as regards work done with particle accelerators/ colliders. But stay with it [it's worth it!]. Woit holds degrees from Harvard and Princeton (PhD, theoretical physics) and has taught both mathematics and physics at Columbia. He happily describes himself as a mathematician, in large part because that is indeed the career he has chosen but also in large part because he is obviously disgusted with the current state of theoretical physics--in so far as the superstring/ M-theory disciples of Witten have abandoned anything resembling orthodox science. Woit shows no hesitation in acknowledging Witten's great genius, but unlike most theorists of recent decades he is not interested in worshiping at Witten's feet, no matter what the cost. And Woit isn't just some disgruntled nay-saying spoilsport (I can't strictly judge the psychological state of someone I don't personally know, but he doesn't strike me in this way at all). His concern is that there are other prospects for a unified theory that have been summarily brushed aside by the popular mantra that "string theory is the only game in town." [Federal] research funding, positions of influence notably including department chairs, academic and research hirings, increasingly all have played what we are told (by string/brane theorists themselves) is "the only game in town." But after three decades of glowing hype, this "game"--superstrings/'M-theory'/'brane-world'--has failed to move forward. It has essentially demonstrated that it cannot move forward in any scientific sense.

"Superstring theory is to a large degree thought of by mainstream physicists as mathematics and by mainstream mathematicians as physics, with each group convinced that it makes no sense within their frame of reference but presumably does within someone else's." pg 204

Like so many other armchair theorists, I've read and enjoyed books like Greene's `Elegant Universe' and Hawking's glossy `Universe in a Nutshell'. But any astute reader has to notice that no real connection is made between what we are told are compellingly "beautiful mathematics" and the physical world we can examine, and, given a sound theory, even interrogate, to any degree at all. It is particularly instructive to consider strings/ brane-world from the critical perspective of pure mathematics, i.e., Woit's perspective in this volume. It seems that the abstract equations ARE strangely "beautiful" UNTIL the math must be patched to conform to a universe with precisely three large spatial dimensions; as soon as we are forced to manipulate the additional dimensions, the beauty of the mathematics begins to fade. That `beauty' has been fading for 20 years at this writing. Woit finds the equations of strings/branes to be growing uglier at every turn. After decades of contortion, strings/branes are ever becoming less beautiful than advertised. And, as Woit briefly explains with stark, non-glossy frankness, strings/branes are NOT the only game in town, or at least they shouldn't be.

Many mathematicians would cautiously agree that strings/branes make for interesting mathematics--if they can be divorced from physics. There may be sufficient cause to suggest, as some have, that strings/branes make for interesting theology as well. But are strings/branes SCIENCE? At this late date it seems that the answer is probably `no'.

"If someone could come up with a legitimate, distinctive, testable prediction of string theory that gave even the correct order of magnitude for some experimental result, that would be a huge breakthrough."

As I have suggested to anyone willing to listen, read Peter Woit's thought-provoking book, especially if you've read Greene, Hawking, and/or Susskind.

Right on the button.......2007-08-30

What can I say? Like Peter Woit, I am a recovering mathematician, and this book has given me hope. "Not Even Wrong" carries my highest recommendation, especially for those empirically-inclined investigators who have become demotivated by the crisis in science. One proviso, though - don't read it in isolation. Essential companions are Lee Smolin's "The Trouble with Physics", and my own impassioned plea "The Virtue of Heresy - Confessions of a Dissident Astronomer". The Virtue of Heresy: Confessions of a Dissident Astronomer

Hilton Ratcliffe
Astrophysicist

contains interesting information on physics as well as criticism of String Theory.......2007-07-11

As most people know Not Even Wrong is critical of String Theory. What I did not realize going into the book was the detail it delves into in describing events leading up to String Theory, especially events having to do with the Standard Model. I think the book is worth reading just for this information which spans half of the book. I don't know whether String Theory is right or not as I am not a physicist but I do believe that criticism is a healthy thing and that the author is clear in his criticism of String Theory. I would have wished for more information on other Unified Theories but he devotes only one chapter to this. I guess, as the author points out, there is only one game in town and it is String Theory.

A Good Proposal for Using Government Funds More Effectively.......2007-06-23

Woit's book will be very helpful to technical people who do not work daily in the field of physics but want to remain up to date on the progress of this field. Woit's conclusions and recommendations will be widely accepted. Interestingly, in my book review of Leonard Susskind's book on The Cosmic Landscape in December 2005, I said, "I hold hopes for physicists but not much for strings." I made this statement because the length of a string is divisible and cannot be modeled by a zero-point. So, string theory was completely wrong on day one.

Woit gave me a clear view of the histories of particle physics, strings, and the standard model. In Ch. 6, my mind became glued to the Yang-Mills theory and the new behavior named `asymptotic freedom.' This new behavior is consistent with other theories: (1) the infinite gap that separates a creator God from the universe; (2) the Riemann hypothesis on prime numbers; (3) the true atoms (Leibniz's monads); (4) Cantor's transfinite number; (5) and the origin of inertia of Bernard Haisch (see `The God Theory). So, Woit is right. It is time for physicists to return to basics and The Standard Model. But, they might also consider the reality of an active God.

Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning

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Great start to your journey in Genetic Algorithms.
Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning by David E. Goldberg
Not the only paradigm for evolutionary computation
Read a review article instead!
Needs updating

Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning
David E. Goldberg
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0201157675

Amazon.com

David Goldberg's Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization and Machine Learning is by far the bestselling introduction to genetic algorithms. Goldberg is one of the preeminent researchers in the field--he has published over 100 research articles on genetic algorithms and is a student of John Holland, the father of genetic algorithms--and his deep understanding of the material shines through. The book contains a complete listing of a simple genetic algorithm in Pascal, which C programmers can easily understand. The book covers all of the important topics in the field, including crossover, mutation, classifier systems, and fitness scaling, giving a novice with a computer science background enough information to implement a genetic algorithm and describe genetic algorithms to a friend.

Customer Reviews:

Great start to your journey in Genetic Algorithms........2007-03-09

This is a great book to begin your journey on Genetic Algorithms (GA). The author is a pioneering authority on the subject and has explained the basics of a GA in a very gentle and easy to understand manner. The book has a great variety of specific but diverse examples, which may not be useful at first glance, but gives an insight to where all the technique has been applied!

However, some aspects of the book perhaps need an edition, like the more recent advances in GA operators, specifics of chromosomal representation schemes, non-linear optimization functions, etc. I have read several, well written books on the subject, but this one has a very distinct and sometimes interesting style of writing! The best would be to quickly read this one to get a fairly good understanding of the basics and then take up a recent book that addresses other aspects like Mitchell's book, for example.

Having said that, I think the book is a great and inspiring start to using genetic algorithms.

Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning by David E. Goldberg.......2006-07-06

Excellent book for Graduate students and instructors. Highly recommend!

Not the only paradigm for evolutionary computation.......2005-07-19

This book gives a good introduction to genetic algorithms for a general undergraduate audience. However, it is important to note that it does not cover Evolutionary Strategies, an approach to evolutionary computing that I have found quite useful since it is specifically designed for Euclidean space optimization problems where many if not most interesting optimization problems are formulated in (take for example the problem of determining the weights of a neural network that minimizes the network's overall classification error). Nor does it cover evolutionary programming (not to be confused with genetic programming). So after reading this book, I recommend (for the mathematically adventurous) Thomas Back's "Evolutionary Algorithms in Theory and Practice: Evolution Strategies, Evolutionary Programming, Genetic Algorithms"
ISBN: 0195099710

Happy reading and enjoy the fascinating world of evolutionary computation!

Read a review article instead!.......2004-11-06

I agree with another reviewer who said the book was unnecessarily long. Genetic Algorithms are a great programming tool, and there are some tips and tricks that can help your programs converge faster and more accurately, but this book had a lot of redundant information.

If you are interested in using GA for solution-finding, I doubt you'll find much useful in this book beyond the first chapter or so. Many of the examples later in the book were so specific that I couldn't see how they could be usefully generalized. Really optimizing a GA approach for a specific problem domain takes a fair amount of tuning, and this book won't help much with that.

I think time spent surfing siteseer or other publication sites would be better spent than reading this book.

Needs updating.......2004-09-03

OK, I agree with the previous reviewers: it's the classical textbook for GAs. But it definitely needs updating, as it's a 15-year old book and much has been done in the area. Niching methods, for example, are just outlined. I'd recommend Melanie Mitchell's book instead of this one.

Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: Theory and Practice (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations)

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Excellent Reference: One of the Best

Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: Theory and Practice (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations)
Stuart H. James , Paul E. Kish , and T. Paulette Sutton
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: With an Introduction to Crime Scene Reconstruction, Second Edition (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations)
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ASIN: 0849320143

Book Description

As witnessed in landmark criminal cases, the quality and integrity of bloodstain evidence can be a crucial factor in determining a verdict. Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis: Theory and Practice is an authoritative reference that presents an in-depth investigation of this vital topic. A multidisciplinary approach is presented throughout the book that uses scene and laboratory examinations in conjunction with forensic pathology, forensic serology, and chemical enhancement techniques. Dramatic color images of bloodletting images, bloodstains, and crime scenes are presented to compliment the technical content of this resource.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Reference: One of the Best.......2006-02-27

This is one of the finest forensic science books I have ever read. Several factors make this a remarkably superb and valuable work: The depth of presentation, the amazing number of high quality images and illustrations which actually appear on the same page as the descriptive text, the uncommonly clear writing, and the widely ranging topics going beyond the basic subject into such relevant and useful areas as the legal aspects of bloodstain pattern analysis. This book is more of an reference encyclopedia on the subject than the title suggests.

As a professional crime scene analyst and bloodstain pattern analyst, I have read and perused many of the books on this subject. This book is far and away superior in content and form to any of the others. The authors are well known and respected in the forensic science community and their knowledge and experience further enhances the book's value.

For the record: I paid retail for this book and I wasn't asked to review it. I just think it is a great work.

The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (Philosophy of Mind Series)

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A Major Disappointment
Team Consciousness
The author set out for seeking
Phenomenal
Tremendous introduction to analytic philosophy

The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (Philosophy of Mind Series)
David J. Chalmers
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

What is consciousness? How do physical processes in the brain give rise to the self-aware mind and to feelings as profoundly varied as love or hate, aesthetic pleasure or spiritual yearning? These questions today are among the most hotly debated issues among scientists and philosophers, and we have seen in recent years superb volumes by such eminent figures as Francis Crick, Daniel C. Dennett, Gerald Edelman, and Roger Penrose, all firing volleys in what has come to be called the consciousness wars. Now, in The Conscious Mind, philosopher David J. Chalmers offers a cogent analysis of this heated debate as he unveils a major new theory of consciousness, one that rejects the prevailing reductionist trend of science, while offering provocative insights into the relationship between mind and brain. Writing in a rigorous, thought-provoking style, the author takes us on a far-reaching tour through the philosophical ramifications of consciousness. Chalmers convincingly reveals how contemporary cognitive science and neurobiology have failed to explain how and why mental events emerge from physiological occurrences in the brain. He proposes instead that conscious experience must be understood in an entirely new light--as an irreducible entity (similar to such physical properties as time, mass, and space) that exists at a fundamental level and cannot be understood as the sum of its parts. And after suggesting some intriguing possibilities about the structure and laws of conscious experience, he details how his unique reinterpretation of the mind could be the focus of a new science. Throughout the book, Chalmers provides fascinating thought experiments that trenchantly illustrate his ideas. For example, in exploring the notion that consciousness could be experienced by machines as well as humans, Chalmers asks us to imagine a thinking brain in which neurons are slowly replaced by silicon chips that precisely duplicate their functions--as the neurons are replaced, will consciousness gradually fade away? The book also features thoughtful discussions of how the author's theories might be practically applied to subjects as diverse as artificial intelligence and the interpretation of quantum mechanics. All of us have pondered the nature and meaning of consciousness. Engaging and penetrating, The Conscious Mind adds a fresh new perspective to the subject that is sure to spark debate about our understanding of the mind for years to come.

Customer Reviews:

A Major Disappointment.......2007-04-21

Because of its popularity and its subject matter, I was very excited to read Chalmers' The Conscious Mind. I was horribly disappointed.

First, Chalmers' discussion of supervenience and intension in chapter two is horribly convoluted. Of course, Chalmers asterisked some of the more technical parts of this chapter so that the lay reader could skip them, but here's the problem: if you skip these sections, you are no longer able to critique the most crucial parts of Chalmers's argument!

Second, Chalmers engages in bizarre and fallacious reasoning. One of his central arguments runs like this: It is possible to imagine a zombie---that is, a being who is molecule-by-molecule identical to me, but who lacks phenomenal conscious experiences (i.e., qualia). Since imagining this involves no obvious logical contradiction, zombies must be logically possible. Since zombies are logically possible, qualia must not supervene on physical facts--that is, qualia are not logically dependent upon the physical. Since this is true, there can be no possible reductive, materialistic explanation of consciousness.

This argument is preposterous on its face, as many reviewers have noted, and it is only the hocus-pocus about supervenience and intension in chapter two which lends it even a little credibility. For example, let's assume that reductive explanation X can fully explain consciousness in terms of brain functioning. Even if this is true, it is STILL possible for us to imagine zombies right NOW---purely because of our ignorance of X. Since the zombie argument is a central pillar of Chalmers's text, its failure is a failure of the book as a whole.

Third, Chalmers has not done his homework when it comes to the arguments of other philosophers. For example (leaving aside the technical details), I would suggest reading Quine's essay "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" in From a Logical Point of View. Then, read Chalmer's discussion of Quine's arguments in chapter two of this book. Then reread Quine's essay (it's a tough essay). Chalmers utterly fails to refute Quine's arguments, and these arguments are absolutely fatal to Chalmers's entire enterprise--especially his ridiculous zombie argument.

Finally, Chalmers does not address previous attempts to explain qualia (phenomenal conscious experiences) reductively. Daniel Dennett, for example, spends an entire chapter of Consciousness Explained trying to provide just such a reductive explanation. Since Chalmers's whole point is to argue that the existence of qualia specifically makes reductive explanations of consciousness impossible, his failure to spend even two pages on Dennett's explanation is ridiculous. (Briefly, Dennett argues that qualia just are the sum total of all a person's visceral, cognitive, emotional, etc. repsonses to a particular object of perception.)

In its foundations, its approach, and its failure to address important arguments by Quine, Dennnett, and others, this book is an abject failure. Instead, I would strongly suggest purchasing the wonderful and varied essay collection Explaining Consciousness: The Hard Problem.

Team Consciousness.......2007-03-26

A bunch of us (PS Churchland, PM Churchland, Dan Dennett, Frank Jackson, Colin McGinn, Joe Levine ,Tom Nagel, John Searle, Jaegwon Kim, and many others) have been writing about how to understand how talk of *mind* and talk of *brains* connect and if, and in what sense, mind *is* brain. Dave Chalmers breaks out of the crowd & makes us rethink everything. I am on record as not thinking the *hard problem* is as hard as Dave does; but read Chalmers for the argument that I (& most others underestimate) the difficulty. I think also that the move from conceivability (of zombies) to possibility is a problem. The fact remains that this is the most important work in consciousness studies in recent years.

One small thing: one reviewer of my *Consciousness Reconsidered* complains that I don't respond to Chalmers. This is true. My defense: my book appeared 4 or 5 years before Dave's. It would have been hard to respond to him.

The author set out for seeking .......2007-03-05

The young philosopher could be praised for his making a negative conclusion that "Consciousness could not be reductively explained," but where to go next? So he set out to search for "a final theory of consciousness." which will be, in his words, basically a set of "psychophysical laws." The book includes no reference to Bergson, maybe because of his "vitalism & mysticism." Henri Bergson once talked in his lecture (in 1913) for the audience at the Society for Psychical Research in London to the effect that he imagined from time to time had Kepler, Galilei, and Newton been psychologists, we would have a psychology of today to be beyond our imaginations. Bergson imagined that fundamental laws of "mind" might have been found by them, just like ones of "dynamics" were found by them. So Chalmers might be a psychologist Newton of our days. He made a jump to physicist John Wheeler's "physical universe based on information theory" for the search of a proto-theory of consciousness in this book.
In his later paper in 2002 on "Consciousness and Its Place in Nature," Chalmers expressed his preference to a "Type-F Monism" to explain the origin of consciousness, saying "For my part, I give some credence to each of them [type-D dualism, type-E dualism, and type-F monism], I think that in some ways the type-F view is the most appealing, but this sense is largely grounded in aesthetic considerations whose force is unclear." Let me quote the related part from his paper:
"Type-F monism is the view that consciousness is constituted by the intrinsic properties of fundamental physical entities: that is, by the categorical bases of fundamental physical dispositions. On this view, phenomenal or protophenomenal properties are located at the fundamental level of physical reality, and in a certain sense, underlie physical reality itself (Chalmers' "philosophy of mind", p.265)."

So, basically what is in his "conscious outer ego" seems that "Consciousness" transcends physical reality not any more than physical reality transcends consciousness, if "the physical is derivative on the informational, and the ontology of this view could be worked out very neatly (ibid, p.287)."

Sir Oliver Lodge suggested about 100 years ago that we could cooperate with intelligent minds on the other side for us to get wiser, and I believe that we already had such cooperation in the case of Jane Roberts with Seth & Seth's big brother. What they are telling us is too intelligent to dismiss. Even Carl Jung could not understand "the enigmatic self" in his whole life, but Seth is telling what it is, also the meaning of "the Collective Unconscious."

Scientists as well as philosophers including Chalmers are now seeking for the origin of our "Consciousness," but if the "Consciousness" per se is the origin as Seth is telling us, they will never reach to the answer. [...]

Phenomenal.......2007-01-01

"The Conscious Mind" is the most influential of contemporary works on the problem of consciousness. Indeed, it may be the finest book ever written in the philosophy of mind.
Chalmers presents and defends a number of arguments against reductive physicalism, the view that mentality is an entirely physical or material phenomenon. He argues that phenomenal properties - the felt qualities of conscious experience (eg. the feeling of pain) - are not physically reducible and cannot be reductively explained in physical terms.
His central argument is from the logical possibility of zombies, creatures physically identical to us but lacking phenomenal consciousness. If there is a logically possible world that is physically identical to our world but in which our physical counterparts lack phenomenal consciousness, then there is more to the actual world than the physical, and phenomenal consciousness is not physical.
Chalmers does not argue for substance dualism, the view that there are physical substances and nonphysical substances, bodies and souls. Rather, he settles for property dualism, according to which there are physical properties and physically irreducible phenomenal properties.
Nevertheless, Chalmers argues that the phenomenal properties depend upon the functional organization of physical systems; there are psychofunctional laws relating phenomenal consciousness to functional organisation. Thus he defends the theory of strong artificial intelligence: appropriately organized functional systems will give rise to consciousness.
I suspect that Chalmers is correct that phenomenal consciousness is not physically reducible, but I also have doubts about his argument. For a physicalist response to Chalmers, readers may be interested in Perry's "Knowledge, Possibility, and Consciousness". On the other hand, for a defense of substance dualism from conclusions that are similar to those of Chalmers, I recommend Foster's "The Immaterial Self".
Chalmers has tried to write a book that is accessible to those unfamiliar with the subject; however, he notes that some technical sections will be very difficult for them to follow. In my opinion, many sections will be difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with analytic philosophy of mind. Nevertheless, such readers may (or may not) still get the main point of the book.
"The Conscious Mind" is ambitious and engaging, written with clarity and great originality. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in pursuing contemporary analytic philosophy of mind or the problem of consciousness.

Tremendous introduction to analytic philosophy.......2006-06-24

As a mathematician trying to get in step with mainstream analytic philosophy, I've found this book more useful than any other. Many of the issues Chalmers has helped me to get clear about have little to do with philosophy of mind. For example, his quick rendition of 2-dimensional semantics, while paying its due respects to Kripke, Putnam et al., quietly makes the dogmatic style of, say, Naming and Necessity or The Meaning of Meaning look pretty silly, things that many of us felt but couldn't clearly express. (I don't actually subscribe to any of this 2-d stuff, but that's beside the point. That Chalmers can so effortlessly demythologize a basically empty doctrine by characterizing it from within a far more cogent system is just wonderful.) Not all of that is his, but some of it is, and his modal judgment is absolutely outstanding...actually, I would prefer to see a book about just this from Chalmers, as therein lies his principal expository strength (more so than mind). His references, meanwhile, manage to be copious without the usual pretension.

Something else to consider--Chalmers was like 28 when he wrote this book, and it's probably fair to say he was something of a prodigy (bit of trivia--he was also a medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad). At any rate, what's here is brilliant, if a bit on the sterile side. In short, the technique is way ahead of the art. Focus on the technique and reap the rewards.

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality

Average customer rating:

The cat, the box, and the forest
an interesting read
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat
Its questioning commonsense
Science Not Magic

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
John Gribbin
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries Tag: Author of In Search of Schrod. Cat
Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics
Quantum Physics: A Beginner's Guide
Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity
The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics (Canto)

ASIN: 0553342533
Release Date: 1984-08-01

Amazon.com

Part history book and part remedial physics text for those who lost interest when the equations started getting unintuitive, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat explains quantum physics in a way that's not only clear, but also enjoyable.

Gribbin opens with the subjects that most physics professors have just started to examine at the end of the semester: The mysterious character of light, the valence concept in Nils Bohr's atomic model, radioactive decay, and the physics of life-defining DNA all get clear, comprehensive, and witty coverage. This book reveals the beauty and mystery that underlies everything in the universe.

Does this book claim to explain quantum physics without math? No. Math is too central to physics to be bypassed. But if you can do basic algebra, you can understand the equations in In Search of Schrödinger's Cat. Gribbin is the physics teacher everyone should have in high school or college: kind without being a pushover, knowledgeable without being condescending, and clearly expressive without being boring. Gribbin's book belongs on the shelf of every pre-calculus student. It also deserves a place in the library of everyone who was scared away from advanced physics prematurely.

Customer Reviews:

The cat, the box, and the forest.......2006-05-11

Reality is a stranger, more bewildering thing than we human beings realised before the advent of the late 19th century and the determined peeking we did into things very much smaller than visible matter. And the 20th and 21st centuries have uncovered even worse (or better, depending upon your perspective). Not only that, but our explanations for what we see have become increasingly bizarre...

One of the things physicists, or those who are interested in physics, come to understand very quickly is that we understand very little. We use terms to describe events, qualities, values, objects, disturbances, energies, forces and physical tendencies that DO NOT DESCRIBE ANYTHING AT ALL. I do not mean to say that the events do not occur or the particles/waves/energies do not exist - although there's considerable debate about what events occur when and how, not to mention the sticky questions of matter and form and movement. I DO, however, mean to say that we hardly understand any of it.

Gribbin is in many respects an excellent writer. He does extremely well in presenting a nice simplified overview of the quantum world and those whose work has contributed towards its... well, let's call it "understanding". But he (naturally enough) skips most of the detail, which is frustrating to anyone who's studied reasonably advanced physics, but reassuring to those who haven't.

The truth is, some of the paths taken in physics today are fantastical, the theories proposed not only being unproven but being intrinsically unprovable. John Gribbin touched lightly upon a couple of them, but for the most part, the book dealt with more accessible issues - and quite delightfully so. I felt that the book lost its focus in the last third or so, but it was almost inevitable it would do so, given Gribbin's clear glee at shoving into the famous Schroedinger box not only a contentious cat, but also long-distance particles dependent upon each other (that vexed question - no clear answer yet), an occasional falling tree, ghostly worlds, and much much more.

Any discussion of matter, reality and the fabric or fabrics that might be its determinants is going to be fascinating unless it ends up in the hands of a very turgid writer. Gribbin is far from turgid - the only real complaint I have is that he drifted into somewhat aerial form without signifying how tenuous it is. And let's be frank: the quantum world is weird enough without postulating some of the bizarrities that have indeed been postulated.

The book does a nice job of presenting some of the truly odd behaviour of matter when it gets beyond a certain size. The very small has always fascinated me, and clearly it fascinates Gribbin as well. That certainly is conveyed in this book.

In summary, I can recommend the book as light reading for those interested in the weird things that happen to matter when it becomes very, very small, although I add a caveat: advanced students won't find anything new here, and there's still an insistence on the "many worlds" or "ghostly quantum possibilities" theory that I find intellectually unsatisfying, however appealing it is to the imagination.

an interesting read.......2006-04-05

In this book John Gribbin sets out to demystify the world of quantum physics. He starts with the nature of light and the start of atomic structure, and then moves deeper into the makeup of the atom and into quantum theory. Gribbin gives brief histories of each scientist involved in the development of quantum physics. This is both a good and a bad thing. It helps give the progress made in quantum phsics a historical context and shows how it affected previous schools of thought, but at the same time it is distracting and almost gives too much information. Gribbin explores the strangeness of quantum physics without overwhelming the reader. He doesn't push the math or the concepts in your face but builds it all up, bit by bit. He tries to explain the experiments conducted to prove the theories presented in the book in a way that someone who doesn't have a complete grasp of physics or math can understand.
This book is an interesting read that really makes you think as you read. It's really hard to fully understand what this book is about unless you are an active reader. Sometimes the concepts are a little hard to grasp, but this is a great introduction to quantum physics explained in an easy language.

In Search of Schrodinger's Cat.......2006-03-20

A great introduction to the bizarre world of quantum mechanics. The first two sections provide a bit of history and framework preparing the reader to be kicked off the deep end in the remainder of the book. The long bibliography at the end provides an excellent source of further reading material. Read this book before reading Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality.

Its questioning commonsense.......2006-03-11

After reading the book we can question something we think is so fundamental and obvious, common sense. QM appears to violate commonsense, but at the same time represents reality.

The philosophical implications of the copenhagen interpretation is awesome, so is the parallel-world interpretation.

After reading the book, I began to ask very fundamental questions like, "How does the photon know to do so and so in the double-slit experiment.

Though we are trying to understand complicated things of nature, an experiment as simple as double-slit experiment is still awe-inspiring.

Science Not Magic.......2005-08-30

It's a great book and positive benchmark in science for the masses. However, it falls short in communicating that QM is not magic, which is what some readers may come away believing. As an example the three polarizer experiment in later chapters is actually based on simple math while the quantum view presented steps back to look at the overall experiment. While there is mystery at the overall level the math shows no magic.

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Away with the existential vacuum!
the no.1 principle for success
I didn't get it
How Much Would You Pay...
Underline it and re-read it

Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
Manufacturer: Perseus Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Man's Search For Meaning
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Man's Search for Meaning

ASIN: 0738203548

Amazon.com

Viktor Frankl, author of the smash bestseller Man's Search for Meaning, offers a more straightforward alternative to traditional Freudian psychoanalysis: one's problems may be rooted in a failure to find a meaning in life beyond one's interior world. The basis for his interpretation, however, is not so straightforward. It lies in Frankl's existential analysis, plumbing for the reasons that people have repressed their consciences, their love, their creativity. By legitimizing a spiritual aspect of the human mind, Frankl has separated us definitively from the animal kingdom, but it is still up to each of us to rise to our human potential.

Book Description

Viktor Frankl is known to millions of readers as a psychotherapist who has transcended his field in his search for answers to the ultimate questions of life, death, and suffering. Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning explores the sometime unconscious human desire for inspiration or revelation, and illustrates how life can offer profound meaning at every turn.

Customer Reviews:

Away with the existential vacuum!.......2007-05-28

"We psychiatrists are neither teachers nor preachers but have to learn from the man in the street, from his ... self-understanding, what being human is all about". Of all those who applied existentialism to psychotherapy and to the efforts of human beings to help themselves, perhaps none has done so with as much wisdom as Viktor Frankl.

Although I didn't connect with the first 50 or so pages of this book, after that I was challenged and inspired by Frankl. His concerns, the "existential vacuum", the depressing impact of an "indoctrination into reductionism", the irreducibility of our experience, "responsibility as the essence of existence", these are well worth being reminded of.

That a "machine model" or "rat model" is not the best way to view human beings, does it seem such a revelation? Frankl observed how some young people had begun to view their ideals and altruism as hangups, how they had been engaging in fruitless "hidden motive" games. He wondered if behavioral scientific therapeutic programs didn't fail to take into account the specialness of people to find meaning, to transcend and to detach themselves from their situations. He called for responsibility and a recognition that we all proceed into the unknowable.

Frankl's approach is quite different from that of Freud, Jung, Skinner or even Rogers (Frankl at least credits in this book Rogers with "de-ideologizing psychotherapy"). His work still lives on, as for example in the United States through the Franklian Psychology (Logotherapy/Existential Analysis)doctoral program offered through Graduate Theological Foundation. Frankl himself, as he makes clear in this book, suggested a concept of spirituality and religion that "goes far beyond the narrow concepts of God as they are promulgated by some representatives of denominational religion", one that encompassed even atheism.

It would seem unfortunate if Frankl and his existential analysis that assumed a "will to meaning" were forgotten. Existentialism remains one of the great reponses of Western civilization to the challenges of life and Viktor Frankl one of its best practical advocates. I realize I need to read more about Frankl, logotherapy and existential analysis in general. It may be the best expression of a sacred view of being human we have in the West.

the no.1 principle for success.......2006-12-29

Please all my friends who are visitng this blog, I am sure you are here because you want to be successful. Me Too. I've read more than 100 self-help books, attended 20+ seminars, listened more than 30 audiobooks, and here is the MOST IMPORTANT rule for success - Do Something You Like. You Are Passionate About. You Will Do It For Free Anyways. This is the ONLY way, and Please Never Settle for Less. Here is WHY:

How do you define success? You can only be successful when you are being who you are. Period. Success cannot be measured by a yardstick as society always teaches us. There are times that what you really love to do doesn't look very promising, that your dad and mom tell you "Honey how about doing this instead that because this will secure you a job!". But, nothing can secure you a job if you nowadays. The only way to win is to be the BEST in your field. This is what important. What you do is not important AS LONG AS you are the BEST in what you do. And How can you be the BEST in what you do? You have to earn the competition with others who are doing the same thing as you. And, Psychologist Professor Tal Ben-Shahar at Harvard Univeristy said that you will find the things you love easy for you! And this is the secret for success! You are surely to win when you are doing something easy for you when others are not. They are struggling and you are enjoying. 8 hours feel like 1 hours for you but 16 for them. So, who will be more efficient, more creative, more energetic, more effective, more confident, more productive, more...more...? Of course YOU. And what's more important is that you will feel SATISFIED because you are actualizing yourself. - Self-Actualization is the HIGHEST pursue for human beings. You are being whom you are meant to be, fulfulling your meanings for this life. Meaning is all that matters! If you haven't got a chance to read Dr. Viktor E. Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning", I really urge you grab a copy. It is the pursuit of meaning that make Dr. Frankl survive the more than 3 years in concentration camps and became one of the most important thinkers and psychologists after Freud and Adler, as commented by The American Journal of Psychatry. So, please do something you like. Your success lies in there. So is your meaning.

I didn't get it.......2004-07-27

Man's Search for Meaning is my bible for life. I so anticipated
digging into Volume 2, couldn't imagine it could get any
better, it didn't.

You need a PHD in Pysch to read the first page and I only
made it to Chapter 4 and I couldn't figure out what he
was even trying to say. The verbage alone requires a
dictionary, but my arm got tired looking up every other
word.

What happened???

His first book was so rich in real life examples and
touching experiences I was filled with tears of joy.
This book is as if Victor lived his whole life in
the ivory tower talking to other suits.

Oh well, vita continua.

How Much Would You Pay..........2004-05-02

for a book that could help you discover your purpose in life? Exactly. God is not dead and reading this book helped me realize it. For that alone it is priceless. You owe it to yourself to add it to your cart now. Read it carefully enough and it could have a profound influence on your life too.

Underline it and re-read it.......2003-12-08

Holocaust survivor Frankl earned the right to teach us how to transcend ourselves and find "ultimate meaning". He was a contemporary of Freud who was able to take Freud to task for naturalism and reductionism which "undermines and erodes the enthusiasm of youth". Frankl has a lot to tell us about how to avoid the neurotic train wreck many of us are headed for. He points out that an existential vacuum (meaninglessness and emptyness) is growing in our culture as man "Now, knowing neither what he must do nor what he should do, he sometimes does not even know what he basically wishes to do. Instead, he wishes to do what other people do-which is conformism-or he does what other people wish him to do-which is totalitarianism." Frankl tells us "Man is responsible for fulfilling the meaning of his life." He contends "man is not he who poses the question, What is the meaning of life? But he who is asked this question, for life itself poses it to him. And man has to answer to life by answering for life; he has to respond by being responsible;" and "Being human means being confronted continually with situations, each of which is at once a chance and a challenge, giving us a "chance" to fulfill ourselves by meeting the "challenge" to fulfill it's meaning.

Book Description

An enthralling look at the convergence of brain science, biological computation and quantum physics, and what it implies about our minds, our selves, our future, even God
Do we really have free will or do we just imagine we do? Do we create our own destinies, or are we merely machines? Will the machines we are now making themselves have free will? These are the fundamental questions of The Quantum Brain. To answer them, psychiatrist, researcher, and critically acclaimed author Jeffrey Satinover first explores the latest discoveries in neuroscience, modern physics, and radically new kinds of computing, then shows how, together, they suggest the brain embodies and amplifies the mysterious laws of quantum physics. By its doing so, Satinover argues we are elevated above the mere learning machines modern science assumes us to be. Satinover also makes two provocative predictions: We will soon construct artificial devices as free and aware as we are; as well as begin a startling re-evaluation of just who and what we are, of our place in the universe, and perhaps even of God.

Customer Reviews:

A Middle View of Religion and Related Topics.......2007-08-04

There are many topics raised in this book, some rather arcane. This review is limited to Satinover's attitude towards religion. He is open-minded to it. However, he believes that religion has justifiably been criticized for its failures more than science because only the former believes in absolute truth. (Could one not argue just the opposite?)

Satinover frowns on unexamined beliefs, regardless of their content. To him, both belief and unbelief can be a fool's conviction. Against the view that no serious academic can be a believer, Satinover cites several top scientists who believe in God (pp. 215-216).

Additionally, Satinover is willing to entertain other academic heresies. He is open to the idea that the universe is designed by an extraneous entity, and considers this view a matter of personal preference (p. 217). And, against those who scoff at the notion of free will, Satinover contends that science cannot decide between free will and determinism (p. 218).

The Quantum Brain: The Search for Freedom and the Next Generation of Man.......2007-02-11

I found the book to be a wonderful read! If your interested in the mysteries of Quantum Physics and the power of thought, this book is for you.

not for a beginner.......2007-01-30

This book was hard to understand. I would not recommend this one to those who are just curious, like myself.

Undecided ...obviously not written by a scienist.......2006-11-03

I found the subject matter intriguing but the entire time I was reading this book I felt some vague discomfort with the delivery of the information presented. Although the science is complex, the explanations or the 'teaching of it' so to speak could have been greatly simplified. It seemed a bit cluttered. There were so many details presented that it was almost impossible (without great concentration) to see the 'big picture'. At some point during my reading of this book I investigated the author and was not surprised to discover that he had no scientific background and had written a book called 'Cracking the Bible Code'. I should have read the back of the book sooner. This book as just to hard to read. I've read a great many 'scientific' books on complex subjects that were much easier to absorb than this one. If I would have picked up this book in the bookstore and scanned it I would not have bought it. find your self another book on a similar subject, preferably written by a scientist and not a psychologist (that thinks codes are hidden in the bible) and get it instead.

The Quantum Brain.......2006-09-05

Great book. Mind boggling.Not a casual read must work you'r noggin.

Introduction to Stochastic Search and Optimization

Average customer rating:

Great book!!!
Recommended to scholars and graduate students

Introduction to Stochastic Search and Optimization
James C. Spall
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Monte Carlo Statistical Methods (Springer Texts in Statistics)
Stochastic Optimization Methods
Practical Methods of Optimization
Introduction to Stochastic Programming (Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering)
Numerical Optimization (Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering)

ASIN: 0471330523

Book Description

Unique in its survey of the range of topics.
Contains a strong, interdisciplinary format that will appeal to both students and researchers.
Features exercises and web links to software and data sets.

Download Description

Unique in its survey of the range of topics.
Contains a strong, interdisciplinary format that will appeal to both students and researchers.
Features exercises and web links to software and data sets.

Customer Reviews:

Great book!!!.......2004-12-07

A must have for anyone interested in otimization! Extremely well written and objective.

Recommended to scholars and graduate students.......2003-09-23

Introduction to Stochastic Search and Optimization provides comprehensive, current information on methods for real-world problem solving, including stochastic gradient and non-gradient techniques, as well as relatively recent innovations such as simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, and MCMC. It is written to be read and understood by graduate students, industrial practitioners, and experienced researchers in the field. Web links to software and data sets, and an extensive list of references of the book allows the reader to explore deeper into certain topic areas. I also found the index to be very comprehensive and carefully done. The appendices are as a refresher and summary of much of the prerequisite material. The book is somewhat unique in providing a balanced discussion of algorithms, including both their strengths and weaknesses. The book is among very few books that have integrated essential parts of statistical fields with optimization and decision making. The book's inclusion of a chapter on optimal experimental design is an example of such integration. The approaches discussed in the book could be used for financial decision making, forecasting, and quality improvement, among many other areas.

Psychology's Interpretive Turn: The Search for Truth and Agency in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

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Psychology's Interpretive Turn: The Search for Truth and Agency in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Barbara S. Held
Manufacturer: American Psychological Association (APA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1591479258

Book Description

Is objective psychological truth possible? For over 25 years, postmodern theorists have argued for an antiobjectivist or antirealist philosophy, which they believe enhances our human agency by freeing us to be what we interpret ourselves to be. But in the last decade, a prominent and diverse group of theorists has voiced views that are replacing those of the "conventional" postmodernists. Their dual mission is to defend the realism denied by postmodern antirealist psychologists while defending the concept of human agency that they believe modern objectivist psychologists deny.

In Psychology's Interpretive Turn, author Barbara S. Held takes the discussion to a new level. She goes beyond defending the possibility of objective psychological truth by linking that defense to human agency or freedom. She considers the nuanced arguments of theorists who reject the possibility of objective psychological truth to advance an agentic psychology that is nonetheless alleged to be realist. She is the first to relate the common ground in these "middle-ground" theorists' attempts to reconcile, mediate, or moderate postmodern antirealist and modern objectivist approaches to psychology. She skillfully crafts the argument that any philosophy of psychology that in principle precludes objective psychological knowledge and truth also undermines an agency founded on rational interpretive grounds. Her critique is especially timely, as concerns about psychology's fragmentation mount and attempts at unification proliferate.

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