- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (Dec 7 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0738204366
- ISBN-13: 978-0738204369
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.4 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 562 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #362,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
It's not every day you hear a physicist ask what happens when we die. Evan Harris Walker, sparked by the early, tragic loss of his love, does just that and more in The Physics of Consciousness, a book in the same vein as Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, but with a firmer grounding in scientific understanding. Walker marries the traditions of Southern literature--a longing for the past, a resignation toward the present, and a determined optimism about the future--to a technical explanation of the limits of materialism; a weird synthesis, certainly, but charming and engaging nonetheless. Since his primary topic is consciousness, Walker turns to neuroscience and Buddhism (its spiritual equivalent) for inspiration. His quantum-mechanical approach to synaptic transmission and "the speed of consciousness" are difficult to evaluate and seem a bit overstretched, but his discussions of the history and current events of physics are lucid and ironically lend weight to his antimaterialistic arguments. Is this, as he hopes, another step toward 21st-century religion, or just another New Age reinterpretation of the spooky world of the ultrasmall? Don't bet on either--The Physics of Consciousness will jog your brain in new ways and, if nothing else, you'll find a new appreciation for how little we really know about ourselves. --Rob Lightner
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Walker's ambitious, unorthodox treatise attempts to outline the basis for a new physics, one that recognizes consciousness as a fundamental part of reality. A widely published physicist, mostly in scientific journals, he reports having had a Zen enlightenment experience in 1966 while walking in an open field at the University of Maryland. This propelled him on a quest to rethink quantum mechanics, which he, like Einstein, found incomplete in its picture of an indeterminate cosmos. Electrons tunneling across the human brain's 23.5 trillion synapses create a vast network of potential interactions according to quantum mechanics, so neural impulses are generating our thoughts, emotions and perceptions, according to Walker's theory. Here, he sets forth what he claims is the cornerstone for a science of mind, complete with equations about the brain's workings. The most accessible, core part of the book is its juicy, vigorous account of the revolution in physics engendered by quantum theory and its replacement of the classical Newtonian worldview. Obsessed with mortality and whether the soul survives death (he believes "something of us must survive"), Walker lightens the load with personal interludes in which he reminisces about his high school girlfriend, who died of leukemia very young. Though deeply felt, these at times maudlin recollections feel out of place and detract from his presentation. This digressive, maverick tome, which opens the door to paranormal phenomena and God as "Quantum Mind," will appeal more to serious investigators and philosophical types than to general readers seeking the purported spiritual implications of the new physics. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm Sorry, What?,
By Agent Seven (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Physics Of Consciousness: The Quantum Mind and the Meaning Of Life (Paperback)
What a wonderful read this was for the first 8 chapters. The amazing mysteries of quantum mechanics are well covered, if somewhat more deeply than necessary. What makes it unique though, is that it is interwoven with a concurrent story about a long-dead lover and the inherent questions that death entails. This made for some really gripping, moving reading. It's quite well written, and I was excited that the author seemed to be approaching the questions raised by quantum mechanics in exactly the same way that I had approached them myself. Then, in chapter 9, BAM - a left turn into Zen Buddhism. Not just a left turn into Zen Buddhism, which I understand has some well respected philosophical underpinnings, but a left turn into Zen Buddhism that presupposes that the reader, like the author, accepts that Zen is The Way To Enlightenment. Note this sentence at the beginning of chapter 9: "It was not until recently that I found Zen Buddhism, timeless and sparkling, hidden amid its oriental foil." Timeless and sparkling? Says who? Buddhism, like all religion/philosophy, is the product of the mind of man, and if the reader is to look at it as anything more, the reader should come to it on his own, not have it thrust upon him as if it just simply were so. This whole chapter has this air of presupposition, as if the author realizes that his audience probably knew all this about Zen Buddhism long before he did, and he is now, at long last, agreeing with them. It was so distasteful to me I was unable to finish the book. What a shame. Perhaps I will skim through it at a later date so I can find out more about Meryl.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Another stereotyping stuff imitating TAO,
By
This review is from: The Physics Of Consciousness: The Quantum Mind and the Meaning Of Life (Paperback)
If i am allowed to rate a -5 stars, i would do it no doubt. The book starts with complicated material and thought experiment which can be illustrated in a much comprehensible way, like those in "one, two, three... to infinity" by George Gamov, or in "Quantum Reality: Beyond the new physics" by Nick Herbert, to overwhelm readers and then introduce his "Zheng" (or however it is called) thinking. In fact, the recent trend of Westerner trying to entertain themselves with the "Oriental" exotic idea of "Zheng" or Tao is just a joke in our, Chinese or Oriental people's, eyes. In fact Zheng and Tao are surely topics, not gimmicks, worth comtemplating, but not in such a superficial way. Especially not in a way which uses illogical phrases or poems. And absolutely not in a way which authors keep propaganding ideas like "Zheng cannot be talked of", while the very same person keeps talking about.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost there...,
This review is from: The Physics Of Consciousness: The Quantum Mind and the Meaning Of Life (Paperback)
Never trust anything that claims to be about quantum physics unless it contains equations. This book does, and does a fair job of quantifying some of the physical aspects related to consciousness. In that respect it's easily the best book I have read on the subject. I used to be a big fan of Roger Penrose before I read Walker. (I still find Penrose worth reading, but he's much further off the mark, in my opinion.)Where he breaks down is that he has only physical models to explain consciousness. They're necessary, but not sufficient. Let me ask it this way: Is the mind a Turing machine? If it is, then his explanations are sufficient. I don't believe the mind to be that limited, and there is plenty of evidence that it is not. Then what makes the mind something that can determine that a particular Turing machine will never halt?
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