Graziano M.S.A. Consciousness and the Social Brain

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. — 280 p. — ISBN: 978–0–19–992864–4.What is consciousness and how can a brain, a mere collection of neurons, create it? In Consciousness and the Social Brain, Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano lays out an audacious new theory to account for the deepest mystery of them all. The human brain has evolved a complex circuitry that allows it to be socially intelligent. This social machinery has only just begun to be studied in detail. One function of this circuitry is to attribute awareness to others: to compute that person Y is aware of thing X. In Graziano's theory, the machinery that attributes awareness to others also attributes it to oneself. Damage that machinery and you disrupt your own awareness. Graziano discusses the science, the evidence, the philosophy, and the surprising implications of this new theory.The Theory
The Magic Trick
Introducing the Theory
Awareness as Information
Being Aware versus Knowing that You Are Aware
The Attention Schema
Illusions and Myths
Social Attention
How Do I Distinguish My Awareness from Yours?
Some Useful Complexities
Comparison to Previous Theories and Results
Social Theories of Consciousness
Consciousness as Integrated Information
Neural Correlates of Consciousness
Awareness and the Machinery for Social Perception
The Neglect Syndrome
Multiple Interlocking Functions of the Brain Area TPJ
Simulating Other Minds
Some Spiritual Matters
Explaining the Magic Trick