--- product_id: 52318919 title: "The Mind's Past First Edition" brand: "michael s. gazzaniga" price: "1463956₫" currency: VND in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.vn/products/52318919-the-minds-past-first-edition store_origin: VN region: Vietnam --- # The Mind's Past First Edition **Brand:** michael s. gazzaniga **Price:** 1463956₫ **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Mind's Past First Edition by michael s. gazzaniga - **How much does it cost?** 1463956₫ with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vn](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/52318919-the-minds-past-first-edition) ## Best For - michael s. gazzaniga enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted michael s. gazzaniga brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![The Mind's Past First Edition - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31XsfPDilmL.jpg) ![The Mind's Past First Edition - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51m84UQfqNL.jpg) ![The Mind's Past First Edition - Image 3](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31hOqsWLyaL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating and brilliant *by R***T on Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2011* After reading the book, it's almost hilarious reading the reviews, which amount to an assorted collection of interpreters gone wild.The psychologists are miffed, the transcendentalists deride it as being mechanistic, the armchair quarterbacks are confused because in part it's an impressionistic romp, so of course it's incomplete and not rigorously consistent.We're spared the complexities of advanced neuroscience, which for the most would only be comprehensible to other neuroscientists.This is science for the citizen at it's finest, with a bit of speculative philosophy, some great images, and more than enough one liners to make you chuckle.As one reviewer pointed out, virtually all the comments are interesting and worth reading, and more importantly reveal the hardwired mindsets of the writers,which only goes to reinforce much of what The Mind's Past is getting at.Clearly the book is thought provoking in numerous ways, and to a wide range of readers.The concepts introduced have implications that reach into the heart of philosophy, science, religion, literature, social justice ... you name it.What a gem ... thank you M. Gazzaniga. ### ⭐⭐⭐ To Scratch or Not to Scratch *by R***H on Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2011* From the outset, Gazzaniga claims that the "purpose of life" is reproduction. In congruence with reductionist neurobiologists he,as an "evolutionary biologist," would reduce the main import of mental activity to subconscious and automatic processes which promote the "survival of the species," largely through the employment of the "usefulness" of existing "potentialities." (He cites the example of the large billed Galapagos finch's random mutation of a large bill from the earlier normative small bill during a time of drought as an adaptation from an "existing potentiality" that enhances reproduction and survival.) These adaptations and "random useful genetic mutations" are the means by which species evolve. On the human level, the ability to reason is an evolutionary survival mechanism, which enhances the search for a mate. He assures us that evolutionary biologists know that this is what the brain is for. "The brain is for making decisions about how to enhance reproductive success. That is what the brain is for, no more no less (sic). In its capacity to to carry out that task, it can do a lot of other things, which come along for free and are what researchers have come to study while leaving unexamined the reason the brain exists. Yet once we realize that the brain can be explained only in terms of how it handles information and makes decisions, we gain precious insight into mind-brain relations. The brain is not primarily an experience-storing device that constantly changes its structure to accomodate(sic)new experience. From the evolutionary perspective it is a dynamic computing device that is largely rule driven; it stores information by manipulating the value of simple arithmetic variables." (Page 35.) Gazzaniga concludes that on a day to day basis reason is tempered by and controlled by "built in " automatic brain processes which are beyond our conscious control. He writes, "Our conscious lives depend on all kinds of automatic processes happening inside our brains. Though we can't even influence them by willed action, we continue to believe that we are in control of what we do." (Page 121.) The "interpreter" in our brain puts a "spin" on data, and this gives us the illusion that we have conscious control of the processing of stimuli. As an example of the "free baggage" and the "spin doctoring" that comes along with the automatic responses to stimuli, he writes, "Each of us brings to the objective data in front of us an implicit view of how the world works. Personal and political or social leanings color our rational processes in such a way that we can render almost any observation either critical or meaningless, as we see fit." (Page 34.) Our subconscious drive for "reproductive success" only tricks our conscious mind into believing that we have a "self," which we imagine is in control of our thoughts. Not so, says Gazzaniga. This "self" is pure illusion. In a discussion of our easily sidetracked powers of rational deduction he writes, "The reason why this is such a big deal- why there is so much heat on the issue of rationality, or the lack of it- is that from an evolutionary standpoint the wonder of the human brain is its ability to reason sensibly and hence enhance reproductive success." All the rest- the search for the self, for morality, for the meaning of life, is illusory or of minor importance. Is that all there is, a physical struggle for survival of the fittest carried out by subconscious brain activity? A not very reassuring view of the human condition. The "personal leanings" that "color our rational processes" only amelioriate the conditioned subliminal responses, a position that renders Gazzaniga a behaviorist along the lines of Skinner. He is ambiguous on the issue of free will, first arguing that our brain decides every issue before our consciousness chimes in, then claiming that "we can render almost any observation either critical or meaningless as we see fit." This ambivalence would seem to underlie the fact that an "automatic physical response" to a stimulus is not the same as "critical thinking," in which there is a much greater range of possible responses. Perhaps the brain has been "preprogrammed" not to make "automatic" choices when faced with mental phenomena, as Gazzaniga claims, but is in fact designed to evaluate possible responses and communicate these variables to our rational conscious mind, which then can "suggest" possible responses to our subconscious mind in a give and take that is resolved by the subconscious working in concert with the conscious mind. There are those of us who maintain that the ultimate goal of life is not reproduction or the survival of the species, at all. Some might conclude that self consciousness is not the fickle "baggage" of automatic and subconscious brain activity. They would maintain that physical survival is the means, not the end goal of life. Consciousness, both on the individual and species level, they would argue, is the real end goal of life. Reproduction is merely the mechanism for providing progeny whose goal is to attain ever greater self-consciousness. Consciousness and the concomitant search for meaning, for enlightenment, for gnosis, justifies life. Are we to believe, as Gazzaniga implies, that the goal of Plato's life was to produce "little Platos" and that his philosophy was a mere "side effect" of his brain activity? To argue along these lines would be to assert that nuns, monks, and other celibate people, however fertile their rational minds might be (non-reproducing evolutionary biologists included!) are mere baggage on the species' struggle to reproduce more "robotic" progeny. It is true that my brain's subconscious processes condition my bodily and mental responses to a large extent, but it is equally true that my conscious mind, my "self," can contemplate these "automatic" responses and modify them in a looping process of give and take that is indeed within my conscious control. I can scratch that itch or ignore it as I see fit. The pessimism that relegates humans to a species bound by ironclad subconscious urges toward biological survival is modified by the knowledge that the conscious as well as the subconscious may well subordinate reproductive mechanisms to even stronger instincts toward increasing consciousness of the self- a self that is a mirror of universal consciousness. Mystics and theologians insist that there is more to life than the survival of the species on this present "plane of existence." My subconscious self tells me that they are right. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Gazzaniga Collection Essential *by L***B on Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017* A landmark text! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vn/products/52318919-the-minds-past-first-edition](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/52318919-the-minds-past-first-edition) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vietnam* *Store origin: VN* *Last updated: 2026-05-19*