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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
It was definitely a fascinating read.
I don't know how anyone can still do research on primates. They clearly demonstrate intelligence and should be treated with kindness. It baffles my mind to know how intelligent humans are yet they choose not to use their intelligence to lift up the human race.
And after seeing how excited Mr. Sagan got over pong, I bet he would drop a load in his pants if he saw Call of Duty! LOL
I don't know how anyone can still do research on primates. They clearly demonstrate intelligence and should be treated with kindness. It baffles my mind to know how intelligent humans are yet they choose not to use their intelligence to lift up the human race.
And after seeing how excited Mr. Sagan got over pong, I bet he would drop a load in his pants if he saw Call of Duty! LOL
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
It’s a wonderful book about scientific divulgation, easy to read even for public with no formal education in science.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Many of the theories and ideas are of course outdated, but his level of insight towards where science would advance is astonishing. There's also a section in which he describes primitive videogames which is very cute and a little quaint (he praises pong for being able to teach newtonian physics in an intuitive and elegant way). More than anything, it's just an enjoyable read. Carl was a true scientific communicator.
More like 2.5.
There was a lot of good information in the book, but a remarkable proportion of the text was the author’s speculation. In addition to a lot of the assumptions and speculations (some of which were interesting, some were just kind of wild), a lot of the info was old and has now either been disproven or become knowledge that I’ve already learned, sometimes in more depth.
There was a lot of good information in the book, but a remarkable proportion of the text was the author’s speculation. In addition to a lot of the assumptions and speculations (some of which were interesting, some were just kind of wild), a lot of the info was old and has now either been disproven or become knowledge that I’ve already learned, sometimes in more depth.
informative
slow-paced
Есть некоторые интересные и не потерявшие свежести идеи о будущем человеческого разума, но в остальном книга вызвала много вопросов. Очень много каких-то безосновательных утверждений, основывающихся на "ну это очевидно": "женщин сейчас мало в агрессивных командных видах спорта -> женщины не были охотницами" (никакие социальные причины, обуславливающие отсуствие женщин в спорте в наше время не приводятся), "правое в языках всегда хорошее и ассоциируется с мужским началом, левое — женское и плохое, а теперь я перенесу эти утверждения на полушария мозга" (это вообще г д е вы такую науку видели...).
Я понимаю, что изучать прошлое сознания достаточно тяжело, и доступный до эпохи письменных свидетельств максимум — изготовление слепков мозгового отдела черепа. Но выводить из воздуха достаточно обобщенные и громкие заявления, подгоняемые под картину мира автора — весьма сомнительное занятие.
Все еще не совсем понимаю, зачем я это читала, потому что это книга о сознании, написанная не нейробиологом или психологом, а астрофизиком. Потраченного времени жаль. Даже как памятник науке этот труд весьма сомнителен, к чтению не рекомендую.
Я понимаю, что изучать прошлое сознания достаточно тяжело, и доступный до эпохи письменных свидетельств максимум — изготовление слепков мозгового отдела черепа. Но выводить из воздуха достаточно обобщенные и громкие заявления, подгоняемые под картину мира автора — весьма сомнительное занятие.
Все еще не совсем понимаю, зачем я это читала, потому что это книга о сознании, написанная не нейробиологом или психологом, а астрофизиком. Потраченного времени жаль. Даже как памятник науке этот труд весьма сомнителен, к чтению не рекомендую.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Fascinating book for an interested lay person. Neat stuff, but also a great glimpse into what science was like in the late 70s
The original lecture, which Carl Sagan then elaborated into Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, must have been wild. Despite biology lying a few meters out of Sagan's typical lane, he applies his keen analysis, rigor, and dry wit admirably to a big problem: what on earth is human intelligence? Sagan constructs detailed pictures of partitions of the brain, the interplay of language and intelligence, and some amusingly outdated descriptions of computers and the future of computing's role in our lives (and I'll hand it to Sagan -- his prediction of computing's future ubiquity proved correct).
However, there is no getting around that nagging word in the title of the book, 'speculations.' Sagan's prose is so charmingly didactic, you walk away from his book feeling energized and educated. So it's disappointing to read a beloved educator propose a question and give the written version of a shrug as an answer; too many parts felt like My Dinner with Andre masquerading as science. But Sagan doesn't hide the speculative nature of the work, and I think it is a testament to Sagan's rational mind that many conjectures the book makes have largely survived over the decades, or at least aren't complete bunkum.
So I would not say that anything in this book is paradigm shattering; a good deal of its insights, such as its centerpiece hypothesis of a triune brain, are old hat by now. But as a starting point for investigating the brain and its fascinating interactions with our evolution as a species, it does its job well. At worse, you get to go on a journey that Sagan was very clearly enthusiastic about.
However, there is no getting around that nagging word in the title of the book, 'speculations.' Sagan's prose is so charmingly didactic, you walk away from his book feeling energized and educated. So it's disappointing to read a beloved educator propose a question and give the written version of a shrug as an answer; too many parts felt like My Dinner with Andre masquerading as science. But Sagan doesn't hide the speculative nature of the work, and I think it is a testament to Sagan's rational mind that many conjectures the book makes have largely survived over the decades, or at least aren't complete bunkum.
So I would not say that anything in this book is paradigm shattering; a good deal of its insights, such as its centerpiece hypothesis of a triune brain, are old hat by now. But as a starting point for investigating the brain and its fascinating interactions with our evolution as a species, it does its job well. At worse, you get to go on a journey that Sagan was very clearly enthusiastic about.
Sagan's speculations on the evolution of human intelligence. Good stuff.
Interesting. Possibly outdated in places, but still intellectually stimulating.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I'm rating this book nearly five decades after it was written, so my impressions are definitely colored by that fact. There were some absolutely fascinating segments (particularly on sleep and dreams, and on the role of the "reptile brain" on behaviors) that have made me want to learn more about recent discoveries in those areas. Much of the book felt like a review of concepts I already know well (like basic genetics and stages of human evolution), or touching on concepts Sagan explored much deeper in Cosmos, which was published three years after this book. The in-depth descriptions he gives of 1977 computer capabilities in graphics and games (Pong!), and their potential use for education were entertaining to read in retrospect.
If you (like me), are looking to round out your reading of Sagan's works, it's worth a read. It's only 238 pages (excluding the bibliography, glossary, and index), and has some fascinating bits. It definitely isn't as relevant in the 21st century as some of his other books, which really have weathered the test of time. It's obviously a product of 1977, and I tried to rate it with that in mind!
If you (like me), are looking to round out your reading of Sagan's works, it's worth a read. It's only 238 pages (excluding the bibliography, glossary, and index), and has some fascinating bits. It definitely isn't as relevant in the 21st century as some of his other books, which really have weathered the test of time. It's obviously a product of 1977, and I tried to rate it with that in mind!