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  • The Feeling of Life Itself

  • Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed
  • Written by: Christof Koch
  • Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
  • Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (6 ratings)

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The Feeling of Life Itself

Written by: Christof Koch
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
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Publisher's Summary

Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain, three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece, give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain. In The Feeling of Life Itself, Koch outlines such a theory, based on integrated information.

Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has been used to build a clinically useful consciousness meter. The theory predicts that many, and perhaps all, animals experience the sights and sounds of life; consciousness is much more widespread than conventionally assumed. Contrary to received wisdom, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not have consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious. Its simulation is fake consciousness. Consciousness is not a special type of computation - it is not a clever hack. Consciousness is about being.

©2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2020 Tantor
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Where are the figures?!

This is a very well-crafted narrative outlining Koch's complicated and intriguing theories of consciousness. The concise, yet thorough, treatment of IIT (integrated information theory) is expertly delivered. This is not easily-understood material, but Koch does an admirable job. The narration is technically well-executed, though a bit stiff and not very well matched to Koch's personable writing style. However, all of this aside, as an audiobook experience, this production is a failure as it includes none of the printed book's figures, which are an essential component of this author's significant work. Seriously, without the original figures that form an integral part of this book, it is, by definition, incomplete. I have contacted the publisher, but if I am unable to gain access to these figures, I will be returning this audiobook.

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