Annaka Harris is the author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the
Fundamental Mystery of the Mind. She is an editor and consultant
for science writers, specializing in neuroscience and physics,
whose work has appeared in the New York Times.
Annaka is the author of the children's book I Wonder, a
collaborator on the Mindful Games Activity Cards by Susan Kaiser
Greenland, and a volunteer mindfulness teacher for the Inner Kids
organization. She lives with her husband, the neuroscientist,
author, and podcaster Sam Harris, and their two children.
annakaharris.com
“Conscious offers the clearest, most compelling explanation that
I’ve seen of consciousness. If you’ve ever wondered how you have
the capacity to wonder, some fascinating insights await you in
these pages.” — Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of
Originals, Give and Take, and Option B
“Wild ideas are on the table--you’ll come away with an appreciation
of the major conflicts and the high stakes that come with any
attempt to understand how consciousness really works.” — Sean
Carroll, theoretical physicist and author of The Big Picture
“A fascinating book that literally illuminates the enduring mystery
of consciousness. Harris makes the journey direct, clear,
entertaining, and above all accessible--even to someone like me,
who’d never before gotten my head around this complex topic.” —
Gavin de Becker, author of The Gift of Fear
“Harris holds a mirror up to ourselves and the reflection she casts
is wondrously unfamiliar. In salient prose that intertwines science
and philosophy, Harris turns her joyful curiosity on the nature of
awareness. Every sentence of this book works upon the next, delving
the reader deeper into an exploration of consciousness. While most
books that contemplate the mysteries of the universe make one feel
small in comparison, Conscious gives the reader an undeniable sense
of presence.”
— Nathalia Holt, author of New York Times bestseller Rise of the
Rocket Girls
“A user’s guide to the scientific thinking on
consciousness—delivering an assumption-shattering take on how we
think about our mind, our self, and this very moment.” — Daniel
Goleman, author of NYT bestseller Emotional Intelligence
“The AI quest for artificial minds has transformed the mystery of
consciousness into philosophy with a deadline. In this gem of a
book, Annaka Harris tackles consciousness controversies with
incisive rigor and clarity, in a style that’s accessible and
captivating, yet never dumbed down.” — Prof. Max Tegmark, MIT,
author of Life 3.0: Being Human in the age of AI
“A remarkably focused, concise and provocative overview of the
‘problem of Mind.’ Written with great clarity, she gives readers
unfamiliar with the debate a chance to see the fault lines defining
modern discussions about the nature of consciousness.” — Adam
Frank, astrophysicist and author of About Time and Light of the
Stars
“I have read many, many great books on consciousness in my life as
a neuroscientist. Conscious tops them all, hands down. It deals
with unsolved questions and dizzying concepts with a graciousness
and clarity that leaves the reader deeply satisfied.” — Marco
Iacoboni, neuroscientist and author of Mirroring People
“A delectable introduction to a fundamental mystery that science
has been struggling with since antiquity.” — Christof Koch,
neuroscientist and author of The Quest for Consciousness
“One of those books that fundamentally shifts the way you think
about reality. Consciousness is among the hardest concepts for
humans to wrap their heads around, but Annaka Harris is a masterful
explainer—she started by breaking my existing beliefs about the
nature of consciousness and then she rebuilt them into a more
nuanced, more complete, and more mind-bending understanding of
what’s really going on behind my eyes.” — Tim Urban, author of the
blog Wait But Why
“Annaka Harris has a rare gift to breathe wonder into the familiar.
In Conscious, her target is our very selves. She offers each reader
the bracing pleasure of becoming an enigma, lucidly explains the
experiments that underwrite her offer, and persuasively argues that
one of the greatest mysteries of science may be sitting in your
chair.” — Donald Hoffman, cognitive scientist and author of Visual
Intelligence and The Case Against Reality
“There is a profound intellectual adventure awaiting the reader of
this exquisite book.” — Rebecca Goldstein, philosopher and author
of Plato at the Googleplex
“Annaka Harris expertly and eloquently explores one of the deepest
questions the
human mind has ever grappled with: itself. Harris turns the light
inward, encouraging us to reflect on how we reflect as she clearly
presents the prevailing theories of consciousness.” — Dean
Buonomano, neuroscientist and author of Your Brain is a Time
Machine
“A beautiful, clear, and thoughtful examination of the imponderable
topic of consciousness.” — Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master
and His Emissary
“This brief book challenges conventional ways of thinking about
thinking and presents provocative alternatives. By the end, readers
may be less certain that consciousness distinguishes us from the
rest of matter—or that there is any such thing as a conscious
self….might not be fully convinced about all of the author’s
points, but you may be less certain that there’s a “you” to
convince.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The thoughtful and accessible text considers points of view
offered by various philosophers, biologists, and neurologists,
acting as devil’s advocate, challenging assumptions, and arguing
why posited definitions are inadequate. Harris concedes that
answers to the questions she poses are not currently within our
grasp, but allows that as our understanding of reality, time, and
quantum physics increases, so might our understanding of
consciousness.” — Booklist
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