Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consciousness

Elizabeth Levin is chair of the Psychology Department at Laurentian
University.

In this book, popular science writer Jay Ingram explores the topic of
consciousness—that ability to not only read his book but think about
it. How do we know who we are and what it means to be conscious? As
Ingram states, if the brain is the theatre of the mind, then
consciousness is the play. Much scientific research has been devoted to
this topic in the last decade: Theatre of the Mind presents and
discusses the findings.

To begin, Ingram explores what it means to be conscious, and the
relationship between consciousness, the unconscious, and the brain. Much
of what goes on in the brain, we learn, is not part of conscious
processing; think of the times you have been driving and arrive at a
particular destination not remembering how you got there, as if you were
driving on autopilot.

Other chapters examine “free will” and “free won’t.” Do you
control your brain or does your brain control you? Is there a gap in
time between being aware of something and thinking about it? Ingram also
looks at the theory of the mind, animal consciousness, the evolution of
consciousness, split brains, and dreams.

Theatre of the Mind is not light reading, but it certainly is
fascinating.