A controversial but optimistic book about humanity's increasing co-operation and our technological future

'What is a self, and how can a self come out of inaminate matter?' This book examines this riddle. Linking together the music of J S Bach, the graphic art of Escher and the mathematical theorems of Godel, as well as ideas drawn from logic, biology, psychology, physics and linguistics, it reveals the mysteries of human thought processes.

Examines the next step in the evolutionary process of the union of human and machine. This title offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.

Why do memories fade? Why do we lose our tempers? Why do fools fall in love? This work explores the nature and history of the human mind. It looks at the computations and evolutions, and then considers how the mind lets us see, think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion and philosophy.

Revises the traditional view of consciousness by claiming that tautology and Descartes' dualism of mind and body should be replaced with theories from the realms of neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence.

A leading expert of the neurophysiology of emotions, Damasio shows how our consciousness arose out of the development of emotion. At its core human consciousness is consciousness of the feeling and experiencing self.