Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It -- Christof Koch, Hardcover

"Deeply personal and infinitely digestible, Then I Am Myself the World is a remarkable must-read for anyone interested in knowing their mind."―Judson Brewer MD, PhD, New York Times-bestselling author of Unwinding Anxiety

The world's leading investigator of consciousness argues that by understanding what consciousness does--cause change in the world--we can understand its origins and its future 

In Then I Am Myself the World, Christof Koch explores the only thing we directly experience: consciousness. At the book's heart is integrated-information theory, the idea that the essence of consciousness is the ability to exert causal power over itself, to be an agent of change. Koch investigates the physical origins of consciousness in the brain and how this knowledge can be used to measure consciousness in natural and artificial systems.   
 
Enabled by such tools, Koch reveals when and where consciousness exists, and uses that knowledge to confront major social and scientific questions: When does a fetus first become self-aware? Can psychedelic and mystical experiences transform lives? What happens to consciousness in near-death experiences? Why will generative AI ultimately be able to do the very thing we can do, yet never feel any of it? And do our experiences reveal a single, objective reality?   

This is an essential book for anyone who seeks to understand ourselves and the future we are creating.

Author: Christof Koch
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 05/07/2024
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781541602809

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/25/2024
Library Journal 05/01/2024 pg. 104

About the Author
Christof Koch is a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute and at the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, the former president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and a former professor at the California Institute of Technology. Author of four previous titles, Koch writes regularly for a range of media, including Scientific American. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.