Consciousness Explained

By: Daniel C. Dennett

Narrated by: Paul Mantell

Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©1991 Daniel C. Dennett (P)2013 Audible Inc.

All science.

Full of very amazing stuff. I managed to get through it, however I'm no scientist and probably actually understood 10% of it. That being said it did give me some things to think about. I only gave a low score because of the complexity of the material. Someone who better understands it might give higher marks.

Dennett makes you THINK!

No philosopher, I nevertheless enjoy Dennett's work.

He makes me THINK. That's healthy, horizon expanding, illuminating.

You needn't agree with everything Dennett says; you might have the gut sense that, at times, Dennett is purposefully leading the reader around by the nose; you might wonder if the succession of "I'll address that in a chapter 2 chapters from now" might end in "I'll address that in the next book I've not yet writing.

But you will think. And think again. And be grateful for it.

All that said, Paul Mantell's narration doesn't seem to fit the material. At the beginning, he's snarky. I had the sense he, not Dennett, thought that anyone who didn't agree with what he was reading was an idiot.

The narration gets less snarky as the chapters flow under the bridge, but it never seems to give true voice to the voice to the words read and--more importantly--the ideas contained within the words.

Now... to listen to another Dennett book... got several good ones to choose from!

interesting but long winded

long and thorough explanation expressed sometimes in long-winded metaphors and asides. thought-provoking ideas meticulously explained

If you like Dennett, you will love this book.

First, the narrator is fantastic. This is a pretty dense subject and Dennett can certainly meander at times, but he brings life to Dennett's words.
As to the content, It was a great attempt at wrapping our minds around a true mystery. I do think he did a better job at the setup, why this is so hard, and all of the dead bodies (theories) that have come before. And I do think he teed up the way to approach the problem really well. I do think he falls short in the details, and he could have made this book a game-changer if he had infused a bit more science into the discussion.
He is first and foremost a philosopher, and this is definitely much more a philosophical treaty, rather than a scientific one.

Fascinating ideas, too laboriously written

Not sure audiobook is the best format.
Dennet is brilliant yet cumbersome at times, which makes some passages very hard to understand.

Not for the faint of heart

While a fascinating read, this book is deep. It goes into your brain layer after layer after layer. While I can safely say I really understood only 20% of the real meaning of this book, the other 80% was clearly well researched and added validity to the 20%. A tough read for sure.

Heavy book

Brain stretching but very fulfilling. I feel the book did a good job explaining the authors expertise in consciousness. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to reach into their own mind a bit more.

Excellent

This is an excellent and difficult book- lots of information to take away to refine your understanding of your own mind. I wouldn't say it's sufficient to BASE your understanding of consciousness on it, since there's so much nuance to appreciating the nature of consciousness. But, it's great at saying "nope, you can't think about it this way because XYZ. Here is a better way to think about this phenomenon." Really formative and helpful for how I see myself.

Must read if interested in consciousness

Dennett is a great modern thinker. While not providing a detailed description of consciousness as the title may suggest, it does a wonderful job of debunking most "intuitive" explanations of consciousness that hinder us from deeper understandings on the matter.

Easy Entry to a Complex Text You Ought to Read

This is an important book, well worth a deep, attentive read. This listen is a good starting point if you don't have time for that, but it won't take the place of actually spending time with the ideas Dennett lays out. Although the narrator is pretty good, it was difficult for me to follow the complexities of Dennett's synthesis of philosophy, evolutionary psychology, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, literary criticism, and a myriad of other disciplinary insight into consciousness. So, dip your toes in with this, then sit down and read the book if you're able.