Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

The Astonishing New Science of the Senses

By: Maureen Seaberg

Narrated by: Cindy Kay

The Next Big Idea Club, August 2023 Must-Read Book

In 2016, scientists proved that humans could see light at the level of a single photon. We are living in historic times when humans may look at the very fabric of the universe in a laboratory setting. Around the world, other recent discoveries about the senses are just as astounding. It turns out we can hear amplitudes smaller than an atom, smell a trillion scents, have a set of taste buds that can discern molecules of fresh water, and can feel through the sense of touch the difference of a single molecule.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made takes listeners through their own bodies, delving into the molecular and even the quantum, and tells the story of our magnificent sensorium and what it means for the next wave of human potential. From the laboratories to the ordinary homes where these breakthroughs are taking place, the book explores our current sensory Renaissance and shows listeners how they, themselves, can heighten their own senses and experience the miraculous.

©2023 Maureen Seaberg (P)2023 Random House Audio

Less of a how-to than I was hoping for

The information is fascinating, but leaves the listener in the lurch. It's like watching a movie about a superhero and leaving kind of wishing we had powers, too. Yes, the idea is that we DO have these abilities, but how to access and hone them was not covered enough for this book to have been worth the read for me. Good narration.

Would have benefitted from using more resources

While personal experiences are interesting amd beneficial to a book about the senses, I wasn't expecting so much of this. I feel this author should have included sensitivities related to neurodivergence such as Autism and ADHD, for example, but instead just touched on them.

A Very, *Very* Good Exploration

In early 2023 I was introduced to Maureen Seaberg by a friend during Maureen's presentation to the Foundation for Mind-Being Research (FMBR). My great friend, Judy Kitt, presides over FMBR's meetings and I've known her personally and well for around nine years. She brings very special people to present at FMBR.

I'd first corresponded with Maureen before the meeting, to ask her conclusions about transhumanism. She explained that she felt it was too early in humankind's evolution to consider such an attitude of biological augmentation. This I was glad to read and hear.

I'm a synesthete and had never talked with anyone knowledgeable about it until I talked with Maureen. I'd never explored the idea of mirror-touch neurons with anyone until I talked with her, and that was revelatory for me, too. This book of hers was, for me, a very graceful and scientifically-backed survey of many of humankind's new understandings and discoveries about our astounding biology and completely underestimated perceptual abilities. I recommend the book highly!

Before I met Maureen, I'd also met and talked with other people who we have in common as friends. One of those is Joe McMoneagle, and another is a well-regarded scientist who doesn't suffer from a lack of publicity. And after I met her she was kind enough to introduce me to the astounding Neil Theis, whose work is mentioned in this book.

Extraordinary

This book is extraordinary and exciting in its ability to broaden our knowledge of our senses and the possibilities awaiting our awareness. I will be re-listening to it to grasp things I missed while digesting so much fascinating information the first time round. Highly recommend.

Good start, poor finish

I enjoyed the first part of this book where it described the recent development in science that allow us to see the incredible ways our eyes and ears and other senses are able to perceive the world around us. But shortly thereafter, the author started focusing on her own extra normal perceptions and quite a lot of bragging about the people, publications and engagements she has been involved with. She then segued into a promotion of Buddhism though a peculiar type that somehow embraces self perceptions and awareness which Buddhism denies as valid.

Pretentious

The author's intension is clearly to report and boast about her own abilities and travels rather than approach this book with an intension to be helpful, instructive, or even interesting to the reader.

Half interesting

Half the book or so is science about the senses and is really interesting. The rest is a mash of superstition, contradiction, and the author’s personal experiences. Machines have feelings but there is no materiality. Reality is a conscious dream state. Nature has more colors than humans can perceive, but nature and the human body are illusions. Pass.