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Preface | |
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Prologue | |
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The Dream of Galileo | |
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Evidence: Experiments of Nature | |
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Introduction: Displacements | |
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Cerebrum: In which is shown that the corticothalamic system generates consciousness | |
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Cerebellum: In which is shown that the cerebellum, while having more neurons than the cerebrum, does not generate consciousness | |
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Two Blind Painters: In which is shown that sensory inputs and pathways are not necessary for consciousness | |
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A Brain Locked In: In which is shown that motor outputs and pathways are not necessary for consciousness, nor are they sufficient | |
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Empress Without Memory: In which is shown that many brain circuits that help us see, hear, remember, speak, and act are not necessary for consciousness | |
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A Brain Split: In which is shown that consciousness is divided if the brain is split | |
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A Brain Conflicted: In which is said that consciousness can split if different regions of the brain refuse to talk to each other | |
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A Brain Possessed: In which is shown that when cortical neurons fire strongly and synchronously, as during certain seizures, consciousness fades | |
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A Brain Asleep: In which is shown that when cortical neurons can be on and off only together, as during dreamless sleep, consciousness fades | |
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Theory: Experiments of Thought | |
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Introduction: The Enigma of Consciousness | |
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Galileo and the Photodiode: In which is shown that the humble photodiode can tell light from dark as well as Galileo | |
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Information: The Manifold Repertoire: In Which is shown that the repertoire of possible experiences is as large as one can imagine | |
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Galileo and the Camera: In which is shown that the sensor of a digital camera has a large repertoire of possible states, perhaps larger than Galileo's | |
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Integrated Information: The Many and the One: In which is shown that consciousness lives where information is integrated by a single entity above and beyond its parts | |
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Galileo and the Bat: In which is feared that the quality of experience cannot be derived from matter | |
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Seeing Dark (Deconstructing Darkness): In which is said that darkness does not exist in a void but requires a context | |
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The Meaning of Dark (Constructing Darkness): In which is shown that darkness is built of many nested mechanisms that specify what it is not | |
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The Place of Light: In which is shown that an experience is a shape made of integrated information | |
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The Garden of Qualia: In which is said that the universe is mostly dark, but the largest stars are closer than one thinks, if they are looked at with the proper instrument | |
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Implications: A Universe of Consciousness | |
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Introduction: Sparks and Flames | |
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Nightfall I: Death: In Which is said that, if consciousness is integrated information, it dissolves with death | |
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Nightfall II: Dementia: In which is said that consciousness disintegrates with dementia | |
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Nightfall III: Dolor: In which is said that, if the quality of consciousness is a shape made of integrated information, it can be turned into the only real and eternal Hell | |
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Twilight I: Consciousness Diminished: In which is said that consciousness can be present in the absence of language and reflection | |
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Twilight II: Consciousness Evolving: In which is said that animals are conscious, too | |
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Twilight III: Consciousness Developing: In which is said that consciousness must be present, to some degree, even before birth | |
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Daylight I: Consciousness Exploring: In which is said that, by investigating nature, new qualia are discovered | |
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Daylight II: Consciousness Imagining: In which is said that art and imagination invent new shapes within the mind | |
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Daylight III: Consciousness Growing: In which is said that, by growing consciousness, the universe comes more into being, the synthesis of one and many | |
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Epilogue: Three Late Dreams | |
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Afterthoughts: Study Questions | |
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Acknowledgments | |
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Illustration Credits | |