What is consciousness and why did it appear? Do only we humans base our idea of self on conscious feelings, or do animals do it too? Could future machines resemble us in this regard?

We feel, therefore we exist. Conscious feelings support our sense of self. They form the basis of our idea of ourselves as spiritual beings with presence, essence, and value.

Nicholas Humphrey weaves adventurous contemplation with the latest scientific data and narrates his personal journey in search of answers: from his discovery that monkeys can have blind sight and his groundbreaking work on social intelligence to his radical approaches in the field of philosophy of mind.

The goal is to solve a difficult problem: how can we explain the marvelous, otherworldly phenomenon of "experiential consciousness"? The redness of the poppy, the sweetness of honey, the pain from a bee's sting. What constitutes this magical dimension of experience, what purpose does it serve, and why did it appear in the course of evolution?

The author presents here, for the first time in a comprehensive treatise, a compelling solution, explaining that experiential consciousness is not at all primitive, but a relatively recent and complex evolutionary achievement. The implications of his theory regarding the existence of experiential awareness in animals are striking and transformative.

The narrative of a research journey to uncover the evolutionary history of consciousness by a leading theoretical psychologist.

Author: NICHOLAS HUMPHREY

Language: GREEK

Pages: 240

Dimensions: 230Χ150Χ0

Year of publication: 2025