The Hybrid Mind
Many books on consciousness focus on issues around 'qualia' (how to see red, being one of the more famous examples). Donald is critical of this narrow view which he claims has more to do the fact that these 'hardliners' prefer to base theories on strictly controlled tests of human brain power carried out in laboratories. This is of course the easiest way of controlling data, but Donald's view on this is 'so what'Ó The artificial lab environment does not reveal much, if anything ... about the incredible multi-tasking power of the human brain which makes it so very different from those of other mammals. Remembering sequences of numbers or cards in a restricted lab test environment is a very artificial way of using the brain and does not compared to the complex way in which the brain has to work in everyday life.

Instead Donald focuses on providing a fuller picture of how the brain works in everyday life. To illustrate this he draws, not only on data from neuro- and cognitive science, but also from cultural and physical anthropology. According to Donald, language and culture have had a major impact on the human brain turning the human mind, in fact ... into a hybrid product. Because the brain is interwoven with its surrounding environment, where culture functions a kind of 'external memory', requiring a language and culture is an active and essential process in order to shape the adult brain. This development is the result of human beings developing a language. This has improved our ability to communicate to a degree much higher than any other species. This is turn is an essential requirement for the development of cultures which is a way for the human brain to interact with the external environment. The resulting hybrid mind gives humanity the potential to break free from the limitations of the mammalian brain.

Donald comments extensively on other areas of consciousness research, many of which, he suggests ... are trying to explain away rather than explain consciousness. But mainly he draws on data from neuroscience and cognitive psychology and examines brain functions such as selective binding, short-term control, intermediate- and long-term governance etc. Theories such as Condillac's Statue, and the story of Helen Keller are referred to in order to illustrate the plasticity of the brain. The various stages of human cultural and cognitive evolution are used to explain the development of the Hybrid Mind.

The elegant and witty style and its unusually broad approach to consciousness makes the book very interesting and accessible even for lay-people.

Gunnel Minett is the author of Breath and Spirit.