Celebrating the human mind

I wrote a book a few years ago that

was an investigation of conscious-

ness but went under the rather

more appealing title of Mind Games.

Through such games, I focused on

the mysteries that surround the way

people think.

The human mind has many inexplica-

ble abilities. It can happily deal with

imaginary things that don’t really

exist, that don’t make sense and that

can’t be explained. Imagine what

a disaster it would be if a unicorn

ate this book or if it turned out your

dad was an alien in disguise! Some

people even think the mind can proj-

ect thoughts instantaneously across

distances, cause departed souls

to re‐materialise and, of course,

pass messages directly to a creator

God. Yet although mainstream phi-

losophers and hardnosed scientists

sneer at such irrationality, that’s no

reason to throw out the distinction

between minds and brains, between

consciousness and electrical activity

in nerve networks.