Dreams, jokes, and songs : how brains build consciousness / Paul Thagard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thagard, Paul, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consciousness.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

Other Title:

How brains build consciousness

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

'Dreams, Jokes, and Songs' explores the nature and mechanisms of consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience and philosophy. Thagard proposes the NBC (Neural representation, Binding, Coherence, and Competition) theory as a comprehensive explanation for human consciousness. He addresses external perceptions such as smell, internal sensations such as hunger, emotions such as loneliness, and abstract thoughts such as the self. The book explains how complex conscious experiences emerge from the interactions of neural mechanisms. It highlights the integration of neural and cultural factors, showing how consciousness results from both biological processes and social influences. It uses ideas about neural representation and coherence to produce powerful new theories of dreaming, humour, and musical experience.

"This book explores the nature and mechanisms of consciousness from the perspectives of neuroscience and philosophy. Thagard proposes the NBC (Neural representation, Binding, Coherence, and Competition) theory as a comprehensive explanation for human consciousness. He addresses external perceptions such as smell, internal sensations such as hunger, emotions such as loneliness, and abstract thoughts such as the self. The book explains how complex conscious experiences emerge from the interactions of neural mechanisms. It highlights the integration of neural and cultural factors, showing how consciousness results from both biological processes and social influences. It uses ideas about neural representation and coherence to produce powerful new theories of dreaming, humour, and musical experience. Other applications include religion, morality, sports, romantic chemistry, and drugs. Consciousness has many psychological functions, especially action focus, combining senses with emotions, and increasing social understanding. Chapters also explore awareness of time, consciousness in non-human animals, the feasibility of machine consciousness, and how NBC compares to alternative theories. NBC justifies attributing some kinds of consciousness to advanced animals such as mammals and birds, and maybe even to fish, crabs, and bees; but not to plants, bacteria, or rocks. Thagard’s work bridges the gap between scientific mechanisms and the qualitative nature of experience, offering a new materialist solution to the mind–body problem"-- Oxford Academic.

Contents:

Rungs on the ladder to consciousness

How consciousness works

Dreams and sleep

Jokes, humour, and laughter

Musical experience

Religion, sports, and other domains of consciousness

Time consciousness

Animal consciousness

Machine consciousness

Alternative theories of consciousness.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from digital title page (Oxford Academic, viewed January 5, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Thagard, Paul. Dreams, jokes, and songs

ISBN:

9780198962373

0198962371

9780198962366

0198962363

9780198962380

019896238X

OCLC:

1521112945

Publisher Number:

CIPO000239903

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license