Author:Rebecca D Costa
Why does it feel as if our most challenging problems today- the worldwide recession, global warming, fast-spreading viruses, terrorism and poverty- aren't getting solved? What if our brain has limits that prevent it from solving such complex problems? If ancient civilisations collapsed because they, too, hit a cognitive limitation, are we headed for a similar collapse, and if so, can it be prevented?
Using historical and modern-day examples, The Watchman's Rattle describes the cognitive gridlock that sets in when complexity races ahead of the brain's ability to manage it. Beginning with the Mayans, Khmer and Roman Empires, Costa shows how the tendency to find a quick fix to problems by focusing on symptoms instead of searching for permanent solutions, leads to frightening long-term consequences: Society's ability to solve its most challenging, intractable problems becomes gridlocked, progress slows and collapse ensues. But, as Costa reveals, there is a growing body of scientific evidence that the human brain can be retrained to comprehend, analyse and resolve massively complex problems. A process of intuitive thinking, which Neuroscientists refer to as 'insight'.
Part history, part social science, part biology, The Watchman's Rattle is sure to provoke, engage and incite change.
Rebecca Costa has written a riveting examination of our world's most dire and complex issues. Her message for mankind is an ultimately hopeful one as she explores her fascinating theory about the brain's ability to develop advanced problem-solving techniques in times of crisis. A must read!
—— Donald TrumpI am on the side of Rebecca Costa. Let us become realists-in-search-of-a-solution rather than doomsayers.
—— E.O WilsonA fascinating read that challenges our very beliefs about how we solve the problems we face in a resource constrained world with a rapidly growing population.
—— Sir Richard Bransonan excellent book, rich with challenging thoughts as well as perceptive solutions.
—— Geri Spieler , NY Journal of BooksA masterpiece. The best of its kind and beautifully crafted.
—— Allan Snyder, FRS, Director of the Centre for the MindRamachandran is the modern wizard of neuroscience... here we see the genius at work.
An astonishing book. His humanity, humour and scientific genius inform every passage.
—— Nicholas HumphreyA groundbreaking book... Eloquently impassioned, exhaustive
—— Daily TelegraphDamasio makes a grand transition from higher-brain views of emotions to deeply evolutionary, lower-brain contributions to emotional, sensory and homeostatic experiences. He affirms that the roots of consciousness are affective and shared by our fellow animals. Damasio's creative vision leads relentlessly toward a natural understanding of the very font of being
—— Jaak Panksepp, author of Affective NeuroscienceLucid, elegantly written, and punctuated by humour... This is an exciting book by a wonderful thinker
—— Siri Hustvedt
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