The Nature of Human Consciousness - The 92nd Street Y, New York

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92NY Humanities Audio Collection

The Human Mind

The Nature of Human Consciousness

Mar 9, 1988


Robert E. Ornstein, psychologist, author, and president of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge, discusses the evolution of the human brain over the past fifty years. This lecture is part of a series examining the human mind. Ornstein’s published works include The Psychology of Consciousness (1986), Multimind (1986), and The Healing Brain (1987). In this lecture, theorizes that with the rise of modern technology, the human brain may reach a paradoxical point in which it becomes obsolete and incapable of dealing with the world that it has created. He shares observations from his studies of the human brain, including how the brain takes in information about changes. Ornstein uses the audience to demonstrate how the brain may have trouble performing simple tasks to which it is not accustomed, such as saying the months of the year in reverse or alphabetical order, instead of the typical chronological order. The discussion is followed with questions from the audience.

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