How to Build a Human: Adventures in How We Are Made and Who We Are. Philip Ball

Скачать книгу в различных форматах или читать онлайн на сайте.

Название: How to Build a Human: Adventures in How We Are Made and Who We Are

Автор: Philip Ball

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Медицина

Серия:

isbn: 9780008331795

isbn: 0

Аннотация:

A cutting-edge examination of what it means to be human and to have a 'self' in the face of new scientific developments in cloning, gene-splicing and neural downloading.After seeing his own cells used to grow clumps of new neurons – essentially mini-brains – Philip Ball begins to examine the concepts of identity and consciousness. Delving into humanity's deep evolutionary past to look at how complex creatures like us emerged from single-celled life, he offers a new perspective on how humans think about ourselves. In an age when we are increasingly encouraged to regard the 'self' as an abstract sequence of genetic information, or as a pattern of neural activity that might be 'downloaded' to a computer, I return us to the body – to flesh and blood – and anchor a conception of personhood in this unique and ephemeral mortal coil. How to Build a Human brings us back to ourselves – but in doing so, it challenges old preconceptions and values. It asks us to rethink how we exist in the world.