Consciousness Explained

By: Daniel C. Dennett

Narrated by: Paul Mantell

The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available as an audiobook. The author of Brainstorms, Daniel C. Dennett replaces our traditional vision of consciousness with a new model based on a wealth of fact and theory from the latest scientific research.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1991 Daniel C. Dennett (P)2013 Audible Inc.

All science.

Full of very amazing stuff. I managed to get through it, however I'm no scientist and probably actually understood 10% of it. That being said it did give me some things to think about. I only gave a low score because of the complexity of the material. Someone who better understands it might give higher marks.

Dennett makes you THINK!

No philosopher, I nevertheless enjoy Dennett's work.

He makes me THINK. That's healthy, horizon expanding, illuminating.

You needn't agree with everything Dennett says; you might have the gut sense that, at times, Dennett is purposefully leading the reader around by the nose; you might wonder if the succession of "I'll address that in a chapter 2 chapters from now" might end in "I'll address that in the next book I've not yet writing.

But you will think. And think again. And be grateful for it.

All that said, Paul Mantell's narration doesn't seem to fit the material. At the beginning, he's snarky. I had the sense he, not Dennett, thought that anyone who didn't agree with what he was reading was an idiot.

The narration gets less snarky as the chapters flow under the bridge, but it never seems to give true voice to the voice to the words read and--more importantly--the ideas contained within the words.

Now... to listen to another Dennett book... got several good ones to choose from!

interesting but long winded

long and thorough explanation expressed sometimes in long-winded metaphors and asides. thought-provoking ideas meticulously explained

If you like Dennett, you will love this book.

First, the narrator is fantastic. This is a pretty dense subject and Dennett can certainly meander at times, but he brings life to Dennett's words.
As to the content, It was a great attempt at wrapping our minds around a true mystery. I do think he did a better job at the setup, why this is so hard, and all of the dead bodies (theories) that have come before. And I do think he teed up the way to approach the problem really well. I do think he falls short in the details, and he could have made this book a game-changer if he had infused a bit more science into the discussion.
He is first and foremost a philosopher, and this is definitely much more a philosophical treaty, rather than a scientific one.

Fascinating ideas, too laboriously written

Not sure audiobook is the best format.
Dennet is brilliant yet cumbersome at times, which makes some passages very hard to understand.