Wherever you find a neuron, there - as a species - we are. It is time we – the neurons – dare to unconditionally anthropomorphize our cellular selves. We - the so-called "humans" - would get a better sense of who we are if we started thinking of ourselves as a “we” not an “I,” as a neural plurality, as a “neural we." The book was previously published under the title of "A Meeting of Neural Avatars," which is now included as a chapter in the book, along with the discussion of such topics as Steven Sevush's single-neuron theory of consciousness, multiple personalities (or Robert Ornstein's "multimind"), metazoan paradox of agency, possibility of single neuron cryonics, mirror neurons, "the fetish of cephalization," split-brain research, etc. The book is about playing with the definition of being human, about expanding our radius of identification across species, and about our place on the tree of life. About the author: Pavel Somov, PhD is a licensed psychologist in private practice, and the author of 7 self-help books on mindfulness-based self-help; he speaks domestically and internationally on the topics of mindfulness; Somov is on the Advisory Board of the Mindfulness Project (London, UK); he has also published in peer-reviewed journals. "'A Meeting of the Neural Avatars' is, neurally speaking, a mind-blowing trip. It just may redefine the distinction between me and you and we. A fascinating take on human connection and what it means to our mutual evolution." - Donald Altman, mindfulness teacher and author, The Joy Compass and One-Minute MindfulnessTable of Contents:(Preface) The Possessive Syntax of How We Talk About “Our Brains”(Ch. 1-a) I, a Plurality(Ch. 1-b) Metazoan Paradox: Each “I” is a “We” and Each “We” is an “I”(Ch. 1-c) Einstein in Plural(Ch. 1-d) Neural Crowd: a Composite Dance of Oneness(Ch. 1-e) First Person Plural(Ch. 2) Brain is a Myth(Ch. 3-a) A Neuron Is a Neuron Is a Neuron(Ch. 3-b) A Neuron is a Neuron Is a Neuron(Ch. 4) Sevush: the Luddite of the Brain(Ch. 5-a)Letting Go of the Fetish of Cephalization(Ch. 5-b) Neural Anchorites: of Skulls, Eugenics, Skinthink & Third-Eye Skylights(Ch. 6) Neural Org-charts: Nets, Knots & Noosphere(Ch. 7) SNT, MPD, Bilingualism & Wisdom of Doubt(Ch. 8) On Trees of Life, Taxonomies & Cladistics(Ch. 9-a) Unabashed Self-Anthropomorphizing(Ch. 9-b) Awakening the Sleeping Neural Beauty of Anthropomorphizing(Ch. 10) Single Neuron Cryonics(Ch. 11) Humanistic Neurophenomenology, Not Reductionism(Ch. 12) Neural Tribe Terminology [Index of Terms](Ch. 13) Neural Tribe Stats(Ch. 14) Beyond Diaspora: Expand Your Radius of Identification(Ch.15) Neural Past, Neural Future: from Selforgs to Symbiorgs to Cyborgs(Ch. 16-a) Uniformity of Neural Essence(Ch. 16-b) Same Am-ness, Different Skulls: Buddha-nature & Neural Essence(Ch. 17) Finality of Objective Size, Infinity of Am-ness(Ch. 18) Neural Namaste(Ch. 19) Arrogance of “Human” Surprise(Ch. 20) In Memory of Cecil, a Person(Ch. 21) New Gestalt: “Human” Form, Neural Essence(Ch. 22-a) Translocal Neural Pow-Wow of Oneness(Ch. 22-b) Brain-to-Brain Interface Possibilities(Ch. 23) Significance of Insignificance(Ch. 24) Self-to-Nonself Ratio & Loss of Control(Ch. 25) Bridging Synaptic Gaps(Ch. 26) NT is IT: Info-Processing Tribe(Ch. 27) From Humankind to Neurokind to Kindness(Ch. 28) The Autopoietic Mirror of Identification & the VEN Fetish(Ch. 29-a) Pest Control(Ch. 29-b) Melbourne Perfection(Ch. 30-a) RVs & Chariots(Ch. 30-b) Uncle Grandpa’s RV(Ch. 31) Commissurotomy: Neural Duplex & Wi-FI Corpus Callosum(Ch. 32) Single Neuron Morality & Criminality(Ch. 33) Marvel at Monkey Mind(Ch. 34) Mirror Neurons: Neurons in the Know(Ch. 35) Trees on Legs: Going Beyond Neural(Ch. 36) A Meeting of Neural Avatars
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