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Evolution of Consciousness: The Origins of the Way We Think
Based on his life's research, the author of the bestseller The Psychology of Consciousness provides a provocative look at the evolution of the mind.
In Evolution of Consciousness Robert Ornstein explains that we are not rational but adaptive, and that it is Darwin, not Freud, who is the central scientist of the brain.
In Evolution of Consciousness Robert Ornstein explains that we are not rational but adaptive, and that it is Darwin, not Freud, who is the central scientist of the brain.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
22 people are currently reading
423 people want to read
About the author
Robert Ornstein
28books94followersPsychologist Robert Ornstein's wide-ranging and multidisciplinary work has won him awards from more than a dozen organizations, including the American Psychological Association and UNESCO. His pioneering research on the bilateral specialization of the brain has done much to advance our understanding of how we think.
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from City University of New York in 1964 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. His doctoral thesis won the American Institutes for Research Creative Talent Award and was published immediately as a book, On the Experience of Time.
Since then he has written or co-written more than twenty other books on the nature of the human mind and brain and their relationship to thought, health and individual and social consciousness, which have sold over six million copies and been translated into a dozen other languages. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.
Dr. Ornstein has taught at the University of California Medical Center and Stanford University, and he has lectured at more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational nonprofit dedicated to bringing important discoveries concerning human nature to the general public.
Among his many honors and awards are the UNESCO award for Best Contribution to Psychology and the American Psychological Foundation Media Award "for increasing the public understanding of psychology."
He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from City University of New York in 1964 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. His doctoral thesis won the American Institutes for Research Creative Talent Award and was published immediately as a book, On the Experience of Time.
Since then he has written or co-written more than twenty other books on the nature of the human mind and brain and their relationship to thought, health and individual and social consciousness, which have sold over six million copies and been translated into a dozen other languages. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.
Dr. Ornstein has taught at the University of California Medical Center and Stanford University, and he has lectured at more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational nonprofit dedicated to bringing important discoveries concerning human nature to the general public.
Among his many honors and awards are the UNESCO award for Best Contribution to Psychology and the American Psychological Foundation Media Award "for increasing the public understanding of psychology."
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 24, 2014
In this review I summarized the book under six main topics then I wrote my critiques..
1.Human are not rational creatures:
Initially I used to believe that the mind is mainly used for making rational decisions. However Ornstein emphasized that “ rationality is one component of the mind, but it is used rarely, and in a very limited area” ( Pg 3) .This limitation in rationality is due to many reasons. One reason is because most of our reaction is done automatically based on stored fixed routines not based on rational thinking. Ornstein stated “ A mind built up with countless specific adaptions can never be rational.. We do not always do what we want, nor do we always know what or why we are doing something.”(221). Another reason is because many mind process are not accessible to conscious awareness under any circumstances (Pg231). A study mentioned in the book showed that ” spontaneous act begins before we are aware we have ‘ decided’ to act.. An unconscious decision center may decide to initiate an action, then there is a period of time which the conscious self can choose to stop the action. Consciousness, the center of the mind/brain system, may well have ‘ negative options’ on our actions. Voting the proposals of the separated minds. However, it does not control or even know about the birth of these action-ideas.”(147) .So our many of our actions are initiated unconsciously within the later permission or veto of the consciousness, but usually have no need to be aware of this (pg150).
Moreover Ornstein stated that the primary function of the mental system is not reason or self-analysis, but adaption to the world (pg4). He wrote, “The brain evolved primarily to control different body reactions. It is more like the liver than it is like a computer. It is not organized for thought. Those operations that seem most human- language, perception, and intelligence- make up only a small function of the brain’s functions. The data that we are not using 95 percent of the brain can not be true for a living being, since most of it completely engaged.”(Pg132). Another limitation in our mental system is that we pay attention to urgent events while ignoring the gradual changes even if it were more harmful and dangerous .We pay so much attention to a Terrorist event while paying less attention to issue such as global warming. Moreover human cognitive system stops noticing any event that continues for along time. Ornstein stated, “When an event continues, we stop noticing it. The air conditioner in the room, the noise of the street, our breathing- all seem disappears. This happens because our senses do not respond ti the unchanging stimulation. This decline in response is called sensory adaption”(pg 109)
2.How emotion effect our consciousness:
Another factor that limits mind rationality is emotions. Ornstein mentioned that emotion control human behavior even more than reason and rationality. He stated “Feeling is first in two senses: Emotions appeared first in the mind’s evolution , to operate as a special-purpose organizers. Second, they are at the front of our experience. Since they evolved to short-circuit deliberations, they spring quickly into action, before rational deliberation has the time to function” (Pg 92). His statement is based on a “ New research shows that emotions have a separate system of nerve pathways, through the limbic system to the cortex, allowing emotional signals to avoid conscious control. This signal separation is beneficial in emergencies – we do not have to think before run. But it can make us act in ways’ we’ do not want. Emotions contradict conscious impulses.” (Pg. 80-81). Ornstein believe that mental processes are organized around emotional ideals – how we feel how we want something to be- rather than around thought or reasons . He wrote “What matters is that emotions set our agenda. And they do so largely without our being aware of them. Far from being disorganizing, they are focal point of the mental system’s activity. They govern our choices, they determine our goals and they guide our life. We are, for the most part, in most of life their servants, and we are usually not conscious of them” (97).
3.How the environment affect our mind:
The environment influences the development of human brain. People who encounter different circumstances in their life their brains are developed in different ways. Since “ The nervous systems begins with a great number of possibilities and elects them during our early years.. Abused children are much more aggressive when they become adults, which would seem to indicate that such abused children learn that abuse is a way of life (pg: 129). A study mentioned in the book shows that even children who are in the womb are influenced by their mothers’ behaviors . We can alter our consciousness by changing our environment .Since “Our normal waking consciousness builds as a model of the world, based on sense and body information, expectations, fantasy, and crazy hopes, and other cognitive processes. If any of these factors is radically altered, an altered state of consciousness may result.” (228).
4.Why do we need to redirect our Consciousness :
We need to redirect our consciousness and mind since they are not adequate to our contemporary challenges. Our time now so dynamic while the adapted cognitive system evolved form a stable world. Ornstein stated “The ancestral system of adaptions flourished when the world was stable. And it is this stability that is so changed in the modern world. The world that we adapted to is no more. The mind is the way it is because the world was the way it was some 40.000 years ago”(253). He then continued, “Now humanity is changing the world beyond the generation-to-generations adaption time. Now human inventiveness is overwhelming human adaptiveness . Once an invention becomes widespread such as electronics or jet planes, everyone is under pressure to adapt to a new situation. As a result of the way we evolved our ability to judge lags behind our ability to create.(256)”.
5.How can we redirect our mind:
Even though Ornstein mentioned many limitation on human mind he believe that it can be redirected. He stated ‘ People can consciously redirect their mind, but, like learning to read or to do math , this ability does not come naturally “ (p7). The first step to redirect the brain is to understand it’s limitation and the first step to strengthen consciousness is to understand it’s weakness. Ornstein wrote that we can strengthen the consciousness by brining the automated routines to consciousness using self observations (239). The observer simply watches his actions and notice what is happening then try to redirect his consciousness. These exercise are called in ‘ Just siting” zen ,Mindfullness in Youga ‘ self observation “in Sufisim (243). Ornstein emphasized that small shift in the minds operations can change is greatly. We should concentrate in redirecting our consciousness not in improving rationality. He proposed an action plan to alter consciousness ” We have to take command of our evolution now and begin a massive program for conscious changes in the way we think, the way we relate o other, the way we identify with the rest of humanity.. WE need a new curriculum about the nature of the human mind now, and we need to require politicians to pay attention to the long-term consequences of their actions. WE need to update our education continually, in schools, in the home, and in the media, and teach a new upbringing. We need school curricula to teach about why our mind react quickly to emergencies, whereas small, slow changes in the world are the real threats. Humanity and its limit, should be what is thought early on, along with geography and the like.”(pg268).
6.Some Critiques :
The book provides an excellent explanation for the nature of the brain consciousness , emotions and how evolution influence the way deal with the world. However , there are many repetitions of information in the book without any added value. Also many times he mentioned results of studies without wrting any reference or even mentioning the study title or the research name. This is a big drawback in this book since It should be considered a scientific book not a novel. The book explains the limitations of the mind and the consciousness with deep details but the solutions the author proposed to deal with this limitation were so general and weak. I could barley see any solution he proposed based on a scientific research. Most of the solutions were like personal advices and motivational speech. Also when he recommended that topics related to mental operations and consciousness should be taught at school, at house and via the media he did not considered the obstacles against applying his recommendations. There are hundreds of topics that should be taught at school and should be covered via the media but this is not happening.
1.Human are not rational creatures:
Initially I used to believe that the mind is mainly used for making rational decisions. However Ornstein emphasized that “ rationality is one component of the mind, but it is used rarely, and in a very limited area” ( Pg 3) .This limitation in rationality is due to many reasons. One reason is because most of our reaction is done automatically based on stored fixed routines not based on rational thinking. Ornstein stated “ A mind built up with countless specific adaptions can never be rational.. We do not always do what we want, nor do we always know what or why we are doing something.”(221). Another reason is because many mind process are not accessible to conscious awareness under any circumstances (Pg231). A study mentioned in the book showed that ” spontaneous act begins before we are aware we have ‘ decided’ to act.. An unconscious decision center may decide to initiate an action, then there is a period of time which the conscious self can choose to stop the action. Consciousness, the center of the mind/brain system, may well have ‘ negative options’ on our actions. Voting the proposals of the separated minds. However, it does not control or even know about the birth of these action-ideas.”(147) .So our many of our actions are initiated unconsciously within the later permission or veto of the consciousness, but usually have no need to be aware of this (pg150).
Moreover Ornstein stated that the primary function of the mental system is not reason or self-analysis, but adaption to the world (pg4). He wrote, “The brain evolved primarily to control different body reactions. It is more like the liver than it is like a computer. It is not organized for thought. Those operations that seem most human- language, perception, and intelligence- make up only a small function of the brain’s functions. The data that we are not using 95 percent of the brain can not be true for a living being, since most of it completely engaged.”(Pg132). Another limitation in our mental system is that we pay attention to urgent events while ignoring the gradual changes even if it were more harmful and dangerous .We pay so much attention to a Terrorist event while paying less attention to issue such as global warming. Moreover human cognitive system stops noticing any event that continues for along time. Ornstein stated, “When an event continues, we stop noticing it. The air conditioner in the room, the noise of the street, our breathing- all seem disappears. This happens because our senses do not respond ti the unchanging stimulation. This decline in response is called sensory adaption”(pg 109)
2.How emotion effect our consciousness:
Another factor that limits mind rationality is emotions. Ornstein mentioned that emotion control human behavior even more than reason and rationality. He stated “Feeling is first in two senses: Emotions appeared first in the mind’s evolution , to operate as a special-purpose organizers. Second, they are at the front of our experience. Since they evolved to short-circuit deliberations, they spring quickly into action, before rational deliberation has the time to function” (Pg 92). His statement is based on a “ New research shows that emotions have a separate system of nerve pathways, through the limbic system to the cortex, allowing emotional signals to avoid conscious control. This signal separation is beneficial in emergencies – we do not have to think before run. But it can make us act in ways’ we’ do not want. Emotions contradict conscious impulses.” (Pg. 80-81). Ornstein believe that mental processes are organized around emotional ideals – how we feel how we want something to be- rather than around thought or reasons . He wrote “What matters is that emotions set our agenda. And they do so largely without our being aware of them. Far from being disorganizing, they are focal point of the mental system’s activity. They govern our choices, they determine our goals and they guide our life. We are, for the most part, in most of life their servants, and we are usually not conscious of them” (97).
3.How the environment affect our mind:
The environment influences the development of human brain. People who encounter different circumstances in their life their brains are developed in different ways. Since “ The nervous systems begins with a great number of possibilities and elects them during our early years.. Abused children are much more aggressive when they become adults, which would seem to indicate that such abused children learn that abuse is a way of life (pg: 129). A study mentioned in the book shows that even children who are in the womb are influenced by their mothers’ behaviors . We can alter our consciousness by changing our environment .Since “Our normal waking consciousness builds as a model of the world, based on sense and body information, expectations, fantasy, and crazy hopes, and other cognitive processes. If any of these factors is radically altered, an altered state of consciousness may result.” (228).
4.Why do we need to redirect our Consciousness :
We need to redirect our consciousness and mind since they are not adequate to our contemporary challenges. Our time now so dynamic while the adapted cognitive system evolved form a stable world. Ornstein stated “The ancestral system of adaptions flourished when the world was stable. And it is this stability that is so changed in the modern world. The world that we adapted to is no more. The mind is the way it is because the world was the way it was some 40.000 years ago”(253). He then continued, “Now humanity is changing the world beyond the generation-to-generations adaption time. Now human inventiveness is overwhelming human adaptiveness . Once an invention becomes widespread such as electronics or jet planes, everyone is under pressure to adapt to a new situation. As a result of the way we evolved our ability to judge lags behind our ability to create.(256)”.
5.How can we redirect our mind:
Even though Ornstein mentioned many limitation on human mind he believe that it can be redirected. He stated ‘ People can consciously redirect their mind, but, like learning to read or to do math , this ability does not come naturally “ (p7). The first step to redirect the brain is to understand it’s limitation and the first step to strengthen consciousness is to understand it’s weakness. Ornstein wrote that we can strengthen the consciousness by brining the automated routines to consciousness using self observations (239). The observer simply watches his actions and notice what is happening then try to redirect his consciousness. These exercise are called in ‘ Just siting” zen ,Mindfullness in Youga ‘ self observation “in Sufisim (243). Ornstein emphasized that small shift in the minds operations can change is greatly. We should concentrate in redirecting our consciousness not in improving rationality. He proposed an action plan to alter consciousness ” We have to take command of our evolution now and begin a massive program for conscious changes in the way we think, the way we relate o other, the way we identify with the rest of humanity.. WE need a new curriculum about the nature of the human mind now, and we need to require politicians to pay attention to the long-term consequences of their actions. WE need to update our education continually, in schools, in the home, and in the media, and teach a new upbringing. We need school curricula to teach about why our mind react quickly to emergencies, whereas small, slow changes in the world are the real threats. Humanity and its limit, should be what is thought early on, along with geography and the like.”(pg268).
6.Some Critiques :
The book provides an excellent explanation for the nature of the brain consciousness , emotions and how evolution influence the way deal with the world. However , there are many repetitions of information in the book without any added value. Also many times he mentioned results of studies without wrting any reference or even mentioning the study title or the research name. This is a big drawback in this book since It should be considered a scientific book not a novel. The book explains the limitations of the mind and the consciousness with deep details but the solutions the author proposed to deal with this limitation were so general and weak. I could barley see any solution he proposed based on a scientific research. Most of the solutions were like personal advices and motivational speech. Also when he recommended that topics related to mental operations and consciousness should be taught at school, at house and via the media he did not considered the obstacles against applying his recommendations. There are hundreds of topics that should be taught at school and should be covered via the media but this is not happening.
August 6, 2013
What does it mean to be conscious, and how did this ability develop in our evolution and why? The science is a bit dated, as there have been many breakthroughs in this area in the last 18 years, but for the lay reader, this sets up there with the Janes' "Origin of Conciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" as cutting edge human knowledge.
Ornstein is a great writer, as well. He gives heavy science a strong, enjoyable narrative. A truly great book.
Ornstein is a great writer, as well. He gives heavy science a strong, enjoyable narrative. A truly great book.
October 31, 2017
A must read regarding how & why the mind operates like it does. From autopilot to focus. A-Z, Robert fills in the blanks. He goes into where & how the mind evolved from before a state of reacting to stimuli for survival, to the need of a more conscious mind needed for today's survival.
The reason why we are not in control or aware of all our surroundings more often than not. He points out, the thinking mind is or was a distraction to the ready & waiting for stimuli mind needed for survival prior to homo sapiens. With the lightening fast evolution of today developing way too fast for the mind to catch up, it leaves us with our old minds in new times so to speak. Never before has the world changed so fast.
So, it explains things like why nobody crashes on the way to work driving everyday, even though they're daydreaming about other things & consciously not even aware they're driving at all. Interesting book.
5 thumbs up from me!
The reason why we are not in control or aware of all our surroundings more often than not. He points out, the thinking mind is or was a distraction to the ready & waiting for stimuli mind needed for survival prior to homo sapiens. With the lightening fast evolution of today developing way too fast for the mind to catch up, it leaves us with our old minds in new times so to speak. Never before has the world changed so fast.
So, it explains things like why nobody crashes on the way to work driving everyday, even though they're daydreaming about other things & consciously not even aware they're driving at all. Interesting book.
5 thumbs up from me!
April 23, 2024
Ornstein, after introductory chapters explaining how evolution works and and what humanity evolved from, explains how the mind works. He explains it as multiple simple modules ("simpletons") that come to the fore when evoked. The book is filled with bizarre mental phenomena, such as blindsight, that don't make sense from a straightforward Cartesian model of the mind. However, he stops short of delivering on the promise implicit in the title; he tells how some aspects of consciousness might have evolved, but doesn't go the full way.
A chapter near the end is in the self-help genre, and the last chapter explains the need for different thinking to survive the Anthropocine. Both of these chapters follow from his previous ideas, but it would have been nice if he could provide some empirical support for his claims.
A chapter near the end is in the self-help genre, and the last chapter explains the need for different thinking to survive the Anthropocine. Both of these chapters follow from his previous ideas, but it would have been nice if he could provide some empirical support for his claims.
February 18, 2020
A favourite book, a break through book. Gives the reader... gave this reader, a new understanding of how the mind works. Twenty years later it has informed the intervening years. Couldn't recommend it more.
December 14, 2017
I enjoyed the book but half of it was about evolution which seemed to drag on. The other half of the book was very interesting and geared more towards what I was learning in class.
September 20, 2019
A bit dated at this point and the author can sometimes lose the reader's interest but if you have any interest at all in the topic, then this is a great introductory read.
September 8, 2016
Worth its weight in gold.
There are so many ways I've applied this book as a schematic that it feels like I should read it again because it's been a few years. I work as someone that puts out forest fires so I have to stir around a lot of ash. The book talks about biological evolution, cultural evolution, and conscious evolution as a way to understand how our minds have developed and can develop. The biological catalysts for evolution that Ornstein talks about are something I experience first hand when I'm fighting fire-- dehydration and trying to keep my brain cool while I've got a plastic wreath on my head. The rest of the book has helped me see or entertain the possibility for other evolutionary forces at work. The book seems like an inheritor of Idries Shah's work on consciousness. Added to Shah's work (like the Way of the Sufi) Ornstein's work could put us on a road to "forgiveness" that helps generate the opportunity for sustained living on our planet.
There are so many ways I've applied this book as a schematic that it feels like I should read it again because it's been a few years. I work as someone that puts out forest fires so I have to stir around a lot of ash. The book talks about biological evolution, cultural evolution, and conscious evolution as a way to understand how our minds have developed and can develop. The biological catalysts for evolution that Ornstein talks about are something I experience first hand when I'm fighting fire-- dehydration and trying to keep my brain cool while I've got a plastic wreath on my head. The rest of the book has helped me see or entertain the possibility for other evolutionary forces at work. The book seems like an inheritor of Idries Shah's work on consciousness. Added to Shah's work (like the Way of the Sufi) Ornstein's work could put us on a road to "forgiveness" that helps generate the opportunity for sustained living on our planet.
Shelved as 'xx-dnf-skim-reference'
February 14, 2022Older book, referenced in Illumination in the Flatwoods, might still be interesting.
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Had a chance to look it over, decided it really is too old. Perhaps great at the time, but by now pretty much what it seems he said, we take for granted in 2022.
Feb 2022
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Had a chance to look it over, decided it really is too old. Perhaps great at the time, but by now pretty much what it seems he said, we take for granted in 2022.
Feb 2022
July 16, 2007
Superb -- very easy to understand and fun
April 18, 2013
Very innovative and, dare I say, revolutionary ideas presented in this book. A good read for anyone interested in the brain.
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