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  • Being You

  • A New Science of Consciousness
  • By: Anil Seth
  • Narrated by: Anil Seth
  • Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (344 ratings)

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Being You

By: Anil Seth
Narrated by: Anil Seth
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Summary

A BOOK OF THE YEAR GUARDIAN, THE ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, BLOOMBERG

Anil Seth's radical new theory of consciousness challenges our understanding of perception and reality, doing for brain science what Dawkins did for evolutionary biology.

Being You is not as simple as it sounds. Somehow, within each of our brains, billions of neurons work to create our conscious experience. How does this happen? Why do we experience life in the first person? After over twenty years researching the brain, world-renowned neuroscientist Anil Seth puts forward a radical new theory of consciousness and self. His unique theory of what it means to 'be you' challenges our understanding of perception and reality and it turns what you thought you knew about yourself on its head.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Professor Anil Seth (P)2021 Faber & Faber
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Critic reviews

"Anil Seth thinks clearly and sharply on one of the hardest problems of science and philosophy, cutting through weeds with a scientist's mind and a storyteller's skill." (Adam Rutherford)

"Seth provokes us to think about thinking...readable, relatable and gripping." (Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina)

"Offers a new cause for astonishment and wonder...a must-read for anyone seeking a better understanding of the brain and how nature sculpts the human experience." (Annaka Harris, author of Conscious)

What listeners say about Being You

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This is a great book I loved it!

I am not a scientist yet Anil Seth made all of the content accessible and relatable. II don't think I will be lecturing on the subject any time soon but I did feel that I got a most excellent overview of the neuroscience of being. loved this book!

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3 people found this helpful

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Absolutely fascinating 🤩

Fascinating subject matter and learnt a lot about the human mind and how it works.

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Changed the way I view my mind!

Wow what an incredible book. This has made me look at consciousness and persecution a whole new way. Everyone should read!

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Excellent

Do we live in the Matrix?

Do we create our own Matrix?

This book helps us explore these questions and more as a result of decades of research, experiential evidence and of course Anil Seths unique take on it all.

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Brilliant

very interesting - even personal experience / insight by the author. also mentions AI and consciuosness. woet a read.

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Good book, well read.

Good book, well read by the author. A little hard to follow at times but that's on me haha. Was left a little bit asking 'so what?' in particular given the philosophical exchange he quotes near the start on what it would look like if the sun revolved around the earth. One for me to ponder.

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excellent

luckily we made it in history of academia, to not ridicule consciousness research . Excellent work and brilliant ideas from Anil.
thank you

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Excellent

I'm not a neuroscientist, psychologist, AI researcher etc but I am hugely interested in all of these fields and read (and listen) to as many books on these topics as possible.
This has immediately shot up to the top of my list of favourite books and will certainly be one I will be recommending loads.
A wonderful, clear and informative book on the current thinking on thinking. And how (and why) we do it, who else does and who potentially could.

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23 people found this helpful

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Great for bedtime

Subject is interesting enough that I happily listen while I am still awake, distracting me from worries, but not too exciting to keep me awake. The narrating is peaceful, drifting to sleep is easy and so staying asleep while sleep timer ticks. Will relisten.

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Very interesting

This book explore being in a constant control hallucinations. Its a very interesting concept. A bit surreal. It has given me a new meaning of what reality means at the neurological level.

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