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Antonio Damasio
Review by Dave Allaway

Target audience: Those interested in popular science, particularly the sciences of the "mind". Very likely those who's first forays into the field were through the work of oliver sacks (the man who mistook his wife for a hat).

This book is useful for academics and laypeople, as well as NLPers.

Summary of content: This book is in four parts and eleven chapters.

PART I introduces debates around consciousness, mind and behaviour, and the search for "self".

PART II - Feeling and Knowing - details some history of the emotions, the biological functions of emotions, how they work, and what they are for. The text takes us thoughtfully from "core consciousness" - wakefulness, attention, etc., to the role of language in consciousness, and memory. There are some useful case-study descriptions to illustrate these points.

PART III - A Biology for Knowing - is the largest section. Here, Damasio expands upon his earlier descriptions of "self", including the role of the body, and body signals. From here, he takes us through the "birth of consciousness", images and knowing, nonverbal consciousness, and storytelling. He then outlines "extended consciousness" and thro role of the autobiographical self, functions and dysfunctions of memory and the role that that plays in our concept of self. Finally, in this section, Damasio takes us through the neurology of consciousness.

PART IV - Bound to Know - concludes this fine work with a discussion of how we feel feelings, what feelings are for, and some case study data from neurological disorders which illustrate his discussion. Finally, he places consciousness in the bigger picture - what are its limits? How does it compare to our unconsciousness? How emotions, feelings, and consciousness are necessary parts of our existence, and how consciousness is necessary for the creation of 'the drama of the human condition'.There is a useful and informative appendix which includes a glossary, and some more technical information on brain function.

The whole book is complete with excellent footnotes grouped by chapter. These provide useful leads for additional reading, as well as Damasio's clarification of issues tangential to the main text.

There is a comprehensive index.

Recommended features: What is significant about this book for NLP is that it provides an extremely useful scientific underpinning to NLP concepts such as "representations", "images", the "kinaesthetic", as well as the neurological functioning of what happens when we "think". One of the most significant concepts in this book is the "somatic marker hypothesis" which NLPers might call the kinaesthetic marker, and laypeople, "gut feeling". Although I take issue with Damasio's distinction between feelings and emotions, he does present some excellent evidence for us taking seriously the fundamentally essential nature of how we feel, why we feel, what happens when we don't feel, and so on. NLP concepts such as "threshold", "TOTEs", "submodalities", and "internal representation" appear in all but name. This suggests to me that Damasio is aware of NLP but not willing to put that in writing.

Personal impressions: I love this book! Damasio writes a great story. He brings in references from art, literature, music, and his personal experience to really bring his subject to life. For NLPers interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how we work (as humans, not as NLPers) this book is essential reading. A quality bedtime read that will tug at your unconscious knowledge of NLP delightfully.'

… improving the lot of existence is precisely what civilisation, the main consequence of consciousness, has been all about, and for at least three thousand years, with greater or smaller rewards, improvement is what civilisation has been attempting. The good news, then, is that we have already begun.' (p.316).

Dave Allaway
November 2004