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The Forgetting Machine
- Memory, Perception, and the "Jennifer Aniston Neuron"
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
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Summary
If we lose our memories, are we still ourselves? Is identity merely a collection of electrical impulses? What separates us from animals, or from computers?
From Plato to Westworld, these questions have fascinated and befuddled philosophers, artists, and scientists for centuries. In The Forgetting Machine, neuroscientist Rodrigo Quiroga explains how the mechanics of memory illuminates these discussions, with implications for everything from understanding Alzheimer's disease to the technology of artificial intelligence.
You'll also learn about the research behind what Quiroga coined "Jennifer Aniston neurons" - cells in the human brain that are responsible for representing specific concepts, such as recognizing a certain celebrity's face. The discovery of these neurons opens new windows into the workings of human memory.
In this accessible, fascinating look at the science of remembering, you'll learn how we turn perceptions into memories, how language shapes our experiences, and the crucial role forgetting plays in human recollection. You'll see how electricity, chemistry, and abstraction combine to form something more than the human brain - the human mind. And you'll gain surprising insight into what our brains can tell us about who we are.
The Forgetting Machine takes us on a journey through science and science fiction, philosophy, and identity, using what we know about how we remember (and forget) to explore the very roots of what makes us human.
What listeners say about The Forgetting Machine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mr EJ Hurst
- 14-01-23
Very helpful with thinking about the mind
Very helpful when thinking about the way the mind works for my paper that I’m writing.
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- Prisclica Thiruchelvam
- 30-07-23
The narrator was challenging to listen to
struggled to finish, but was interesting at some points. I found the narrator challenging to listen to
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- Leon
- 07-07-22
Fantastic book
This is a Outstanding book in my opinion highly recommended. I will read this again for sure
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- Miss G Astakhova
- 09-02-23
Brilliant book on neurons and memory
Brilliant book on neurons and memory. A simple explanation on how the brain works and generates memory. What distinguishes humans ect.
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- Florin Ghita
- 08-02-22
worth listening
Very good narator.
The book is concise, focused on the subject. It catched/surprized me in some moments.
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- Sasori Hyung
- 14-02-24
Interesting but Heavy
I really enjoyed how thought-provoking and insightful this book was, but did find it written more with the physicist in mind than the neurologist in the first chapters.
Also, I was confused, if not a little amused, as to why the narrator had to affect the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger while quoting Terminator, and then that of Jorge Luis Borges towards the end.
Odd.
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- Stevie G
- 23-08-21
Not for me.
As a neuroscientist myself, I found nothing new in this title. The book obviously wasn't writtenfor someone who already has knowledge of this area. I bought this title hoping I was get a new or different perspective on this subject to the one I had already. I hope people new to this subject get something from it.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Sue
- 05-09-22
dry and boring
Struggled to finish. Maybe it was the narrator. maybe it was the content. I didn't like the narrator, he sounded old fashioned somehow. he didn't give the content much oomph, it's hard to conceptualise the topics he covered. started off by describing neuron a and neuron b. maybe I'm just too dumb to grasp it.
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