The first minds : caterpillars, 'karyotes, and consciousness /

Reber (Univ. of British Columbia) has an interesting idea on the origin of consciousness, already submitted to the scrutiny of Steven Harnad's peer-reviewing journal, Animal Sentience. In The First Minds, Reber masterfully organizes and presents this challenging theory in book form, which introduces readers to his reasons for positing the early origin of consciousness. He begins with the question of whether robots can be conscious, contrasting weak AI with strong AI and concluding that computers will not have minds because they do not have self-awareness and agency. He then gives a historical review of the resistance to Donald Griffin's ideas of animal awareness and Brian Key's rejection of fish pain, offering a few approaches to his viewpoint. Reber then takes on some models of consciousness and describes the difficult search for its first appearance before presenting the physiological organization of unicellular animals. Tying his explanation to evolutionary theory, he demonstrates why these unicellular animals have characteristics of cognition and consciousness. Reber also looks at how multicellular animals evolved a single consciousness and whether plants have any consciousness (he believes they do not, based on their lack of mobility). This is a well-constructed book, worth reading even for those who do not believe the premise. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above. --Jennifer A. Mather, University of Lethbridge