Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Forgetting Machine
- Memory, Perception, and the "Jennifer Aniston Neuron"
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
The Forgetting Machine
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
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.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Forgetting Machine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leon
- 07-07-22
Fantastic book
This is a Outstanding book in my opinion highly recommended. I will read this again for sure
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- 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
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
- 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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!