Book I Want to Read: Sleepwalk With Me

Sadly, despite its prominent place on my Christmas lists this year, this item was ignored by my gift-purchasing relatives in favor of other trinkets. Don't get me wrong, Santa (& his associates) were good to me this year, but I was disappointed not to receive Sleepwalk with Me (and Other Painfully True Stories) by Mike Birbiglia.

Why? Two reasons (one of which relates to psychology):

1. Mike Birbiglia is hilarious.
2. In the book he shares his experience of REM Sleep Disorder, which I have discuss in my classes during our "States of Consciousness" unit.

Ok, both could relate to psychology, but the second reason is clearly an easier fit if you are trying to justify including this book in your curriculum.

For those of you not familiar with Mike Birbiglia, he is a stand-up comedian whose work has been featured on NPR's This American Life on several occasions. I have purchased his previous albums and am envious of those who were able to catch his live tour show of the same title in 2008-09.

For those interested in his (very funny) account of discovering his REM sleep disorder, you can probably still listen to it on NPR's This American Life online archives. It aired during a show entitled "Fear of Sleep," which is appropriate given the situations he describes.

Or you could buy the book. Unfortunately for me, student loan-enduced poverty now forces me to choose between waiting for it at the library or enduring the 9 months until my birthday in the hopes someone will buy it then.

P.S. Mike, if you read this, perhaps you would consider "donating" a copy to a needy AP Psychology teacher (me). :)

P.S.S. Students, with final exams right around the corner, there is no time like the present to ingratiate yourself with your teacher. Nothing says 'A' like a great gift...

P.S.S.S. Okay, just kidding about that last part. I do not accept bribes. That would be unethical.

Book Review: Out of Our Heads by Alva Noe

Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness by Alva Noe

Some of my students are chomping at the bit this year, eager to study the topic of human consciousness. We will get there in a few weeks, and I don't blame them for their enthusiasm. It's hard to imagine a more fascinating subject. If you are looking for some outside reading consciousness that will bend your mind to some degree, I'd recommend this book.

Alva Noe's basic thesis in Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness is that neuroscientists hoping to uncover the "seat" of consciousness in the brain via fMRI's and similar techniques are bound to be disappointed.

Noe presents - with convincing support - the idea that consciousnes is a process created by our experiences with the world, including the reactions of our sensory systems. In essence, the disembodied brain would be unable to have a "conscious" experience because consciousness is tied up in all of the other things that make us human.

I appreciate the argument, and it is interesting to consider. But I did find myself feeling a little defensive about how easily Noe dismissed the work of neuroscientists and neuroimaging. Certainly, consciousness might be a more slippery concept than we first imagine. But that doesn't mean that neuroimaging studies of the brain are unimportant to our understanding of human consciousness, and sometimes I felt Noe was moving toward that idea.

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