The Human Echo: Our Mistaken and Dangerous Belief in Consciousness

Whether we feel it or not, modern humans are deeply out of step with nature. The cause of this is our traditional belief in a mind/soul self beyond the physical body, which we call "consciousness." I contend this consciousness is an illusion facilitated by our particular use of language and supported by millennia-old cultural traditions. This belief system has wreaked havoc to human institutions and to our collective and individual welfare. This book calls out this long-standing belief, shows how it arose, shows how it is not logical or evidential, and describes a self and world where it doesn't exist--a world that is more palatable and real.

Give this thesis a chance: humans have been unable to end the obvious alienation (from nature, from other humans, from ourselves) under which we have suffered for thousands of years, despite religious, social, governmental, economic, scientific, technological, psychological, and professional philosophical attempts to find the truth and design a world in wholeness and harmony. These attempted solutions do not go deep enough into our civilizational psyche, so can't solve the problem. Take a chance and be open to a new, radical, and possibly truer worldview.