Farjam's Reviews > Consciousness Explained

I had never read anything by Daniel Dennett before, and I had a hard time reading this one. Now that it’s over, I have mixed feelings about it. Reading it is like reading a draft of Kant’s writings. There is lots of cool stuff which is presented poorly. Although many philosophers tend to overcomplicate issues and favour rhyme over clarity, this book is more about science than philosophy; thus, such things have no place in this content. Even Nietzsche let go of his philosophical allure in letters to his sister. You read a passage and, most of the time, have to go back and reread it and finally understand what he meant, but you are frustrated by his narrative and word choice. I planned to read Breaking the Spell later on, but after this one, I have cold feet.
The first and second sections, which address scientific studies on consciousness and the physiological functions of the mind, might have been more clearly presented with more straightforward explanations. Having said that, it was incredibly intriguing and informative to look into the various empirical theories and the thought experiments offered in Chapter Two, particularly Orwellian and Stalinesque Revisions and Multiple Drafts. The Baldwin effect, which states that when organisms acquire new behaviours during their lifetime, these learned traits can eventually become part of their genetic makeup and be passed down to future generations., was the most engaging portion of the first section for me.
The third section's contents are laid out with refined and more straightforward explanations of the philosophical problem of consciousness. I suppose it's because Dennett, as a philosopher, could speak more intelligently about his field of expertise. Or possibly his writing style is the same across the entire book. Perhaps failing to understand philosophical concepts is far easier to admit than falling short of understanding scientific concepts. Oh, cognitive bias again!