In the Theater of Consciousness: The Workspace of the Mind

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Summary: Baars delves in to the theater theory in a practical way.
Review: Baars allows any reader to follow his tour through the theater theory of consciousness in an easy readable approach. He makes sure the reader has adequate examples of real life events and situations in order to better understand an interesting theory. Where does the human species go from here?

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Summary: Seminal work.
Review: I think it is fair to say that Baar's global workspace model is the most influential cognitive model of consciousness out there. The theoretical work is simply outstanding. Few would today contest the main idea behind the model -that the function of consciousness is to broadcast information to separate functional modules all arround the brain-. Some recent papers by Baars, available on line, summarize all the emirical evidence that has appeared the last decade in favour of the model. Baars is currently at the neurosciences institute, headed by Gerald Edelman, and it is no surprise his latest views seem to include reentrant connectivity and Edelman and Tononis concept of complexity. However, although this is clearly a step forward, it is far from being a THE answer consciousness studies is looking for. Baars himself sees a gap between the cognitive model and the neurophysiological machanisms involved. He has presented the ERTAS model, but it is not clear how it has stood to recent neuroscience. I'm not saying i'ts been falsified, but it has been deprived of supremacy. However, the global workspace is still a brilliant contribution to the study of consciousness. Some philosophical nuances are still roaming, however. There is no qualia in the theather, and it is not clear how the audience could be conscious..how would they enjoy the show?.

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Summary: In the tradition of William James
Review: What is consciousness? Or at least how does it work? Historically, the last individual to seriously address these questions was the great American philosopher William James, who in his seminal tome 'Principles of Psychology' (1890) outlined the essentials of a fairly comprehensive 'stream of consciousness' theory. But for most of the twentieth century the hard-problem of consciousness was either studiously avoided or redefined as something else. But in recent years with the demise of Behaviorism and its repressive dogma, groups calling themselves Cognitivist Psychologists have emerged who are resurrecting the pioneering work begun by James over 100 years ago. For serious readers interested in 'getting their feet wet' in the relatively new field of Cognitivism, Dr. Bernard Baars' highly readable book 'In the Theater of Consciousness' would serve as an excellent introduction. I have to rate it 5 STARS. Also, if this book whets your appetite for more, you may want to consider Baars' more rigorous 'A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness' where his global workspace theory is more fully developed.