The Mind and the Brain

Quotes:

"Even when will is viewed introspectively, we often conceptualize it in terms of an externally pursued goal. But I think the truly important manifestation of will, the one from which our decisions and behaviors flow, is the choice we make about the quality and direction of attentional focus. Mindful or unmindful, wise or unwise—no choice we make is more basic, or important, than this one."

"Quantum theory allows for the mind—pure conscious experience—to interact with the 'physical' aspect of nature... [I]t is [therefore] completely in line with contemporary science to hold our thoughts to be causally efficacious..."

"Although we can predict with confidence some of the stimuli that will catch our attention, like the snake that leaps onto the forest path we are hiking or the boom! of a building being demolished, we cannot predict others. The meaning of experience—how the product of those trillions of synapses will be interpreted by the mind—is inexplicable if you only use materialistic terms."

Paradigm Shift

This is a very interesting, if also extremely academic, read for those looking to learn more about consciousness. One of the major strengths of this book is it's basis in clinical practice and treatment of mental illness. The authors work on treating OCD, and exploring how "mental effort", the force put into changing or controlling your own thoughts, actually physically affects the brain. 

As with Conversations on Consciousness, this book can't really provide definitive conclusions on the subject; at this point nothing really can, but it provides a very worthwhile puzzle piece.

Another very compelling component of this book is his descriptions and work on OCD itself. Most of us almost trivially invoke the label OCD when we ache for order, or want our house or desk to be a little more clean or tidy. OCD extends far, far beyond that, and hearing the author's anecdotes around his patients and their experiences is a great eye-opener.