Robert Ornstein

A summation of research on the structure and function of the brain presents new ideas on how the human mind evolved in adaptation to a world that no longer exists

The Origins of the Way We Think

Evolution of Consciousness

Hazelton Spencer

An Anthology

Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy

This is a book that shows, in simple detail, one of the most startling findings of modern science: We don't experience the world as it is, but as virtual reality. And while much of the latest scientific work demonstrates this, as do many of the classical psychological illusions, it is an important meeting point for students of the mind, brain, philosophy and religion because, as we can now see in light of this book, all these disciplines begin at the same place. This is not an abstruse treatise, but part graphic novel and part direct address. It allows the reader a breakthrough understanding of the mind which is not available anywhere else. It is, in part, a summa of Dr. Ornstein's research and writing of the past 35 years (with pieces and references to many of his works) as well as a seminal introduction to new readers.

How the Mind Creates Its Own Virtual Reality

MindReal

Meditation and Modern Psychology examines meditation from two perspectives: first, from the perspective of religions and philosophies such as Zen, Yoga and from that of the Sufis and Christian mystics; and then from the modern psychologist's point of view -- what is happening neurophysiologically during and after meditation? By looking at meditation from both points of view, Ornstein produces a modern scientific synthesis - one sympathetic to the practice of meditation - enabling the reader to appreciate and understand meditation as a tool which can lead to a different mode of perception. Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., has written more than twenty books on the brain, mind, and consciousness since the publication of the first edition of this book in 1971. This work emphasizes our urgent need and ability to develop perceptions beyond our human inheritance.

Meditation and Modern Psychology

A new revised edition of the classic study takes a fresh look at human consciousness and an exciting new view of the untapped potential of the human mind What is consciousness and why do we need to know? In this new fourth edition of his revolutionary study, Robert Ornstein reexamines what is known about consciousness and why this understanding is so important at this time of enormous challenge, change and potential. He begins with an exploration of how the human brain evolved as a complex system for limiting what we "pick up" from the vast external environment to just the information we need to survive. We fill in the gaps with "unconscious inferences" - assumptions, categorizations, expectations and habituations that allow us to operate in the world, but that limit our perception of what is, and what is possible. Going beyond the theory that creative impulses originate in the right side of the brain and rational impulses in the left, he shows how a synthesis of these two functions can bring about "a more complete science of human consciousness with an extended conception of our own capabilities." Ornstein proposes that education at all levels should now include learning and teaching about our human nature - the nature of the person being taught. Offering far more than scholarly discourse, he enriches his presentation with thought-provoking illustrations and traditional teachings stories that bring the science to life, giving readers a first-hand taste of what such education might be like. Only with the development of self-knowledge and the cultivation of a comprehensive, expanded consciousness, he says, will humanity be able to perceive and take the "selfless" steps necessary to solve our collective problems. This new edition comes at a time when on a global scale we need this type of thinking more than ever.

The Psychology of Consciousness

Evelyn Gajowski

Re-Visions of Shakespeare: Essays in Honor of Robert Ornstein is a tribute to one of the most prominent Shakespeareans in the last half of the twentieth century, past president of the Shakespeare Association of America, and author of Shakespeare's Comedies: From Roman Farce to Romantic Mystery, and Other texts. Twelve original contributions by an international group of scholars, including some of the most prominent working in Shakespeare studies today, use a variety of theoretical perspectives to address issues of contemporary import in the dramatic texts. Janus-like, the collection suggests the directions of Shakespeare studies at the outset of the new millennium while considering their roots in the last.

Essays in Honor of Robert Ornstein

Re-visions of Shakespeare

The Achievement of Shakespeare's History Plays

A Kingdom for a Stage

Paul R Ehrlich

Robert Ornstein and Paul Ehrlich explain that we are causing our own problems because we have created a world where our basic mental functions are no longer suitable. We evolved over a period of millions of years to survive in small tribal families on the wild grassy plains of East Africa. Now the way we live has nothing to do with that time and place, but the mental tools that were developed to survive on the savanna have remained unchanged. These instincts were wonderfully adapted to the environment that shaped them. But that world, the world that made us, is gone. Now these same instincts are causing us to destroy the world that we made. The threats we face are of our own making, and we can unmake them. If people learn how we have come to this point, we can restore our hope for the future. NWNM describes the way our minds have evolved, and offers suggestions for how to cope with who we are in the world we live in now. Recent decades have seen remarkable progress in many areas. For example, while not overlooking the abject suffering of millions of people, it is nonetheless true that there has been unprecedented alleviation of poverty and disease for the world's poorest people. There are so many promising and astonishing advances in medicine, technology, and the social and physical sciences that if we give ourselves a chance to survive, our species could enter a golden age.

Robert Ornstein

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