This book is about feelings, and the ways that we, as individuals and as a culture, have numbed ourselves against them. It is about unleashing the possibility of conscious feelings to re-make our lives into what really matters to us. The Power of Conscious Feelings introduces readers to the concept of the "personal numbness bar"--a measure set high by modern culture as a way of keeping everything "cool," under control, and consequently out of touch. This book provides the insight and the means for lowering that numbness bar. "You can feel more," the author asserts. You can regain the intelligence and energy of your feelings, so long denied and dressed up to appear acceptable. "Being cool," Callahan states, "allows you to look the other way about torture, invasion, pollution and injustice," and to accept the generic malaise that characterizes so many relationships. The central framework of the book is built with the Ten Distinctions for Consciously Feeling, including: * Learning the potent difference between thoughts and feelings, which most people confuse * Sorting out feelings (based in present) from emotions (based in the past or in somebody else's life) * Fully allowing that feelings are absolutely-neutral energy and information, neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative. Each chapter is enriched with THOUGHTMAPS-clear diagrams of ways we presently think and ways we could possibly think-and supported by an abundance of practical experiments to try. The Power of Conscious Feelings is so much more than a book of self-help or inspiration. Ultimately, it is about our connection with and responsibility for the fate of the Earth. When we are no longer numb, we are freed from solitary confinement in our private world of thoughts and beliefs. We emerge, already connected with other human beings, connected in the world of feelings we all have in common. This book actually guides the reader through four distinct evolutionary stages: from Personal, to Relational, to Transformational, to Cultural, in showing us how to use our adult feelings as the fuel for living our destiny as creators of sustainable culture. Choosing numbness was probably unconscious for most of us. But, Callahan is committed to showing us, step by step, in this moment, how we can change the mind and learn to consciously feel.

From one of the world’s leading neuroscientists: a succinct, illuminating, wholly engaging investigation of how biology, neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence have given us the tools to unlock the mysteries of human consciousness “One thrilling insight after another ... Damasio has succeeded brilliantly in narrowing the gap between body and mind.” —The New York Times Book Review In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the problem of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings across multiple scientific disciplines have given us a way to understand consciousness and its significance for human life. In the forty-eight brief chapters of Feeling & Knowing, and in writing that remains faithful to our intuitive sense of what feeling and experiencing are about, Damasio helps us understand why being conscious is not the same as sensing, why nervous systems are essential for the development of feelings, and why feeling opens the way to consciousness writ large. He combines the latest discoveries in various sciences with philosophy and discusses his original research, which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behavior. Here is an indispensable guide to understand­ing how we experience the world within and around us and find our place in the universe.

"This book comprehensively details the path of feeling. Once one has a long drink of the experience of feeling that Callahan writes about, it will be difficult to quench one’s thirst for it with less." -Timothy S. Bennett, writer, artist and filmmaker "An owner’s manual for Sane Human Being! Pretty soon you’ll reclaim who you have always been, who you came here to be: deep and authentic feeling, conscious life, and a chance to play a part in the healing of our collective nightmare." -Malidoma Patrice Somé, PhD, author, healer, African Shaman "For modern seekers, responding to the call for initiation into relationship, here is an open invitation. As with all true rites of passage, there is no promise of safety along the way, and, the potential for transformation is boundless." -Sally Erickson, artist, psychotherapist, community organizer, and film producer. This book is about feelings, and the ways that we, as individuals and as a culture, have numbed ourselves against them. It is about unleashing the possibility of using your conscious feelings to re-shape your life around what really matters to you. Conscious Feelings introduces readers to the concept of the "personal numbness bar" –– a measure set high by modern culture as a way of keeping everything "cool," under control, and consequently out of touch. This book provides the insight and the means for lowering that numbness bar. "You can feel more wisely and effectively," the author asserts. You can regain the intelligence and energy of your feelings, so long denied and dressed up to appear acceptable. "Being cool," Callahan states, "allows you to look the other way about schooling, prescription drugs, corporate wrongdoing, corruption, pollution, injustice, your life purpose, your love life, and your job," and to accept the generic malaise that characterizes so many ordinary relationships. The central framework of the book is built with the Ten Distinctions for Consciously Feeling, including: Learning the potent difference between thoughts and feelings. Sorting out feelings (based in the present) from emotions (based in the past, on cultural or religious beliefs). Experiencing how feelings are absolutely-neutral energy and information, neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative, yet extremely useful in your adult life. Each chapter is enriched with THOUGHTMAPS—clear diagrams of ways you presently think and ways you could possibly think—supported by an abundance of practical experiments t

Timely and authoritative, this volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge on the self-conscious emotions and their role in psychological and social functioning. Leading investigators approach the subject from multiple levels of analysis, ranging from basic brain mechanisms to complex social processes. Chapters present compelling advances in understanding research on the most fundamental self-conscious emotions: embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, pride, and shame. Addressed are neural and evolutionary mechanisms, developmental processes, cultural differences and similarities, and influences on a wide array of social behaviors and personality processes. A unique chapter on assessment describes and evaluates the full range of available measures.

A thought-provoking argument that consciousness—more widespread than previously assumed—is the feeling of being alive, not a type of computation or a clever hack In The Feeling of Life Itself, Christof Koch offers a straightforward definition of consciousness as any subjective experience, from the most mundane to the most exalted—the feeling of being alive. Psychologists study which cognitive operations underpin a given conscious perception. Neuroscientists track the neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the organ of the mind. But why the brain and not, say, the liver? How can the brain—three pounds of highly excitable matter, a piece of furniture in the universe, subject to the same laws of physics as any other piece—give rise to subjective experience? Koch argues that what is needed to answer these questions is a quantitative theory that starts with experience and proceeds to the brain. In The Feeling of Life Itself, Koch outlines such a theory, based on integrated information. Koch describes how the theory explains many facts about the neurology of consciousness and how it has been used to build a clinically useful consciousness meter. The theory predicts that many, and perhaps all, animals experience the sights and sounds of life; consciousness is much more widespread than conventionally assumed. Contrary to received wisdom, however, Koch argues that programmable computers will not have consciousness. Even a perfect software model of the brain is not conscious. Its simulation is fake consciousness. Consciousness is not a special type of computation—it is not a clever hack. Consciousness is about being.

The publication of this book is an event in the making. All over the world scientists, psychologists, and philosophers are waiting to read Antonio Damasio's new theory of the nature of consciousness and the construction of the self. A renowned and revered scientist and clinician, Damasio has spent decades following amnesiacs down hospital corridors, waiting for comatose patients to awaken, and devising ingenious research using PET scans to piece together the great puzzle of consciousness. In his bestselling Descartes' Error, Damasio revealed the critical importance of emotion in the making of reason. Building on this foundation, he now shows how consciousness is created. Consciousness is the feeling of what happens-our mind noticing the body's reaction to the world and responding to that experience. Without our bodies there can be no consciousness, which is at heart a mechanism for survival that engages body, emotion, and mind in the glorious spiral of human life. A hymn to the possibilities of human existence, a magnificent work of ingenious science, a gorgeously written book, The Feeling of What Happens is already being hailed as a classic.

Given their strong theoretical relevance to both individual and interpersonal adjustment and functioning, it is ironic that the "self-conscious" emotions have been among the most neglected in the research literature. In recent years, however, the study of affect has come into its own as a vigorous, respectable, and productive branch of scientific psychology, and with this shift has come a new interest in emotions such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride. This volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth review of the current theoretical and empirical literature on these emotions. It brings together contributions from leading researchers and theoreticians from the fields of developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychiatry, and sociology, reflecting the emerging coherence in this area of study. The introduction provides a general framework for conceptualization and research on the self-conscious emotions. The book then addresses developmental issues, including the nature of these affective experiences among children, from late infancy to middle childhood, and implications for children's psychosocial functioning. Detailed explorations of the relationship of self-conscious emotions to aspects of social behavior and the social environment and to various types of psychopathology are also presented. Chapters demonstrate how an understanding of self-conscious emotions can greatly enhance the treatment of a wide range of maladaptive patterns of behavior, including marital conflict, depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior. The final section discusses cross-cultural continuities and discontinuities in self-conscious affect. Throughout, the book highlights the need for innovative and diverse methodologies to systematically study the nature and functions of these feelings. The unique focus on empirical approaches makes this work an invaluable resource for the growing number of researchers interested in the study of self-conscious affect and social behavior. Demonstrating the wide-ranging implications of this research for clinical practice, the book will interest practitioners in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and developmental psychology. In addition, Self-Conscious Emotions will benefit professionals in social psychology, sociology, and anthropology, and will serve as useful text for courses in the psychology of emotion, personality and emotion, and cultural psychology.

Timely and authoritative, this volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge on the self-conscious emotions and their role in psychological and social functioning. Leading investigators approach the subject from multiple levels of analysis, ranging from basic brain mechanisms to complex social processes. Chapters present compelling advances in research on the most fundamental self-conscious emotions: embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, pride, and shame. Addressed are neural and evolutionary mechanisms, developmental processes, cultural differences and similarities, and influences on a wide array of social behaviors and personality processes. A unique chapter on assessment describes and evaluates the full range of available measures.

The consequences of apparent moral failings in an individual are something that can be seen frequently in the media and in everyday life. One issue that is rarely addressed in public discussion about someone’s ‘lack of conscience’ is any thought as to how the conscience actually functions. In The Conscience and Self-Conscious Emotions in Adolescence, Frans Schalkwijk presents a new definition of the conscience as a psychic function in which self-conscious emotions and empathy are dominant. Schalkwijk combines current scientific research into empathy, shame and guilt as well as his rich clinical experience to create a wealth of information for clinicians working with children and adolescents. This book is a superb guide for operationalizing the diagnostics of the conscience, presenting a developmental approach to the theory and diagnostics of the conscience and integrating psychoanalytic, cognitive behavioural, social, psychological and neurobiological theories. Research has shown that human behaviours are often enacted well below our potential cognitive level. In this book, a balance is found between affective and cognitive aspects of the conscience. Accessibly written and incorporating case studies and detailed notation throughout, this is a highly practical work ideal for psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, psychologists, students and professionals working with children, adolescents and adults.