The objective of The Mind is to provide the reader with a unique overview of the thinking of human kind. Self-understanding is one of humankind's most ancient quests. Who am I? What is my relationship to the world around me? These questions marked the beginnings of philosophy. They are initiations in the search for mind, for, at least in the one respect; we are unique among all creatures. Only we are curious about our origins, the meaning of existence, and the nature of the inner world that we experience whenever we reflect, remember, and think.
             Thinking is as natural and inevitable as breathing, but when we try to pin down what it is that we actually do when we think, we run into difficulties. In part, this is because many aspects of our thinking are not available to our awareness. We cannot sum up everything that we believe, for example; yet the beliefs that we fail to communicate may be as or more important than what we speak about. This paradox has much to tell us about the nature of mind.
             "The mind is a language without words, a language that links us through the whole history of mankind. If you like, it's a fellowship from one human mind to another."
             At first glance a definition of the mind seems obvious. After all, we speak of it daily. We talk of making up (or losing) one's mind, call some of our neighbors "mindless," and sometimes suggest that someone "does not know his own mind."
             Scientist and thinkers in pursuit of mind have tried to identify those qualities that make it unique. One quality is the ability to be conscious of self, the ability to understand one's place on the planet and time.
             Thinking shapes mental models. The art of navigating a ship is a demonstration of what we all do all our lives: construct models, solve problems, and anticipate the future. These mental processes reach their culmination in the human brain.
             "The brain...