<i>On Intelligence</i>, by Jeff Hawkins — At some point, he off-handily mentions that what we call “consciousness” may just be what it feels like to have a neocortex, similar to how vision is nothing more than just what it feels like to have eyes.<p><i>Amusing Ourselves to Death</i>, by Neil Postman — Among lots of other ideas, he defends the thesis that &#x2F;<i>writing</i>&#x2F; is still humankind’s greatest invention, and that our thoughtless eagerness to replace it with newer forms of media, such as television and computers—<i>just because they&#x27;re newer</i>—is dumb and dangerous.