Mr. Grafton is an excellent guide to the contemporary science of bodily skills ... Mr. Grafton wears his extensive experimental knowledge lightly ... True, the evolution of language has changed our brains radically, and that in turn has enabled us, for better or worse, to transform our planet. But evolution can only work with what it is given, and so it must have built language on the basis of older bodily capabilities. It would have been interesting to explore the comparison between our verbal agility and our other physical skills ... On its own terms, Physical Intelligence is an emphatic success. Mr. Grafton gives an authoritative and accessible account of what is now known about nonverbal bodily intelligence. And for good measure he throws in an excellent introduction to the challenging pleasures of the High Sierra.
Grafton writes with clarity and warmth, elucidating key points with descriptions of experiments and the work of many other scientists in a variety of fields ... Grafton’s compelling exploration of the relationship between the body and the mind is recommended for anyone interested in the workings of the brain.
At times a demanding scientific read, Grafton’s study is ultimately a thought-provoking examination of neuroscience delightfully informed by a transcendentalist plea for greater harmony with nature.
A climber and distance hiker, Grafton takes many of his examples from his own experiences outdoors under conditions that sometimes invite taking things for granted but that instead require constant vigilance, the mind connecting sensory information to appropriate responses—appropriate because, so often, doing the wrong thing can lead to disaster ... 'How could a person consciously and willfully move while being utterly unaware of her own body’s movements?' Arriving at an answer deepens our understanding of this sixth sense of movement, which turns out to be more important than the other senses in getting us around in the world. ... A well-written exploration of the mind-body connection.
..[a] thoughtful debut ... The book’s concepts aren’t always intuitive, but Grafton does his best to employ understandable examples, such as cooking breakfast as an instance of 'hierarchical reinforcement learning,' or fixing his camp stove as an illustration of motor control. This is a well-written introduction to what’s going on when one performs everyday but deeply complex actions...
