The attempts to rebut the argument, ever more frequent these days, that the firings of neurons—not thoughts and desires—are the only real causes of human action. As if that weren’t enough, he tries to save the idea that we have free will too—all in slightly more than 200 pages. His project is, he admits, 'impossible in scope,' but he still has the chutzpah to give it a go ... The argument is speculative and the timeline too neat, but the key point is well-made ... In perhaps the book’s most interesting chapter, Mr. Hoel changes tack and argues that the achievements of neuroscience—the quintessential mode for extrinsic self-examination—fall far short of what the hype and headlines suggest ... Mr. Hoel has deftly set the stage for another whirlwind tour, this one surveying the theories of consciousness that have come out of both psychology and neuroscience. But here the going gets tougher ... As if he hasn’t taken on enough already, Mr. Hoel finishes by tackling the thorny problem of free will ... The World Behind the World tries to do too much, too quickly, and as a result is at times hard to follow and at other times, although suggestive, not really persuasive. But it offers a series of bracing intellectual challenges and almost seems, in its concise presentations, like a set of teasing prose-trailers for at least half a dozen other books you’d love to read. Mr. Hoel is still young: He has the time and talent to write them.
